Author's Name: Thomas Ehlers

Title: "Summer 1966"

I was in Viet Nam the entire year of 1966. That summer, a few miles south of Da Nang, an ARVAN, (South Viet Nam Soldier), was walking next to one of our tanks when an enemy mortar round came in.  It bounced off of the tank and lodged inside the ARVAN soldier's side between his skin and ribcage without exploding.

To operate, the US doctors built an operating room with sandbags. They had him standing while they operated through a small window in the sandbag wall.  They used long handled instruments to remove the round.

I couldn't stick around to see the outcome. I would like to think that the Soldier lived to be an old man such as myself.