« More Good News From Iraq - 'Iraqis hate al-Qaeda, too' | Main | The Five Key Myths of Woodward's Book »

October 1, 2006

Hero SF Soldier and Pacifist Nurse - Forever Allied By War

At the end of 1968, he was a 23-year-old Special Forces sergeant from Pueblo, Colo., who was recruited by the CIA to lead small reconnaissance units of South Vietnamese mercenaries, whose mission was to engage the enemy well beyond any notion of a front line. In the course of 56 extraordinary hours, SF Sergent Drew Dix and the modest commando force he led managed to extricate Maggie O'Brien and eight other USAID civilian workers in the midst of withering fire before going back to free the wife and children of a deputy province chief.

Maggie O'Brien was a civilian nurse from Dorchester, a pacifist who answered President Kennedy's clarion call to service by going to Afghanistan with the Peace Corps. She could have nurtured her opposition to war by pulling a Cindy Sheehan and protesting the war at home. Instead she chose to make a pacifist stand by serving the besieged citizenry in the South Vietnamese province of Chau Doc.

Today, Peter Gelzinis has a piece at BostonHerald.com telling of the story of the very diverse paths that led Medal of Honor winner Drew Dix and Peace Corp nurse Maggie O'Brien to the same bullet-riddled house in Vietnam 38 years ago. You won't want to miss, "Hero GI, Dot Pacifist Forever Allied By War," telling of the nurse and the soldier who met in the middle of hell - and who are still good friends 38 years later.

Posted by Richard at October 1, 2006 10:20 PM

• Young Cancer Victim's Dying Wish 'Almost' Fulfilled - Mar 29, 2008
• Little Girl's Dying Wish To See Her Dad Denied By Prison Officials - Mar 24, 2008
• Why Do People Have Sex? - Aug 10, 2007
• Things Just May Be Better Than You Think: 'New insights on poverty and life around the world' - Aug 05, 2007
• Disappearing FROM Civilization - Jun 11, 2007
• "Oh Lebanon, my Lebanon!" - Jun 03, 2007
• Stephen Hawking To Highlight Lou Gehrig's Disease - May 09, 2007
• By Popular Request - May 01, 2007
• Virginia Tech Slaughter Raises Many Questions - Apr 22, 2007
• Virginia Tech Killer's video manifesto - Long Version From CNN & NBC - Apr 19, 2007