"I looked at everything differently [after that] because that was the first time I had ever seen a person die. That’s what changed me." (Video interview, 16:19)

Tedosio Louis Samora

Tedosio Samora [2003] War: Vietnam War, 1961-1975 Branch: Army Unit: 519th Military Intelligence Battalion Service Location: North Carolina; Saigon, Vietnam Rank: E-5 Place of Birth: CA

As part of a Mexican-American family with a strong tradition of military service, Tedosio Samora felt an obligation to volunteer for the Army. Enlisting in 1965, he expected to serve stateside in an administrative capacity--but instead was assigned to a military intelligence battalion working out of Tan Son Nhut Air Base near Saigon. While he enjoyed the landscape and people of Vietnam, the omnipresent violence of life in a war zone--and the violent attitudes of his fellow servicemen--pushed him toward drug and alcohol addiction. Years later, he found solace in returning to Vietnam as a civilian.