It was Dec. 20, 1965, just four days into his first deployment, when U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Bob Jeffrey climbed into an F-4 Phantom and took off over North Vietnam. His mission was to provide air-to-air protection for a strike on a railroad bridge near the Chinese border. Then, in a matter of seconds, everything changed. Anti-aircraft fire tore into his F-4. A loud thump. Warning lights flashed. And then, as Jeffrey would later recall, “the aircraft blew up and disintegrated in a fireball.”
Moments later, Jeffrey’s parachute opened just 400 feet above the ground. As he fell, rifle fire rose towards him from below. He hit the ground hard, breaking his back and suffering other injuries. Armed farmers quickly surrounded him. His hands were bound behind his back. He was interrogated, subjected to a mock execution, hogtied and thrown into the back of a truck bound for Hanoi.
In Jeffrey’s own words, it was “the beginning of a journey and I had no idea what was going to happen.”
That journey lasted seven years.
More than 3 million Americans served in Vietnam. Lt. Col. Bob Jeffrey was one of them. And like so many of those who served, when he finally came home, the country that sent him to war was not there to welcome him back.
The work I do today with the Gary Sinise Foundation began, in many ways, with the Vietnam veterans on my wife’s side of our family. In the 1970s and 1980s, they gave me a personal education on how bravely our Vietnam veterans fought, and how poorly they were treated when they came home.
Their stories had a profound impact on me, eventually shaping my portrayal of Vietnam veteran Lt. Dan Taylor in the film Forrest Gump. In the decades since, supporting those who served and telling their stories has become my life’s mission. Along the way, I have learned that the weight of service does not disappear when the uniform comes off. It is carried forward, quietly, in the body and in the memory, and for too many Vietnam veterans, in the absence of the welcome home they deserved.
That is what drew me to Where We Once Stood, a new documentary following a group of Vietnam veterans as they returned to Vietnam for the first time since the war ended.
The documentary, produced by Veterans United Home Loans, follows a group of veterans, including Jeffrey, as they return to a place that shaped their lives forever. Together, they revisit the past and a bond forged through experiences few outside their ranks can fully understand.
For most Americans today, the Vietnam War is history encountered in books, documentaries and memorials. But for the men and women who served there, Vietnam is not history. It is personal.
The veterans profiled in the film represent the breadth of American experience in Vietnam.
Between 1964 and 1973, 1.7 million American men were drafted into military service. Beginning in 1969, the draft was determined by a televised birthday lottery. All men were required to register at age 18 and remained eligible through age 26, though college and occupational deferments disproportionately benefited those with greater means.
More than 50 years later, these men returned to a place that changed their lives. But perhaps the deeper story of Where We Once Stood is not simply that they went back to Vietnam. It is what happened after they first came home… How they built lives, raised families and carried with them the memories of a war and those who served beside them.
The effects of service do not disappear when the uniform comes off. Veterans carry their experiences with them, including the visible and invisible wounds, the memories of friends who never came home, the loss of a community and camaraderie unlike any other, and challenges that change but never entirely disappear with time.
Where We Once Stood ensures that these stories, and the sacrifices behind them, are not forgotten.
I have long believed that we can never do enough to honor the men and women who have served our country. But we can always do a little more.
Listen to these veterans. Learn their stories. Honor their sacrifice. Stand beside them.
And to every Vietnam veteran who never received the welcome you deserve: Thank you for your service to our country.
Welcome home.
Gary Sinise is an award-winning actor, humanitarian, and founder of the Gary Sinise Foundation. Where We Once Stood was produced by Veterans United Home Loans and is available to stream on Prime Video in the U.S. in honor of Veterans Day.
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