Lt. Lee Alley Reflects On Vietnam Experience Nearly 60 Years Later

After nearly 60 years, Lt. Lee Alley returned to Vietnam—not as a soldier, but as a witness to memory, loss, and the possibility of reconciliation. The Wyoming veteran, once a young officer fighting at the 1967 Battle of Firebase Cudgel, retraced his footsteps across a land that had been only a backdrop of combat and chaos in his youth.

“Being there as a young soldier, I witnessed very little aside from death or destruction,” Alley says. “It’s a beautiful country, and I have great respect for it. My eyes are not tainted by war.”

Alley’s journey, filmed for the upcoming Wyoming PBS documentary Home from the Vietnam War, takes viewers inside the mind of a man carrying medals and scars alike: a Distinguished Service Cross, a Silver Star, and a Purple Heart. But more than accolades, Alley carries the weight of memory—and the urge to confront it head-on.

The film is slated for a community first look on March 28 at the National Museum of Military Vehicles in Dubois, a day-long event honoring Vietnam veterans and coinciding with National Vietnam Veterans Day and Wyoming’s Veterans Welcome Home Day. Attendees will walk through the Vietnam War Gallery, witness a Blackhawk landing with Gov. Mark Gordon, and take part in a Welcome Home Ceremony capped by a drum circle. The day concludes with a panel discussion featuring Alley, his wife Ellen, and filmmaker Mat Hames.

Home from the Vietnam War doesn’t shy away from the messiness of memory. Alley is paired with Vietnamese refugee John Nguyen, exploring not just the battlefields and villages of Vietnam, but also the psychological terrain of combat and return. Alley reflects on a lifetime of trauma, the haunting memories every veteran carries, and the need to face them.

“War is a horrific thing, war is terrible,” Alley says. “But we have to come to grips with what we did, why we were there, that we are good people, and we have to live our life going forward. I want people to be able to open up, to share their hurts with their family and their friends, and I hope this film is a healing process for a large portion of the population.”

The documentary and event aim to give veterans—and anyone touched by war—a chance to confront the past, engage with history, and start the conversation many have avoided for decades. Funded in part by the National Museum of Military Vehicles, Wyoming PBS, the Wyoming Veterans Commission, and private donors, the project blends education, reflection, and reconciliation into a single narrative.

For Alley, returning to Vietnam is not just about revisiting a battlefield—it’s about making peace with the ghosts that never left. “The best way to defeat the demons is to face the demons,” he says. And for those who attend the screening, it’s a chance to do the same.