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• Burglary suspects are under arrest

• Mayor Larry Hansen points out Lodi's economic progress

• Lodi veteran recounts close calls in Vietnam

• First phase of Lockeford park by 2011?

• Regional Roundup

• Lodi Muslim: Local mosque not involved

February 9th, 2010

• Middle College High School rated one of the best — and a bargain, to boot

• Lodi decathlon boasts top team in county

• Man who sparked counterfeit case pleads guilty

• Local businessman will visit Haiti to look for family

• Man who claimed to be Yosemite Sam pleads guilty to meth charge

• David Harmer seeks Republican congressional nod

• Lack of evidence in case against suspect in 'drug deal' stabbing

• Regional Roundup

February 8th, 2010

• Public Meetings

• Locals pick best, most memorable Super Bowl commercials

• Regional Roundup

February 6th, 2010

• The Home Depot hopes to join Costco at Reynolds Ranch

• Meet Larry, Curly and Moe

• Baboon business

• Regional Roundup

• Several Lodi venues let you watch the Super Bowl in style

• Lodi Library celebrates 100 years of serving the community

• Culinary craft

February 5th, 2010

• Kids, teachers help Haiti by collecting pennies for Learning Link

• Lodi, Galt students reach out to help Haiti earthquake survivors

• Tasered suspect claims he is Yosemite Sam

• Hours of sweat and work go into putting on crab feeds

• Things looking up for state's real estate

• Correction

• Regional Roundup

• Stray bullet strikes Lodi home; police suspect gang activity may be factor

February 4th, 2010

• Managers at Geweke Toyota answer questions about recall

• Lodi City Council votes to replace play structure at Century Park

• Lodi extends ban on pot shops for another year

• Mokelumne River triathlon set for June

• Family, friends to run half-marathon in memory of Galt family

February 3rd, 2010

• Correction

• Delta College trustees again collide over stipend committee

• Bad bugs, weeds are hot topics at Grape Day

• Lodi-area senators Dave Cox, Lois Wolk admit to gifts; Tom Berryhill case pending

• Lodi Unified School District president issues warning to speakers over cuts

• Galt City Council avoids budget cuts — for now

• New Lodi Memorial Hospital emergency room opens to the public without a hitch

• Regional Roundup

February 2nd, 2010

• Local business leaders say tourism, Costco, Home Depot may play roles in city's future

• Correction

• Former Lodian Erica Davis is first paraplegic woman to summit Kilimanjaro

• Regional Roundup

• No snow leopards, otters for Micke Grove

• McNerney leads in campaign cash

• Police: Train victim was a Lodi teen

• Big rig plows 7 cars

• Jumpers across California

The following stories have received the most reader comments during the last 7 days.

• Will terrorists be given Miranda warnings? (75)
• Lodi Unified School District president issues warning to speakers over cuts (64)
• President Obama's first year (45)
• Many reject the politics of 'no' (45)
• Islamic symbol in mosaic — what is all the fuss? (44)
• Writer comments on Neely column (42)
• The Home Depot hopes to join Costco at Reynolds Ranch (41)
• Time to shed the convenient sham of 'Don't ask, don't tell' policy (34)
• We need to conduct respectful conversations (30)
• Tasered suspect claims he is Yosemite Sam (25)

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Lodi veteran recounts close calls in Vietnam

Jim Wilson had been in college four weeks in 1966 when a school counselor called him into an office and said there was a slight problem: He'd been drafted into the U.S. Army.

The Oroville native, who now lives in Lodi, found himself traveling to Oakland for a physical. Then he got on a bus that he thought would take him home for at least a little while. That didn't happen.

Instead, he was heading toward active duty in the middle of the Vietnam War.

The math major heard that volunteering to join the 101st Airborne Division would greatly increase his chances of going to Germany rather than Vietnam, so that's what he did. Wilson graduated from flight school, but because his last name fell in the N to Z range, he went to Vietnam anyway.

His first night in Vietnam, Wilson's company was "overran" and most of his new buddies died. That day Wilson had been assigned to a machine gun because the soldier manning it had been caught sleeping; he thinks that assignment, which sent him to a slightly different location, is the reason he lived.

Wilson spent nearly a year in Vietnam, hiding in rain-filled holes and participating in eight major operations, the shortest lasting 15 days and the longest going on for 91 days.

"That represents 91 days in the field — we did not come out. Our jungle fatigues rotted off," Wilson said Thursday as he recounted his experiences for the Lodi Rotary Club's weekly lunch meeting, where many of the members are also veterans.

"We were the ready alert group for Vietnam at the time, so many times we'd be called out of battle to a bigger battle," he said.

A week before Wilson was to leave Vietnam in August 1967, he was wounded. His injuries required months of hospitalization and rehabilitation.

Wilson remained in the Army, and the next year he was sent to help when riots broke out at the Democratic National Convention in Illinois. Rioters had actually chased National Guard soldiers away, sometimes forcibly taking their weapons from them, Wilson said.

He still remembers a commander telling the troops that their sole mission was to take back the streets.

"In eight hours we had done it, but it wasn't a pleasant thing," he said.

Wilson was eventually discharged from the Army and became a businessman, eventually making his home in Lodi.

He and several Vietnam veterans put together a slide show of photos to show what they saw and experienced during their time overseas. Wilson also talks to today's soldiers who have done tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Despite being attacked from every side in the jungles of Vietnam, Wilson said he feels those serving in the Middle East have an even harder challenge.

Soldiers go on patrols, sometimes entering homes to look for weapons, and they never know what is on the other side of a door. Others man checkpoints, never knowing if an approaching truck is loaded with explosives that are about to detonate, Wilson said.

He steered clear of most political references, but Wilson did have an opinion about the postponed decision of which direction the government will go in Afghanistan: "Either we support these kids, or we bring them home."

Contact reporter Layla Bohm at layla@lodinews.com.