Fred Grimm
U.S. Army
1968-1970 (Wounded August 12, 1969)
39th Combat Engineer Battalion, Americal Division
LZ Dottie - Quang Ngai Province
D.O.V.E. Fund member since 2000

I was sent to Vietnam April 1969 and served as a combat engineer in Quang Ngai Province. I never worked so hard in my life.
I had spent every moment for four months concerned about what the next moment might bring to myself and my buddies. My main goal had been to make it out of that hot, steamy country alive. On August 12, 1969, I was wounded and left Vietnam for
a hospital in Japan. I fully expected that once I healed I would be released from the hospital and sent back to Vietnam. Instead, I got orders to go back to "The World".

In 2002 I did go back to Vietnam - this time by my own accord, through the D.O.V.E. Fund. I was scared and not entirely sure of what I was going to experience. Needless to say, that D.O.V.E. Fund trip was a very rewarding experience for me, and I have made six more trips since then, to help the poorest kids in Quang Tri Province. For me, going back with the D.O.V.E. Fund was the best way for me to revisit a country that I had thought about thousands of times. I have never regretted making the decision to go back.

The best to all of you that served and God Bless You.