"One problem that continues to haunt me had to do with my friend Tom. We became great friends in Officer Basic and Ranger School, as did our wives and kids. He was white, I'm African-American, and we were called "Salt and Pepper." He went to Vietnam before I did, and was badly wounded, paralyzed from the chest down, and wasn't going to get any better. His wife finally called me for help, because he shut her out and wanted a divorce. I went there and talked to him, but I couldn't change his mind. He had grown bitter, and was determined not to ruin his wife's life or his kids'. Finally, he left the house, moved in with a brother, and disappeared. It was a real tragedy, and showed me that not all Vietnam casualties have their names on the wall."
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Original Language: English
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Sources
Harry Lumpkin, as quoted in Our Vietnam Wars: As Told By 100 Veterans Who Served (2018) by William F. Brown, p. 311
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Vietnam_War
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Vietnam War
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