Michael O’Meara has written a poignant memoir, The Long Return, about his experiences as a young draftee in the Vietnam War, and the reception he received on his return back home.  He speaks with host Tony Castañeda on the Thursday 8 O’Clock Buzz and describes how he was inducted into the U.S. Army in 1968 when his grades dipped below the allowable threshold for deferment at the UW-Madison, and the daily terror that he faced as he struggled to survive in the jungles of Vietnam.

Being one of the lucky ones to successfully negotiate his tour of duty, he returned home and was met with “scorn and derision” from a society that had turned against the war, and he knew that his journey hadn’t yet ended and needing to survive in an inhospitable landscape once more.

Photo by Chris Kofoed on Unsplash

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