“Every day since Vietnam I had thought about Vietnam, the places where we fought, the people we saw, the friends who didn’t come home, the dead soldiers on both sides,” he said.

Nearly 50 years after he enlisted, Lempke returned to Vietnam in June for the first time since the war. He traveled there to participate in a Habitat for Humanity build, as for years, he had dearly wanted to return to Vietnam and contribute to the country’s people.

“I wanted to give something back to the world, I felt a responsibility to contribute something,” Lempke said, noting he wanted to build in honor of the “wonderful people of Vietnam,” and the dear friends he lost in the war.

Lempke was inspired to take the trip after a friend shared an article and video about Vic Romback, an Upper Peninsula Vietnam veteran who had returned to Vietnam four times with Habitat for Humanity.

James Lempke, aged 19, as an infantry solider with the United States Army in Vietnam. (Images courtesy of James Lempke)

“His words really inspired me and hit home,” Lempke said.

While he knew the trip wouldn’t be easy — there was money to raise, a passport and a visa to obtain, as well as emotional and physical considerations about the journey — he knew it would be worth it.

“Just getting there for me, I had to work through a lot of fears,” he said.

Lempke was required to raise $1,500 for the trip, to pay for building materials, lodging and supplies, on top of the cost of airfare. He was hesitant to ask people to contribute, but after some encouragement from a friend, Lempke raised $1,700 in less than two weeks.

“Money came from friends, some from strangers and I was just totally humbled and encouraged,” he said, noting that it gave him a renewed pride in his country to see Americans donating to support the building of homes in Vietnam.

James Lempke, 68, of Gladstone lays bricks for a home being built by Habitat for Humanity for a local family in Thai Binh, Vietnam in June. (Images courtesy of James Lempke)

When Lempke arrived in Vietnam, he joined a team of 30 Americans on the build, including two other people from the U.P.

He said the experience of flying into Hanoi after so many years was “surreal,” as it was the capital of the people he had fought against.

“You go to Hanoi, with these memories,” he said. “And you’re walking down the Old Quarter, and these beautiful tree-lined streets with hot, humid air and the air is filled with smoke and the smell of spices and chicken and sewers and the sound of motorbikes and images of Ho Chi Minh on the building and soldiers with AK-47s standing at attention with the same uniforms that looked like the guys that fought you”

After flying into Hanoi, the group took a bus to Thai Binh to begin their build. The group worked with local skilled laborers and interpreters to build three homes for local families during their time there, with the families assisting every step of the way.

“The homeowners never stopped working,” Lempke said, adding that he was inspired and humbled by their work ethic.

The Habitat for Humanity team that Lempke part of lays bricks on a home being built in Thai Binh, Vietnam in June. Lempke, a veteran of the Vietnam War, returned to Vietnam for the first time since the war to participate in the build, fulfilling a lifelong dream. (Images courtesy of James Lempke)

Throughout the construction process, Lempke said he had many meaningful interactions with American and Vietnamese people involved in the project, as they bonded through laughter, hard work and many heartfelt moments throughout the project.

Lempke credits several “very helpful, compassionate interpreters” for helping him communicate with local people, noting that without them, he would not have been able to have some of the “truly healing experiences” that he had without their help.

Through these interpreters, Lempke said he was able to have one of the “most incredible meetings” he has ever had. The meeting was with Ms. Nu, 68, who was one of the people they were building a home for.

Lempke said he and Nu were able to ask one another about their lives and share stories — through these stories, he found out that Nu lost a husband and three cousins in the war, and Nu found out he had been an American soldier in the war.

He said he tried to express to her that although he fought on the American side of the war, he “always had respect for the people and the land and the history of Vietnam.”

Her response amazed and touched him.

“She looked at me and said, ‘the past is gone and you must leave the hurt and the pain from the past behind and look forward to the future with joy. We are friends, you are my brother now,'” Lempke said.

Lempke said he was grateful for the experience to return to Vietnam, as the opportunity to build a home while healing and connecting with the country’s people fulfilled a lifelong dream.

He was also grateful to be able to share his story with the community Tuesday night in Peter White Public Library’s Shiras Room, a room that holds special meaning for Lempke, as he was inspired by George Shiras’s writings when he came to the Upper Peninsula after the war, seeking nature, solitude, and peace.

“I came here because I felt the opportunity to heal here, the lake, the woods and the people here, it was a good place for me to be after the war,” Lempke said. “And I spent a lot of time on Peter White Lake and George Shiras became a hero to me.”

The U.P. is also where Lempke first saw the Lotus flower, a symbol that returned to him in Vietnam.

“The lotus is a sacred flower to the Vietnamese people, it grows in the muck, but the flower rises above the muck to bloom in this exquisitely beautiful form and it’s a symbol of purity and striving to be better than what you were,” Lempke said. “I saw this symbol everywhere (in Vietnam) and adopted it as a symbol of my journey dealing with the war and my own feelings about what we did to this small country.”