Independence Day and Vietnam

On July 4, I am reminded of the P. McCree Thornton quote from his book, “The Star Spangled Son,” that is especially pertinent on this day, the 250th anniversary of the adoption of the United States Declaration of Independence, “To those who have fought for it, freedom has a flavor that the protected will never know.”

On my first trip back to Vietnam, a medical mission to the very area where I left …