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In 1968, Theodore Hammett entered a war he believed was wrong, pressured by his father's threat to disown him if he withdrew from a Marine Corps officer candidate program. He hated the Vietnam War and soon grew to hate Vietnam and its people. As a supply officer at a field hospital uncomfortably near the DMZ, he employed thievery, bargaining and lies to secure supplies for his unit and retained his sanity with the help of alcohol, music and the promise of going home. In 2008, he returned to Vietnam for a five-year "second tour" to assist in improving HIV/AIDS policies and prevention programs in Hanoi. His memoir recounts his service at the height of the war, and how the country he detested became his second home.
List of contents
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments xiii
Foreword by W.D. Ehrhart
Key Dates
Acronyms
A Note on the Music, Vietnamese Tone Marks, and Names
Introduction
Part I: My First Tour
¿1.¿Going to a War I'd Come to Think Was Wrong
¿2.¿Supplying 3rd Medical Battalion
¿3.¿Being Apart
¿4.¿The Politics of the War
¿5.¿The Vietnamese People
¿6.¿Culture from Home
¿7.¿LRP Rations and Warm Beer
¿8.¿Seeking Danger
¿9.¿Coming Home
Part II: Between My Tours
10.¿Detachment
11.¿Returning to Vietnam for the First Time
12.¿The Cross-Border Project
Part III: My Second Tour
13.¿Living in Vietnam
14.¿Birds and Animals
15.¿Thoughts on Vietnam Since the War
16.¿Working on HIV/AIDS Policies with Vietnamese
Institutions and People
17.¿Getting to Know Vietnamese Culture
18.¿Bún Ch¿ và Bia Hõi
19.¿Crossing the Street and Breathing the Air
20.¿A Second Homecoming
Part IV: After My Second Tour
21.¿Basic School Reunion
22.¿Vietnam Battlefield Tour
23.¿Last Hurrah in Hanoi
Epilogue: A Life of Memories, Dreams, and Doubts
Author's Military History
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index
About the author
Theodore M. Hammett served as a Marine Corps officer in Vietnam in 1968-1969. Between 2008 and 2018, he spent five years living in Vietnam and working on HIV/AIDS projects. He lives in Watertown, Massachusetts.
