Quote from Annamese

“Thanh boarded his aging C-47 for the flight from Binh Tuy
Province back to Saigon. As the aircraft whined upward, its
two engines shuddering, he looked down on the wandering
La Nga River, the war-scarred town of Hoai Duc, and the
mountains northeast, soaking in the January sunshine.
Only a matter of time before Hoai Duc and its sister towns
of Tanh Linh and Vo Xu fell to the North Vietnamese. Three
North Vietnamese regiments and a newly formed division
were on the move. He’d talked to the anxious soldiers, urged
them to pray and seek serenity, and, although he didn’t use
these words, to prepare for defeat and death. The young
faces looking up as he spoke, the frightened eyes pleading
for hope, had left him depleted. He must not allow himself
to sink into despondence as he had the day Phuoc Binh
was lost. Too much work left to do. Too many hearts to
unburden. Too many souls to comfort.”