In Mekong Delta backwaters, Vietnam vets find peace in a town that war destroyed
Most foreign veterans who arrive in this swampy stretch of the Mekong Delta make their way to the Oasis Hotel.
The two-story, pale-yellow building on the Ben Tre River boasts a small pool near the open-air dining area and cold beer. They come looking for solace, something stronger than the support groups and pills. Then they meet Ken Horsfall.
This morning, the scent of roast pork wafted through the hotel. Horsfall, the 71-year-old owner from New Zealand, appeared from the front lawn in his usual attire, a half-buttoned, grease-stained shirt. He’d turned the electricity box into a meat smoker.
Horsfall never fought in Vietnam, or the American War, as it’s known here. But in 2008, he and his wife, Nguyen Thi Lieu, settled in one of the towns most devastated by it. She wanted to trace her past; he wanted a new adventure.
more
http://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-vietnam-vets-20170507-story.html
= new reply since forum marked as read
