He served in Vietnam so how old is he? He is a product of his generation.

I've heard an elderly friend of mine use the word "negro" a couple of times in the course of a decade that I've known her. This was the word used when she was a child.

Am I going to get confrontational with an 85 year old woman?

Particularly when, by her actions - she is not a racist. She has mentored several international students, some from Africa. When one black girl was stranded as her dorm room was not available, my friend gave her a place to stay until it became available.

She also hired blacks and advocated for them to get raises when she found out they were not being fairly treated.

She also had several non-white friends such as myself.

I never saw her as a racist, but as a product of her time. People can't help when they were born.

Similarly, the author is an older guy who fought in Vietnam.

He had a black tent-mate that he wanted to be friends with. He obviously liked and respected the guy.

Would a real racist regret not being able to be friends with a black man?

I'm not white and I don't think the guy is a racist. I'm also an amateur historian (master's degree in the subject) and too often I've seen the PC police try to muzzle the sharing of historically accurate information.

But if we censor any history we find unpleasant, we cannot learn from our mistakes. The experiences that the author describes were typical for that era.

Instead of just assuming the guy is racist, why not educate him kindly? T

It's better to work together to eradicate racism.