Sgt. Doug Nichols of Englewood spent only 4 months in Vietnam because his mother was dying

Because his mother was dying of cancer back home, Sgt. Doug Nichols of Englewood, Fla.

spent four months in Vietnam during the war. He was assigned to the Americal Division:

Company A, 4th Battalion, 54 Infantry Regiment.

His unit was stationed at I-Corps near the DMZ in the highlands. Their home base was Chu Lai when they were weren’t out in the field chasing the enemy through the brush.

“I flew into Cam Ranh Bay from the states on April 2, 1970,” he recalled recently. “Then they flew me on a C-130 to Chu Lai where the Americal Division was stationed. I remember walking into division headquarters and the radio operator was on the air. The division was under fire in the jungle and people were getting killed. He was in tears.”

When Nichols made it out with his unit in the field they spent their time searching for North Vietnam Regulars and Vietcong guerrillas…