Richard Bartolotti of Valier, Illinois was drafted after high school, joined the Marines and was sent to Vietnam in 1965 where he was involved in dozens of “skirmishes,” as he calls them, and injured by a grenade. Bartolotti reflects on the positive and negative effects of war and military training, and how his experiences shaped his life and perspective on the battlefield and life back home.

Patrick Lam was just nine years old in 1979 when he was forced to leave Lái Thiêu, Vietnam by his grandmother who had organized an escape by boat. He left with his uncle’s family leaving behind his mother and three siblings. After being rescued at sea by the captain of an oil rig, Patrick and his relatives were taken to Kuku Island where Patrick learned self-sufficiency.

This hour on Focus, we’ll hear a documentary produced by University Laboratory High School and WILL, “From the Frontlines to the Home Front: Inside View of the Military 1940-2012.”