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The immigration officer at the airport in Saigon slid my passport over the scanner at his desk. After consulting his monitor, he remarked in English, ‘Welcome back, Lieutenant.’ I answered in Vietnamese, ‘Thank you, Captain.’ Our eyes met. He dipped his head and smiled. I entered his country, stamped passport in hand, exhilarated at what lay ahead. -Vietnam, Full Circle.
Forty years after serving as the only American combat adviser in a 500-man Vietnamese infantry battalion, Dockery returns to Vietnam as a volunteer. Living for a decade in Saigon, he works with clergy, students, street children, and Vietnamese veterans, gaining striking insights into how both he and Vietnam have transformed since the war.
In clear, polished prose, Vietnam, Full Circle builds on Dockery’s previous book Lost in Translation (Random House, 2003), which detailed his time as a 23-year-old in the war. Now returning to Vietnam as a man in his 60’s, Dockery’s unique perspective allows him to see the ways that ancient customs and modern practices, as well as North-South animosities, have forged the cultural, economic, and political landscape of the country as it is today. With a keen eye, a sense of humor, and an inquisitive outlook, Dockery builds a life in the very place he’d long ago left behind. Appreciating anew the heart and soul of its people, he discovers that it’s never too late in life to fall in love.
