On October 20, 1962, Campbell University professor Paul Raisig and members of his Eagle Flight landed in a rice paddy near Rach Gia,Vietnam, where the Viet Cong were hiding. The enemy sprayed their helicopter with rifle fire. Raisig shot and killed one Viet Cong and helped shoot another.

“I had never killed another human being before,” Raisig writes in his book about the Vietnam War. “It was a terrible feeling that I will never forget, but it was either them or us.”

Through letters to his wife, Carolyn, Raisig’s book, “Letters From a Distant War,” tells the stories of these haunting and unforgettable experiences gained from two combat tours in the jungles and rice paddies of Vietnam. It was America’s longest war and one in which identification of the enemy was often difficult.

“After that initial firefight was over, our helicopters landed and quickly picked us up,” Raisig writes. “We hovered overhead briefly and were dropped in again. We were resting near a tree line when the 21st Infantry Division reserve unit landed by helicopter directly in front of us. This reserve unit was a full-sized South Vietnamese infantry rifle company. They had landed with no guidance and had not been told that we were in the area. They mistook some firing from our unit as Viet Cong and advanced toward us laying down a heavy volume of fire.”

Raisig and the other soldiers in the Eagle Flight were pinned down by friendly fire for as much as 10 minutes. “We didn’t dare move, the fire was so heavy,” he says, “and bullets were flying just above our heads.”

During his first Vietnam tour, 1962-63, Raisig received two Purple Hearts after being wounded twice while leading South Vietnamese soldiers in combat assaults against the Viet Cong. He also received the Combat Infantryman’s Badge. Raisig’s second tour, 1968-69, saw him assume command of the field artillery battalion of the Army’s 173rd Airborne Brigade, one of the first American combat units deployed to Vietnam and one of the most decorated. The battalion of almost 600 paratroopers provided continuous close-support artillery fire to both American and Saigon government forces in contact with the enemy. A number of other artillery battalions were also placed under Raisig’s operational control during this time. The areas of responsibility ranged from the mountainous Central Highlands along the Cambodian border to the coastline on the South China Sea.

“What a crazy, mixed-up war this was with no front lines,” Raisig says. “But you learn to live with it. When you’re in command of troops, you’re more worried about their safety than your own, and, of course, when you’re young, you’re invincible.”

Raisig retired as a Colonel after 26 years in the Army. He is a practicing attorney, graduating from Campbell University’s Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law in 1989, and a former business executive. He joined a Fayetteville law firm, concentrating on Superior Court and District Court litigation and debtor/creditor bankruptcy law. In 1992, the firm dissolved and Raisig has since become a certified mediator for Superior Court civil cases and District Court arbitrator. He is an adjunct professor of business law at Campbell.

“Letters from a Distant War,” is published by Ivy House Publishing Group. Call (800) 948-2786 to obtain a copy of the book.

Bulletin 0320-11/23/04