An early letter home from the Vietnam War (Part 1)
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- November
- 1
“It’s a strange feeling and very hard to get accustomed to the idea that there’s a war going on, but I have convinced myself to keep my eyes open and my gun ready.”
Those are the closing lines of one of my father’s first letters home during his service in Vietnam, written April 1, 1967 on the back of this large military map of the country.
Click below to hear him read the letter. I will post a video version tomorrow.
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Wow what a story! It is hard to imagine how anyone could survive a real war and also return back home, going on with their lives unattached by what had happened. I think the above letter shows us that in a war situation you are constnantly faced with the idea of getting killed therefore you must always be ready to fight back in order to survive.
Nicole Neroulias describes us with the above letter the fears and the daily turmoil that was going on inside a soldier’s mind during the Vietnam War.
Great article!