Bill Ervin

Bill Ervin served as a machine gunner in the Marine Corps in Vietnam during 1969 and made his return to Vietnam in 1995. He has been leading veterans back to Vietnam almost every year since and decided to move to the country full time in 2008. He now calls Vietnam home.

Bill Ervin served with the Marine Corps in Vietnam as a machine gunner during 1969. In 1994, he decided to go back to Vietnam and revisit some of the places where he served. That was a turning point on his life. Seeing the country at peace had a profound effect on him. Since that time, he has been leading groups to Vietnam and though, most of the people have been veterans, there have also been many who did not serve there during the war.Ervin currently lives in Da Nang, Vietnam with his wife Anh where they have built a house on China Beach. As a result, he has come to know Vietnam on a level that he wouldn't have dreamed possible 40 years ago. He now calls Vietnam home.

Bill Ervin at the DMZ area during the Vietnam war in 1969.

US Marine: This is why I returned to Vietnam to stay

May 5, 2015Culture

Bill Ervin served as a machine gunner in the Marine Corps in Vietnam during 1969 and made his return to Vietnam in 1995. “Some say that I changed in Vietnam. I say I was born here.”