Hundreds gathered to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of Southeast Asian conflicts during the Cold War era, including the Vietnam War and the Secret War. The conflicts resulted in thousands of immigrants, including veterans and refugees, settling in the U.S.

It was Sunday, Nov. 14, 1965, just after dark when I climbed aboard a Huey helicopter filled with crates of ammunition and hand grenades and hitched a ride into the pages of history.

South Vietnam, May 20, 1965: U.S. helicopters rake the perimeter of a landing zone with rockets and machine-gun fire before dropping off troops brought in from Binh Hoa.

After years of advising the South Vietnamese against the communist North, and months of chasing black-clad guerrillas, a large formation of American troops faced well-trained, well-equipped regulars of the People’s Army of Vietnam.

South Vietnam, July 1965: A fire mission caught Sgt. Homer Charnock of Bravo Battery, 319th Artillery, in the middle of shaving, so he dropped his razor and rushed into position to man his gunsight.

Vietnam had been Lyndon Johnson’s war, and it destroyed his presidency. Richard Nixon entered the White House on Jan. 20, 1969, anxious to avoid Johnson’s fate.

Fifty years after leading a company of soldiers up Hamburger Hill, Gerald “Bob” Harkins sees the assault against burrowed-in North Vietnamese army forces no differently than he did then.

Four months, 24/7 bombing with no letup.