A local veteran who adopted two boys from Vietnam fifty years ago in the aftermath of the war is reflecting on how faith and family guided him through his service and life as a single father.

Mo Gemme and his adopted sons Larry and Jason were recently greeted by dozens of friends and family at an anniversary celebration for the adoptions, and their unique journey as a family traces back to Mo’s three years serving with the Marines.

During his service, Mo spent a lot of time driving a large vehicle filled with food waste from the mess hall, and all these decades later, he remembers the truck of spoiled food was a lifeline for some people. It was one of several moments which opened his eyes to the suffering happening around him.

“They were just throwing the garbage from the cans into their baskets and eating it as fast as they can, just to survive,” Mo said. “It was the first time I had held a child who was starving, the first time I realized what starving really was.”

Surrounded by hunger, pain and suffering, Mo often felt helpless and took solace in his other role bringing fellow Marines to a local church, where he got to know a nun who introduced him to children in the orphanage.

“One thing happened after another, and I realized that I could adopt, and part of it was, my friends were going home in body bags, and I realized I never said a proper goodbye to my mother,” Mo said.

He wanted to make it home to see his family, and when he did, this idea of starting a new family began to grow.

An inquiry with an adoption agency eventually lead to his sons Larry and Jason making their way to America, a journey captured in a TIME Magazine photo of the two asleep on a plane.

“Life in Vietnam was difficult, but the transition came when I was five, so the transition was a little easier for me than some other people if they were older,” Larry said.

“I have no memories of Vietnam at all, I was in an orphanage, so I don’t really have any memory of anything, my memory of growing up has always been being here in America and it’s great,” added Jason.

Back home as he awaited Larry and Jason’s arrival, Mo was anxious, asking himself questions - ‘What do I know? I’m a single male parent, am I doing the right thing?’

But, on the first night, his friends and family came to the rescue.

“All the people came and put stuff on the table, toys and clothing, and so after everyone left and they’re taking things off the table, I felt so calm,” Mo said. It’s like I wasn’t worried at all.”

In the ensuing years, Mo would go on to adopt several more children, and a father and his sons once surrounded by uncertainty and the horrors of war are now surrounded by love.

“He’s an excellent man, and he’s got a heart as big as gold, and he loves helping people,” Larry said.

“To have these kids as part of my life, I just can’t say enough how happy I am to be with the children and all their extended families, and all the friends that I’ve made,” Mo said. ‘My God, I mean, it’s just because of my kids. What a blessed and full life, and there’s still more to come.”