As of today, we are no longer enemies

A soldier’s long journey to forgiveness

Richard Luttrell was just eighteen when, in 1967, he came face to face with a North Vietnamese soldier on a jungle trail near Chu Lai. The man had his weapon raised but chose not to fire. Luttrell, trained to kill without hesitation, did not do the same. Afterward, as fellow soldiers searched the man’s body, a photograph slipped to the ground—an image o…