Veterans Return to Vietnam, Carrying the Spirits of Their Fellow Servicemen  

Health issues also delayed Gimbel: He was diagnosed with prostate cancer, a condition the Army attributed to his exposure to Agent Orange during his military service.

The full biking group consisted of 12 men and women of various ages, with the two veterans leading the pack as the oldest members.

“What I’m most excited about is actually seeing Vietnam. I spent the majority of my time hiding out in the jungle trying my best not to be captured or killed,” Gimbel said before the trip. “I’ve never been to a restaurant in Vietnam, never held any Vietnam dong [the currency], and never traveled the roads in anything other than a military convoy.”

Revisiting Vietnam memories

Their itinerary included visiting with locals, kayaking on the Mekong River delta, and biking approximately 392 miles from Hue City, site of a major battle in the Tet Offensive, to Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon. Sovern printed a short poem from the John O’Donohue book To Bless the Space Between Us, with English on one side and Vietnamese on the other, which he planned to give to the people he met as a means “to express our feelings about friendships and meeting new people.”

Along their route, the group took several stops, including the site of the 1968 My Lai massacre, where they planned to burn incense and lay gifts to pay reverence and respect to the victims.

Upon reaching the jungles in and around Pleiku, where they served, Sovern and Gimbel had a host of plans and expectations.

“Marc and I are both interested in whether we’d be able to identify, 55 years later, any of these natural landscapes or landmarks because the country is obviously so lush with vegetation,” Sovern said before the trip. “You think about how quickly things grow in the jungle. Even areas that were defoliated would be very thick now.”

Gimbel took a few patroller rations to eat in a quiet place and try to recapture the feelings he experienced over a half-century ago, a moment when he was “in my own little world, a little bit safe.” 

“I have a picture of myself as a 22-year-old kid sitting in the jungle leading the mission,” he said. “It was a happy moment because we were eating food and nobody was shooting at us.”

Register to watch a live interview with Sovern and Gimbel as they recount their journey back to Vietnam after nearly 55 years. Join us on Friday, April 12 at 12:30 p.m. ET as they share their experiences, reflections, and the tributes they paid. Meanwhile, check out the group's Facebook page to see updates, images and stories from their trip.