PORT ANGELES — John Nutting thinks of his work building schools in Vietnam as a kind of healing.
It’s healing between the nations after the war he fought in years ago.
It’s healing for the wounds he received there.
And it’s healing between former soldiers like himself and those who were war detractors.
Nutting, 62, who lives in Port Angeles, joined Longview resident Thuy Vo when Vo created Project Uplift to build schools for elementary-age and younger children in rural areas of Vietnam.
Now the pair is at it again, and a new trip for summer 2011 is planned.
Money raised
All of the money for the schools is raised through the nonprofit organization, and some of the labor is provided by volunteers who pay their own way to Vietnam and work for a couple weeks while also exploring the country’s culture.
Vo said it costs about $20,000 per school and the group — now at about 40 people and still accepting people who wish to go — hopes to construct two schools while visiting next year.
Nutting’s story began as a young man fighting as a Marine lance corporal in Vietnam in 1966.
While he was near Ban Hai, a motor round exploded near him.
The blast severely injured his right leg and wounded his back and left leg as well.
“One of the most emotional things for me was to return to the very place that I was injured,” Nutting said.
“Thuy made sure that we went there. He wasn’t really sure how I’d react, but he took us there.”
After recovery
After he recovered in the hospital, he joined a group of snipers and finally returned home for good in December 1967.
“When I first joined, I was a grunt man [an anti-tank man], so when we were in a battalion-sized ambush, I was wounded by the mortar,” he said.
“Me and about six other guys from my outfit joined some snipers after we were wounded because we had shooting expertise.”
On the group’s second trip in 2005, Vo had another surprise up his sleeve.
When arranging who should be roommates, he put Nutting in a room with Joe Green, who had protested the war and left the country to avoid the draft.
“I knew both of them personally, and I didn’t know how they would react to each other,” Vo said.
“So I kept it a secret until about two hours before we flew to Vietnam.
“I pulled them aside and told them.
“But it has been a really good thing because now John and Joe are like the best of friends.
“And being in Vietnam affected Joe just as much as John.”
The two continued to bond as they worked side-by-side to provide buildings for school children in Vietnam.
Nutting met Vo, a Vietnam native, in Longview where Nutting’s mother worked with Vo’s wife at an Early Head Start Program.
Immediate friends
“We immediately became friends,” Nutting said.
“We had dinner the first time, and he approached me later and told me thank you for fighting for his country.
“I was so moved, I couldn’t even say anything.
“No one else had ever said those words to me.”
The idea for Project Uplift came from a similar dinner. Friends were encouraging Vo to return to Vietnam for a visit.
“He kept saying he had no reason to go back,” Nutting said.
Said Vo, “So friends came up with a reason for me.”
The idea was to build schools that could provide educational opportunities like the Early Head Start Programs in the United States in which children 3 to 5 years old are prepared for elementary school.
Since then, the group has built five schools.
The two new schools will be constructed in Que Ninh, Que Son county, and one in Gio Linh in the Ben Hai region.
The dedications are regularly held on July 4.
“It is my little joke for the [communist] government,” Vo said.
The total cost of building the schools is $46,000 including some labor by locals who will help the teams out.
So far, the group has raised about $6,000 and is anticipating receiving a $20,000 grant, which means it still needs to raise about $20,000, Vo said.
For more information on Project Uplift, traveling with the group or donating, phone Vo at 360-557-0038.
__________
Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.