#Middlebury #Veterans
Were you in Binh Duong, South Vietnam, in May 1969? Were you part of the crew of a 1st Cav airmobile near Lai Khe? Under fire, did you swoop in and pick up two severely injured 1st Infantry soldiers and whisk them to safety? A truck full of soldiers had rolled over a land mine, killing five of them immediately.
Chances are you made so many rescues that you don’t remember. And even if you do remember picking up two seriously injured guys outside Lai Khe, things were moving so fast and furious that you didn’t catch their names.
But one of them definitely remembers you. And he has a message.
That soldier – his name is Rich Newcombe – thinks about you every day. Rich made it to the hospital alive, thanks to you, where he spent eight months. Since then he’s had a good life, finishing college, working and marrying. On the 50th anniversary of the day you rescued him, he sent a letter to a number of newspapers across the country, hoping you would see it. He said, “I hope that you survived as well and have had the same happiness that you have given me to enjoy all these years.” He knows and appreciates the risks you took to go in and get him.
My own father was 1st Cav back in the day, and he wore the yellow insignia on his shoulder with the diagonal black stripe and the horsehead. Knowing what he was like, I wasn’t at all surprised when I read that those who rescued Rich (and so many others during the war) were 1st Cavalry, one the Army’s most decorated combat divisions.
If you were part of that airmobile crew that rescued Rich, thank you … and welcome home.
© 2019 King Features Synd., Inc.
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