Hanoi, Vietnam • It was 1974, and a lanky young Mormon missionary from Salt Lake City was sent into the heart of what had been America’s biggest nightmare: Vietnam.
For decades, an unpopular war in Southeast Asia had taken the lives of tens of thousands of U.S. soldiers and hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese, while protests against continued U.S. involvement raged on college campuses and city streets.
By the time 19-year-old Lewis Hassell arrived in Saigon, the war was winding down. The U.S. military had withdrawn, leaving behind mostly American expatriates and contractors. Still, he recalls hearing — and feeling — pops of artillery nearby.