# Arms to Vietnam **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 3, 2013, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arms-to-vietnam/662501 "2013-07-03T02:18:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arms-to-vietnam/662501/1 "2013-07-03T02:18:07Z")
Quite literally. A US Army doctor amputated the gangrenous right arm of a captured North Vietnamese soldier in 1966. The doctor kept the arm as a souvenir at his home back in Texas – maybe in case he ever needed to lend a hand to his neighbors, dunno. On Monday of this week, almost 50 years later, the doctor met up with his former patient in Hanoi and returned the arm, which is looking a bit worse for wear after all these years. And there was much rejoicing. Story [here](http://www.stripes.com/news/pacific/american-doctor-returns-vietnamese-veteran-s-arm-1.228349). ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arms-to-vietnam/662501/2 "2013-07-03T04:13:19Z")
That’ll come in handy. Maybe he’ll turn it into a back scratcher ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arms-to-vietnam/662501/3 "2013-07-03T04:19:03Z")
I believe there’s a cultural belief there that you must have all of your bones when your family reburies you after a certain amount of time has elapsed. This I recall from a mass firing-squad execution in Vietnam some years ago of some convicted drug smugglers. Reports were the other condemned prisoners chastised this one lady for not wearing socks for the execution, because socks help keep the foot bones together for later reburial. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arms-to-vietnam/662501/4 "2013-07-03T05:18:52Z")
Eeww. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arms-to-vietnam/662501/5 "2013-07-03T15:30:18Z")
I wonder how he would travel with that. Being a doctor, he probably knows how to accommodate something like this. But the security X-ray techs might get a surprise.