Chuck Searcy, a Vietnam veteran, has spent the past 19 years working to clean up leftover bombs in the southeast Asian country.
Searcy served doing military intelligence in the Vietnam War in the 1960s. He was stationed in the area currently known as Ho Chi Minh City, reported Military Times. After working government jobs for most of his life after service, Searcy felt moved to return to Vietnam in the 1990s. He joined a group that specialized in giving braces to children affected by bombs, and has devoted himself to assisting bomb victims ever since, noted the source.
According to Military Times, 15 million bombs were dropped on Vietnam during the war. Many of these are unexploded cluster bombs that release smaller explosives known as bomblets. These are small in size and often picked up by curious children. Project Renew's website noted that an estimated 10 percent of those bombs remain unexploded.
Project Renew reported that 100,000 deaths and injuries have been caused by these explosive remnants of war, or ERW, since the end of the Vietnam war in 1975. Most of these are located in the Quang Tri Provence. It is the area previously known as the Demilitarized Zone, and it is where Searcy focuses his work.
According to Project Renew, its initiative is divided into three components. Firstly, ERW survey and clearance. Next, it educates local people on what the explosives look like and what to do if they see any. It also offers assistance to victims.
Searcy returns to his home in Georgia once a year to raise money for the cause, according to Military Times. As of now, he still feels he has work left in Vietnam and has no plans to move home permanently.