William Fritz

Franklin, Pennsylvania - United States Army

I enlisted into the army in 1966 after graduating from high school in 1965.  I went to officer’s candidate school at age 18 and was made a second lieutenant when I was 19.  I was a company commander in the combat engineers during Vietnam.  I returned home and enrolled in the University of Connecticut and a year later I became active in anti-war protests.  Before it became a recognized medical condition, I suffered from PTSD and essentially walked the streets for about two years.  A lot happened during this time.  Eventually, I got into medical school after completing my undergraduate at the University of Connecticut.  I received my medical degree from Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City and my orthopedic residency at the University of Pittsburgh.  And for the first 30 years I practiced in Franklin, Pennsylvania.

I returned to Vietnam in 1989 and 1991 doing volunteer orthopedic surgery work at the Hue hospital.  I have been back to Vietnam several times since, taking motorcycle trips across Laos, Cambodia, and North Vietnam.  I have been there a total of eight times now.  In 1989, it was still extremely communist and freedom was limited.  It is a much different country today.  Looking back, I feel like I had more freedom in Hanoi than I did in the United States.  I believe my life was significantly shaped by my experiences in Vietnam.  When I came home, I was alone and I did not want to be a veteran.  Despite this, I was not accepted by the anti-war community that I so desperately wanted to be a part of. 

My views on the war, communism, and freedom in America have dramatically changed over the past 50 years.