2025 Addendum to The Saigon Guns, by John T. Hoffman
In February of 2024 a box arrived at our home via the US Mail. The box had no return address or indication as to who sent it. Inside were more than 500 pages of my military records, most of which I already had copies and, for the most part, were routine records of my military service before and after my duty in South Vietnam in 1971 and 1972. But interspersed within the stack of records were documentation of my service in South Vietnam, many of which I had never seen before. Many of these documents from Vietnam had been marked as classified, but with the classification marked through with the word “declassified.” Here, finally, was documentation of my service with the 48th AHC and F Troop, 8th Cavalry in 1972! Who sent the records and why, at this late date remains a mystery. But what is clear is that our combat service records from that period were sequestered for some reason and withheld from our official military records.
On the medical front, in late 2024 I was again diagnosed with cancer. This time it was a form of metastatic throat cancer, another common cancer for Vietnam veterans. After an initial biopsy and removal of 28 lymph nodes in my neck, one of my VA Doctors recommended that I undergo treatment at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. After an initial assessment by oncology at Walter Reed in February of 2025, I was scheduled for chemo and radiation treatment. In March of 2025 my wife and I moved up to Bethesda, MD for a three-month course of chemo and radiation at Walter Reed. Even though this was the most current, high-tech and comprehensive treatment available, it was as close to medieval as anything I have ever experienced. The doctors told me at the outset that this was one of the most painful and difficult courses of cancer treatment that one can experience. I underwent multiple courses of chemo and 35 rounds of radiation to my neck. The latter weeks of the treatment were simply brutal. I lost around 45 pounds and was so debilitated by the end that I could barely function. I was able to avoid a feeding tube and continued to eat on my own, but only in very, very small portions. Recovery took months, of course. But today I am just about as functional and capable as I was before the treatment, though I am quite a bit smaller. I can do most anything I did before, though I have much less stamina and have to pace myself. I can eat most things, but due to the damage in my throat from the radiation, swallowing remains difficult. I have to eat food in very small amounts. So, eating a normal meal takes me longer than most. I have also lost some of my ability to taste things. Eating food is no longer the enjoyable part of the day that it once was. A small sacrifice, I suppose, but eating is now more of a chore than a pleasure. All that said, I have been able to maintain my new weight …… which is 20 pounds less than when I was in Vietnam! I have, for sure, fared better than most Vietnam veterans who have suffered through the various cancers that are caused by our service in South Vietnam. A large part of that is clearly the amazing care I received over the years from the team at Walter Reed. For that I am most grateful.
