VIETNAM IN 1969: A true story

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VIETNAM IN 1969: A true story

In 1969, as an 18-year old, I went to Vietnam.

Not to fight of course, but as a short-term "tourist".

It was a brief event in a long life but confirmed for me even at that early age that here was a war which could not be won by traditional military means. I thought the same of various countries in the Middle East when I flew over them some decades later.

A few years ago I was invited to speak on radio about Vietnam, a country I went back and visited properly in '95 (the year after it was opened up for tourism, and there were damn few of us) and then again in '97.

It was an Anzac Day programme so my recollections are peppered with music of the Vietnam era.

The programme is here

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