© Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
BANGOR - At a time when thousands of young Americans fled to Canada to avoid being drafted and sent to Vietnam, Canadian Bill Braniff headed the other way, crossing into the U.S. to join the Army.
He agreed with the "domino theory" that the spread of communism must be contained. "We thought (Vietnam) was a Canadian problem" as well as a U.S. problem, said Braniff, who grew up in Kitchener, Ontario.
His views have changed over the years. Now 62, and carrying the emotional and physical scars of combat, he believes the war was a mistake.
Braniff, who has lived in Bucksport for the past eight years, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. He has drawn solace from returning to the land where he witnessed the horrors of war. Since 1996, he has made 17 trips to Vietnam, bringing other combat veterans with him.
Braniff said he organizes the trips but receives no financial gain, making the effort because of the peace it brings. He and veterans from Skowhegan, Sangerville, Rockwood and Toronto leave May 8 for another tour of Vietnam.
"I guarantee, a combat vet goes back, he's going to come home a better person," he said.
Braniff arrived in Vietnam in late January 1968, just as the bloody Tet Offensive erupted. Assigned to the 25th Infantry Division, he saw plenty of action patrolling the jungle as an ammunition bearer, assistant machine gunner and radio operator.
Braniff also became his company's "tunnel rat," arming himself with a .45-caliber pistol and a few cigarette lighters before crawling into tunnels dug by the Viet Cong. "It was horrible," he said.
In the summer of that year, Braniff was diagnosed with ulcers and sent to Japan for surgery, then back to the U.S. He found out that nearly his entire squad was wiped out the day after he had been taken out of the war.
"I just went off the deep end," said Braniff, who sees a counselor weekly and is being treated for PTSD. During his first return visit, in 1996, he found a pagoda where he and his platoon leader had killed two North Vietnamese soldiers.
"I just felt like a load was lifted off me," he said.
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What is the sense in that?
No one has the answer I guess.
I like Lee Iaccoca's thoughts. "We decided to bring democray to Iraq instead of bringing it to our friend Saudi Arabia. Shouldn't we give our greatest present to out friends?"
Remember you will never get someone to agree with you when you kill their mothers, children, sisters, and their old. If you think you will you are sadly mistaken.
report abuse
Only politicians decide to get involved it wars,the rest of us decide to fight or run. It's never a mistake to stand behind this country.
Take a moment every day to thank all who serve. report abuse
I read this article a couple of days ago about Senator Chuck Hagel and his brother having the same experience:
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/04/30/hagel_brothers/report abuse
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