VIETNAM-VET RACERS WON'T RUN FROM PAST

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, February 15, 1992                   TAG: 9202150042
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: SAN JOSE, CALIF.                                LENGTH: Medium
VIETNAM-VET RACERS WON'T RUN FROM PAST
The last time George Gentry was in Vietnam, a mine threw him to the ground - a crimson dirt road surrounded by the lush greenery of a tropical land. The vivid colors still haunt him.
This weekend, he and several Vietnam veterans, some - like Gentry - in wheelchairs, plan to compete in the Ho Chi Minh City International Marathon to chase away ghosts of the past.
To them, it will always be Saigon.
"It's easier to say Saigon. That's how I remember it," said Gentry, of Long Beach, Calif. "Actually, I was wounded about 40 miles from the city. I never actually got to go there."
Veteran Jim Barker, 45, of San Jose, came up with the idea to return to Vietnam for the country's first major athletic event since the war's end.
As a stranger in a strange land, Barker never gave up running; when he wasn't dodging bullets in the bush, he was dodging potholes and mortar marks in training runs along country roads. In 1972, the man fighting next to him was shot in the head during an ambush. And still, Barker ran.
"I always varied my course, and I trained hard, so I knew I presented a difficult target," Barker said.
Watching the movie "Platoon" a couple of years ago brought the images of war and running back to the marathoner as Sgt. Elias, played by Willem Dafoe, sprinted through the jungle in a hail of enemy fire that cut him down.
"I was right with him on every stride," said Barker. "I thought, `My God! Stay low, stay down, don't tire out!"'
The marathon, where more than 300 runners are expected, is evidence of new international cooperation, said Le Buu, a former Viet Cong soldier who's directing the race Sunday for the city's Sports and Gymnastic Service.
In April 1975, the city fell to the North Vietnamese Communist forces as Americans and South Vietnamese fled.
About 50 competitors are coming from the United States, including a few veterans and some who protested the war, such as marathoner Bill Rodgers.
Rodgers, who held the American marathon record from 1975 to 1980, was a conscientious objector and did alternative service in a hospital.
Bob Farmer, another veteran from Long Beach, sees a chance for personal healing and leaving the past behind.
Farmer, 43, was only 19 when shrapnel blinded him in both eyes during an ambush while he was patrolling a demilitarized zone between North and South Vietnam. He later regained his sight in his left eye, but two years after he left Vietnam on a stretcher, he was paralyzed in a motorcycle accident.
Gentry, 50, plans to return to the humid jungle spot where he forever lost the use of his legs on Dec. 8, 1967.
"You don't forget days like that," said Gentry.
"I remember seeing the blue sky contrasting with the green rubber trees and grass alongside the road. It was a red road. I want to see the place one more time to see how much it's changed."

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB