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 A lifelong Saigon resident, he joined the RVN Marines in 1960, at the age of 17, and fought in many battles over the next four years. Places like Go Khuc and Tran Giuoc and he was promoted to Corporal and awarded several medals. But finally was very badly wounded in Chu Lai at a battle in Quang Ngai. He was the only survivor of a ten-man assault on an enemy position. He lost the use of both legs and his left arm. His skull was shattered and his brain exposed, but a skillful surgeon saved his life.
His condition makes it impossible to work at all, and since 1975, when the RVN pension stopped, he has had to depend on his relatives for support. He and his wife live with one of their children. He has diabetes, high blood pressure, and problems with his liver, stomach and bone damage. They need some help to pay for all his medical care. He worries about his daughter moving away someday and then he and his wife will be totally on their own. |
He was still in hospital when the war ended, and he and the other recovering soldiers were forced to leave and try to get home on their own. There was no help, and no artificial leg until the Red Cross gave him one in 1992. With that and a crutch for the other side, he can get around a bit, but still has never been able to hold any kind of regular job. He and his children sell lottery tickets, and sometimes sort through garbage, or do any minor jobs they can get. His health has been declining, and he needs regular medication for a stomach problem, which is a very burdensome expense. They could really benefit from some extra income to make life more secure. |
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Born in 1955, this man joined the ARVN Rangers at the age of 17, and within a year was wounded during the Easter Offensive of 1972 in Binh Long, An Long. He recovered and returned to duty, fought at Lai Thieu, An Son, and Dong Soai, but in August 1974 he was part of an assault on a VC staging area in Cha Bong district Quang Ngai. In that operation he stepped on a mine, and lost both legs. 
This man was serving in the Army in 1975, and was wounded badly by a mine explosion, losing one leg and having the other maimed. He was still in the hospital being treated when the war ended. After the fall of RVN, he and all the other ARVN soldiers in the hospital were thrown out. As a result, his leg never healed properly and pains him all the tiem. Even with crutches his mobility is very limited. He makes a very scanty living selling lottery tickets, and lives in a bare concrete block house.
This man lost both legs to a mine, amputated to the hips. He lives in the middle of Viet Nam, where the winter can be cold, as it was the day this was taken. His family lives in a small, bare house with no heat at all. His aged mother sitting behind him is holding a tin with some coals in it to warm her hands. He has no help from the government, but got his wheelchair a few years ago from a US charity. His children help support him and he does what minor jobs he can as well.
Another victim of a mine, living in a two-room concrete house with his wife and young son. This was taken in winter, and the boy is wearing a sweater and gloves against the cold, but is barefoot on the chilly concrete floor. The man, like so many other crippled veterans, sells lottery tickets day by day to feed his family and pay the rent. They are short of money for medical expenses and have a very sparse diet.
