James Seth Dyrek, Vietnam Stories and Korea Stories.

The following is a letter that I sent to my friend, Neil Wilkinson, who fought in the Falkland Islands War, about a story my older brother in Viet Nam told me about.

Dear Neil,

Thank you very much again for writing. We always talk about enemies, but it's not people that are the enemies, it's the governments.

Here's a short story about my older brother Jimmy. He was like me, when we went to another country, we would find that if we got away from the Americans, everyone would treat us very well. Jimmy was in Saigon at the time and he used to go way out to the edge of the city and eat at a restraint where no Americans would go.

One day he was eating some food and he looked up at three men that were entering the door. They were Viet Cong. They had AK-47's and he had chop sticks in his hand. He said that he looked over at his M-14 and thought of grabbing it, but he realized that he would be dead before he even got it in his hand. He spoke Vietnamese so instead of grabbing his gun, he yelled out, "Come and eat with me." So the Viet Cong soldiers did exactly that. They all ate and drank some beer. After they finished their meal, the Viet Cong said that he was a good Joe, but this was their restraint and if he ever came back that they would kill him.

So he picked up his gun and went home. Today he is here to tell us about the story. They weren't his enemy, they were men with parents and families just like you and me. It's the person that makes the difference and what's in their heart, not what country they come from or what color they are.

I have two Vietnamese people that live near me and they own a restraint called the Hong Kong Express. They were boat people and lost everything that they ever had when the Viet Nam war was over. But they are some of my best friends here and some of the most honest and decent people that I know.

I will read your next letter now, so take care and thanks again for writing.

Your friend,

Jeff.