Bob Smoker lived in York when he was drafted into the Army and deployed to Vietnam. For years, memories of the war occupied his thoughts,until he went back to Vietnam with his church.
“This Vietnamese guide told about how he takes Americans and some of them are veterans and they go back to battlefield areas where they had served and he said they become very emotional, some cry. And he was asked why the Vietnamese veterans don’t seem to be troubled by their past. And he said ‘Well suppose you and I loved the same girl. We date the same girl at the same time and we have good times and bad times with her. But I win and I marry her, and you go home. Twenty years later all you have left is memories of the girl whereas her and I, we’ve built a whole new life together. And we’ve built a new history together, and all you have is memories.’
I think that’s true for not only the soldiers of the war, but also our country.”