South Side of Memorial Wall | NYC Vietnam Veterans Memorial Plaza

Letters Home from Vietnam Memorial Wall

Excerpts of 83 letters sent home from Vietnam are etched in the memorial’s glass block and granite wall. Below are the inscriptions that appear on the south side of the wall.

One thing worries me… will people believe me? Will they want to hear about it, or will they want to forget the whole thing ever happened?

Lt. Richard W. Strandberg, from Minneapolis, Minnesota, served with River Patrol Sections 533 and 522, operating along the Mekong River, from May 1967-May 1968. A fine artist, he was curator of the first art show about the Vietnam War by those who were there, held in St. Paul, Minnesota, in November 1980. A year later, he brought the show, “The Vietnam Experience,” to New York City, in an exhibit co-curated by Bernard Edelman. He now lives in Mesa, Arizona with his wife, Susan.

10 Sept 67

David,
…most men here believe we will not win the war. And yet they stick their necks out everyday and carry on as if they were fighting for the continental security of the United States. Hard to believe, but true…
Love, Rod 19 Oct 67

Mom and Dad,
…Mom, I appreciate your concern that some of the things you write about are trivial but they aren’t trivial to me. You can’t understand the importance those trivial events take on our here. While I read your letters I am a normal person. I’m not killing people or worried about being killed. Instead, I am going ice skating with David or walking through a department store to exchange a lampshade. In the Philippines I passed graveyards marked with row after row after row of plain white crosses. They were American graves. I thought about the American graves in Okinawa, Korea, France, England, North Africa – around the world. And I was proud to be an American, proud to be a Marine, proud to be fight in in Asia. I have a commitment to the men who have gone before me, American men who made the sacrifices that were req uired to make the world safe for ice skating, department stores, and lampshades. No, Mom these things aren’t trivial to me, they are vitally important. I hope you will continue to write about those “trivial” things because that is what I enjoy learning about most.

Capt. Rodney R. Chastant, from Mobile, Alabama, served with Marine Air Group 13, 1st Marine Air Wing, based at Danang. With his 13-month tour due to end in September 1968, he extended for an additional six months, explaining in a letter to his mother, “I am needed here, Mom. Not that I am essential or indispensable. But my degree of proficiency is now undisputed as the best in 1st Marine Division. The young men coming in need the leadership of an older hand. I am that hand.” He was killed on 22 October 1968. He was 25 years old.

23 December 66 Mom,
The least of my problems now is girls. That’s one of the things I don’t have to worry about. One thing I don’t do is worry. It doesn’t pay…
Johnny 24 January 67 Hi Mom,
…Two men from my company drowned, they got stuck in the mud and couldn’t get out because of all the equipment they had on. What a way to go….Tell Dad I’m pretty proud of him. I’ll always be grateful for the help he used to give me when I was small and just learning to play ball…
for now, your devoted son
John

PFC John Dabonka, from West New York, New Jersey, arrived in Vietnam in December 1966 with Company B, 3rd Battalion, 60th Infantry (Riverine), 9th Infantry Division. On 2 February 1967, he was killed in action near the Mekong Delta town of My Tho. He was 20 years old.

10 May 68Dear Mom,
Today I received my award. Would you believe a Silver Star! To say the least, I’m quite proud of myself, but I’m no hero. Heroes are for the Late Show. I was just trying to help a couple of guys who needed help…
Love, Phil

Sp/4 Phillip C. Arterbury was assigned to Company C, 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry, 25th Infantry Division, operating in III Corps from the Parrot’s Beak to Saigon, October 1967-October 1968. When the Memorial was dedicated in 1985, he was working as a silver trader in Beverly Hills, California.

6 Jul 66Dear Mom and Dad,
When I think about the hell I’ve been through the last few days I can’t help but cry. This was the worst battle as far as losses are concerned that this company has experienced….I’m not able to go into details now, I just wanted to tell you I’m OK…
Love,
Kenny

Sp/4 Kenneth Peeples, Jr., arrived in Vietnam in June 1966 and served with Company A, 2nd Battalion, 18th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division. He was wounded in action in February 1967. When he returned home, he went back to college and earned his associate’s degree. “With the help of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act,” he writes, “I earned a bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s in library science. I later went on to get a second master’s degree in education.” Head of the Reference Department at LaGuardia Community College Library in the City University of New York, he is co-editor of a book on careers for minorities in librarianship, and editor-in-chief of a faculty journal for community colleges. He is the proud father of a son, damani, who works in network systems development, and a daughter, Ayanna, a star volleyball player in high school.

“Why are we in Vietnam? Ten years ago we pledged our help. Three Presidents have supported that pledge. We will not break it now.”
– President Johnson 1965

President Lyndon B. Johnson Elevated to the Presidency on the death of John F. Kennedy in November 1963, the former Senate Majority Leader and power broker was elected in his own right, defeating Senator Barry Goldwater in 1964. America’s commitment to fighting the war in Vietnam escalated on his watch. He did make the first overtures to the North Vietnamese to see if a peaceful solution to the fighting could be achieved. After the Tet Offensive in January 1968, he determined not to run for reelection.

“I am taking the unprecedented step of disclosing to you some of our other initiatives for peace, initiatives we undertook privately and secretly…None of these initiatives have to date produced results.”
– President Nixon 1969

President Richard M. Nixon Vice President under Dwight Eisenhower, losing candidate in the 1960 election, he defeated Hubert Humphrey to become the nation’s 37th President. He initiated the “Vietnamization” of the war, gradually turning over the fighting to the South Vietnamese as American troops engaged in a phased withdrawal from Vietnam. A “peace with honor” was achieved, and America’s prisoners of war were repatriated, during his watch. He was forced to resign from office in 1974, his Presidency undone by the Watergate scandal.

20 Feb 67Hello Son,
How are you feeling today? We received your ‘Purple Heart” medal, I looked at it with mixed emotions. Happy because you are out of Vietnam: sad, because of the price you had to pay to get away from there. Let me say here and now that I’m extremely proud of you, son. Not because you were awarded the “Heart”, but because you did an honorable thing. I know you were bitterly against going into the service, and rejected our reasons for being in Vietnam. I also knew of your feelings about the U.S. and its treatment of Negroes. Yet, in spite of these conditions you did everything that was asked of you….I know that you made a prudent and honorable decision. It may not matter at all to you, but you are coming home a hero to us. Not a war hero, but more so because you made a man’s decision and stuck it out. You should feel proud of yourself….Love,
Mom & Popfrom Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth E. Peeples Sr., Hollis, New York to their son Sp/4 Kenneth Peeples, Jr.

25 Feb 70Dear Pete,
Just a short note. Please don’t do anything foolish. Seriously Pete, please take care of yourself and don’t be a hero. I don’t need a Medal of Honor winner. I need a son….Love,
Mom
Mansfield, MA

From a letter sent to Peter P. Mahoney, a first lieutenant with Mobile Advisory Team I-44, trained and advised Vietnamese regional and popular forces in Thua Thien province, I Corps, from March 1970-February 1971. Active in veterans’ affairs since his discharge, he served as Deputy Director of the New York Vietnam Veterans Memorial Commission. After spending several years working in Russia, he lives with his family in Montpelier, Vermont.

4 Feb 68

Dear Folks,
Fourteen days left in the field and then I should be headed home. I can’t write too long, we are going out in about an hour for an ambush. Here is a $159 check plus my W-2. I’ll tell you it’s a hard way to make $1,206.
Love,
Jim

PFC James J. Rice, from Newtonville, Massachusetts, served with Company K, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Regiment, 3rd Marine Division. He was killed near the DMZ on 7 February 1968 while attempting to rescue a buddy who had been badly wounded. He was 21 years old.

1 Jun 66Dear Madeline,
…I doubt if I’ll come out of this war alive. In my original squad I’m the only one left unharmed. It seems every day another young guy 18 and 19 years old like myself is killed in action… All of us are scared ’cause we know a lot of us won’t make it.
Ray

PFC Raymond C. Griffiths, of San Francisco, went to Vietnam right after Christmas in 1965 and was assigned to Company A, 1st Battalion, 9th Marines, 3rd Marine Division. He was killed in action on the Fourth of July 1966, a few weeks after he wrote the letter excerpted on the Memorial. He was 19 years old.

29 Mar 69Dear Mom and Dad,
We are getting a lot of new guys in the company now. When you’re just responsible for yourself, everything is easy, but when you’ve got to watch out for a bunch of kids, then the going gets rough. I’m not afraid of the responsibility and, in fact, I’m sort of enjoying it. The thing that bothers me the most is that one mistake on my part could cause one of them to get hurt. I guess I owe at least that much to them, because I was treated that way when I first got here. All the men that we get sent to us are new. This leaves us with a problem of not only breaking in the PFC’s, but also the leaders…I don’t want to sound like a war-torn hero, because I’m not…

Sp/4 James H. Wilson, from Sparta, Tennessee, arrived in Vietnam on 16 June 1968 and was assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion, 505th Infantry, 3rd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division. He was killed in action near the Cambodian border on 31 March 1969, two days after receiving the Bronze Star with a Presidential Citation for meritorious achievement in ground operations against hostile forces. He was promoted posthumously to sergeant. He was 21 years old.

17 Nov 66

Hi Ronnie,
When I get out, I guess I’ll take it easy for a couple of months and just mess around. Been thinking of buying a car, and just riding around the country to see what there is and forget the Army…
Louie

PFC Louis E. Willett served with Company C, 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division. He was killed during a firefight in Kontum province on 15 February 1967. For his actions, he was awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military award. His citation reads in part: “PFC Willett covered [his] squad’s withdrawal, but his position drew heavy enemy machine gun fire, and he received multiple wounds. [He] struggled to an upright position and, disregarding his painful wounds, he again engaged the enemy with his rifle to allow his squad to continue its movement and to evacuate several of his comrades who were by now wounded. Moving from position to position, he engaged the enemy at close range until he was mortally wounded.” Born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in Richmond Hill, he was 21 years old when he died.

1 Feb 68Dear Doug,
We were all in sad shape. I know that at one point, my feet about to crack open, my stomach knotted by hunger and diarrhea, my back feeling like a mirror made of nerves shattered in a million pieces by my flak jacket, pack, and extra mortars and machinegun ammo, my hands a mass of hamburger from the thorn cuts, and my face a mass of welts from mosquitoes, I desired greatly to throw down everything, slump into the water of the paddy and sob. I remember a captain, an aviator, who, observing a group of grunts toasting the infantry in a bar, said: “You damned infantry think you’re the only people who exist.” You’re damned right we do…

1Lt. Victor David Westphall III was a platoon leader with Company B, 1st Battalion, 4th Regiment, 3rd Marine Division. He was killed in action on 22 May 1968, seven months after he arrived in country, in an ambush near Con Thien. In his memory, his father built the Vietnam Veterans Peace and Brotherhood Chapel in Eagle Nest, New Mexico, which is now the Disabled American Veterans Memorial.

I often wonder if what we’re fighting for is worth a human life.

Sp/4 Charles Dawson was a medic with Company D, 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) in 1968-69. His letter was provided by Mrs. Margery Carlson, whose son, Cpl. Richard A. Carlson, a fellow medic, was killed in action on 24 May 1968.

George J. Robinson PFC George Jay Robinson was assigned to the Recon Platoon, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 28th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division, based at Di An. He was wounded in action on 11 June 1966. Asked to update his biography, he wrote the following:

“As much as has been permitted me by the inexorable – if erratic – evolution of maturity and my increasingly focused powers of reflection, my activities since returning twice wounded from Vietnam at age 19 have been guided by a belief that it is the duty of each human being to know and improve himself, to develop and use his experience, knowledge, and skills to benefit his family, his community, and the greater Human Family.

“At times I have struggled against despair, physical deterioration, and the temptations of self-indulgence, inertia and self-pity. I am proud of the fact that I am setting a solid example for my three children, and happy that at this late stage of life, a wonderful woman, my wife, Mary, has chosen me to be her husband and the father of her child.

“Vietnam piqued my interest in non-Western cultures, which led to travels with my family to more than 30 countries, at least half in Africa, Asia and the Near East. And Vietnam taught me a great deal about the universality of human nature, and the stupidity of prejudice. Since returning, I studied the politics of that conflict, and learned much about the strengths and limits of my own country’s political system, in the process earning a bachelor’s degree (cum laude) in political science, and a master’s degree in American history.

“Although retired after a 26-year career as an American history teacher, and since 1996 being unable to work due to disability, I founded NURTUREart Non-Profit, Inc., a charitable organization run by unpaid volunteers that is devoted to promoting the careers of visual artists creating fine art in all expressions. I have chosen to live and raise my son Evan in New York City, the greatest city and cultural center in the world.”

14 May 67Hi,
We got hit by VC. Bullets were flying everywhere, and you could hear them zip zip by. They were hitting next to me and you could see the dirt jump in the air…I’ll never get used to getting shot at….
Richard

Sp/4 Richard R. Tierno served with Company A, 3rd Battalion, 8th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division, based at Tuy Hoa, in 1967. When he returned home, he married his “Brooklyn neighborhood sweetheart,” and has remained married for 33 years. The father of two daughters, he has spent 18 years with the New York City Department of Sanitation.

8 Feb 68
Hi Marie,
…I’m getting pretty used to getting shot at. At first I was scared, but now it’s like everyday thing….Instead of salami send some pepperoni. I think it’s lighter….
Love,
Richie

Sp/4 Richard A. Sito, Sr., of Kew Gardens, New York, served with Company A, 3rd Battalion, 1st Infantry, 198th Light Infantry Brigade, Americal Division, operating in I Corps. He was killed in action on 16 November 1968. He was 24 years old.

13 Nov 68Dear Mom,
…I worry more about the war back home than I do about my own life over here. What good is the peace we accomplish here if we don’t have peace in our own back yards?
Love,
your son Howie

Sp/4 Howard Goldberg was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 11th Light Infantry Brigade, Americal Division, based at Duc Pho, December 1967-December 1968. When the Memorial was dedicated, he was working as a mail clerk in his hometown of Minneapolis.

22 Apr 67

Dear Editor,
To see your buddy step on a VC antipersonnel mine is a hard thing to take but the real scare is when you go back to your base camp and see the smiling villagers all around you and then start to wonder if one of them set it there.

Sp/4 Rodney D. Baldra had been in country 42 days, serving with the 5th Battalion, 60th Infantry (Mechanized), 9th Infantry Division, operating out of Bear Cat, when he was wounded by a booby trap on 1 April 1967. At the time the Memorial was dedicated in 1985, he was living in Walnut Creek, California, and working as a restaurant consultant.

Long Binh, South Vietnam, June 6 – The death of Senator Robert F. Kennedy stirred grief – and a surprising undertone of anger and confusion – among the soldiers at Long Binh and many soldiers in Vietnam. The death of Senator Kennedy, the racial violence in the United States and the talks with the North Vietnamese in Paris have stirred bewilderment and for some, explicit doubts about their mission here….

The New York Times 7 Jun 68

20 Oct 66Dear Aunt Fannie,
This morning one of my men turned to me and pointed at a plant with soft red flowers and said: “That is the first plant I have seen today which didn’t have thorns on it.” The plant and the hill upon which it grew was also representative of Vietnam…It is a country of thorns and cuts, of guns and marauding, of little hope and of great failure, yet in the midst of it all, a beautiful thought, gesture, and even person can arise among it waving bravely at death. Some day this hill will be burned by napalm, and the red flower will crackle up and die among the thorns. So what was the use of living and being a beauty among the beasts, if it must, in the end, die because of them, and with them? You are what you are, what you are. Whether you believe in God, fate, or the crumbling cookie elements are so mixed in a being that make him what he is: his salvation from the thorns around him lies in the fact that he existed at all, in his very own personality….The flower will always live in the memory of a Marine, but even if we had never gone on that hill, it would still be a soft, red, thornless flower growing among the cutting, scratching plants, and that in itself is its own reward.
Love, Sandy

2Lt Marion Lee (“Sandy”) Kempner, born in 1942 in Galveston, Texas, was a platoon leader with Company M, 3rd Battalion, 7th Regiment, 1st Marine Division, operating in I Corps. He arrived in Vietnam in July 1966. Four months later, on 11 November, Sandy Kempner was killed by shrapnel from a mine explosion near Tien Phu. He was 24 years old.

1 Oct 68

Dear Mom,
Today our Commo Chief asked me to write to this kid in a hospital in Boston. A story in the Americal News sheet said he was dying, and wanted to receive as much mail from around the world as possible. It took me an hour to write a postcard. What do you write to a 14-year-old boy who hasn’t got long to live?
Love,
Ray

Sgt. Raymond Wahl served as a radio teletype operator at Chu Lai for Headquarters Battery, Americal Division Artillery, from March 1968-April 1969. He was vice president of an insurance company and living in Glendale, New York, at the time of the Memorial dedication in 1985.

When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of that old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God almighty, we are free at last!”

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. A gifted orator, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a leader in the fight for civil rights who rose to prominence during the 1960s. He was slain in 1968.

3 Nov 68Dear Merle,
…I find myself curiously suspended from sides or causes and can only feel the human loss and terror which can never be measured in pretty medals….Humans can be such damned fools….
My love to you and the urchin, Rob

Sp/4 John R. (“Rob”) Riggan was assigned to Company D, 1st Medical Battalion, 1st Infantry Division, based at Lai Khe, from September 1968-September 1969. He is the author of Free Fire Zone (W. W. Norton & Company, 1984) and is currently working on two new manuscripts. He and his wife live in Rowe, Massachusetts.

20 Aug 67Dear Daryl,
…Several times a week we visit the hospital. We see fellows with their arms and legs blown off, their heads smashed in and pieced together, eyes lost and hearts completely broken. The biggest gift we can give them is a human female hand and some cheerful words. Like “Hi, how are you doing?” We’re not in the business of giving sympathy. We have to treat them as if nothing is wrong at all. Absolutely nothing…
Jeanne

Jeanne B. Christie, who hails from Madison, Wisconsin, served as a “Donut Dollie” with the American Red Cross from January 1967-February 1968, based in Danang. Since 1982, she has been active in Vietnam awareness groups, lately focusing on the issues facing women who served in a wide variety of roles in Vietnam. She is currently a professor at Western Connecticut State University. She teaches leadership development and is a decorative painter. Her children grown and gone, she and her husband live in Connecticut. Accounts of her time in Vietnam appear in A Piece of My Heart: The Stories of Twenty-six American Women Who Served in Vietnam, by Keith Walker (Presidio, 1985), and In the Combat Zone: An Oral History of American Women in Vietnam, by Kathryn Marshall (Little, Brown and Company, 1987).

5 Apr 68Dear Dad,
Tonight as the nation mourns Dr. King, they drink their cold beer, turn on their airconditioners and watch TV. We who mourn the deaths over here will set up ambushes, pull our guard and eat our C-Rations….
Love,
Phil

Sgt. Phillip L. Woodall served in Vietnam from December 1967-July 1969 with Company A, 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry, 101st Airborne Division, operating in I Corps. He has spent the past 30 years in the insurance business – and has published a book of poetry, Rhymer in the Sunset (Airborne Press, 1999). He and his wife live in Arlington, Tennessee.

6 Sep 66

Dear Mom,
I went to this orphanage the other day and these little kids are pitiful. They sleep on floors and don’t get hardly anything to eat. I want to tell everyone to help them because I may have killed some of their parents and it makes me feel sick to know they have to go on with nothing….
Love,
Dan

PFC Daniel E. Bailey A Troop 2/17 Cav 101st Airborne Div

31 Jan 68Dear Chris,
We just had a Vietnamese man come into our position with a terrible cut on his leg. ‘Doc’ took a look at it and said that gangrene had set in. We called in a helicopter and had him lifted to a hospital. One minute we’re killing them and the next minute we’re saving their lives.
Love, Alan

1Lt. Alan M. Bourne was assigned to A Battery, 2nd Battalion, 40th Artillery, 199th Light Infantry Brigade, January 1968-January 1969. He was wounded in action. At the time of the dedication of the Memorial, he was working as a real-estate broker in New York City.

28 Sep 70

Dear John,
I went to Hue last Sunday to see what was left of the great Imperial buildings after Tet ’68. What there is, is still pretty impressive. The Imperial Throne Room, all gold and red, is magnificent. How can we call these people “Dinks” is beyond me….
Peace and love,
Tom

Sp/5 Thomas P. Pellaton worked in intelligence with the 101st Aviation Group, 101st Airborne Division, based at Phu Bai, from June 1970-May 1971. An opera singer and maitre d’ at the Carlyle Hotel in New York City at the time of the dedication of the Memorial, he went on to study at Yale Theological Seminary.

5 Jun 68

Dear Mom,
The word that Bobby Kennedy got shot just came over the radio….Seems too bad that the people in the States can’t get along. It sure doesn’t seem like the place is worth fighting for when stuff like that happens….
Love, Dennis

Cpl. Dennis A. Bratton was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Commo Section, 3rd Marine Division, operating in I Corps.

27 Nov 69

Dear Mom,
We walked in and sat down and the Thanksgiving Dinner was brought to us. I realized it was a symbol of what all us soldiers had back home. When I think of all these poor people here fighting hard to achieve what we Americans already have. I feel obligated. I feel very proud…

Sp/4 Henry Romero was assigned to Headquarters Maintenance Support Company, 1st Supply and Transportation Battalion, 1st Infantry Division, based at Di An, from November 1969-October 1970. He died in an accident at a construction site in Manhattan in 1982.

7 Apr 69Dear Jim,
Hope you had a good journey home. I’m sorry I’m unable to bring you glad tidings buddy, but I think you’ll probably what to know this news. Our friend, our happy, crazy, almost always laughing pal Dave was killed during a fire fight at 0600 hrs this morning. An RPG took his head. Jim, that guy had so much going for him, a beautiful girl to marry in October, school to finish, and under 40 days to go. This war is taking too many good guys.Perhaps I’m selfish but a few have been friends and I know you’ve felt the same. There’s nothing more to say. I thought you’d like to know.Jerry

Sgt. Jerome K. Balcom, H & S Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Regiment, 1st Marine Division, spent most of his tour (November 1967-July 1969) in I Corps. He and wife Laura are the parents of two daughters, Bernadette and Judith. Jerry serves as Major in command of Supreme and County Courts in the New York State Court system, Ninth Judicial District, with headquarters in White Plains. His younger brother, Dennis, also a Marine, served with the 11th Engineer Battalion, 3rd Marine Division; his cousin, Tim, was in the Army during his Vietnam tour.

The recipient of his letter is his long-time best friend, Marine Sgt. James J. Buckley, Jr. They met just after boot camp at Parris Island in early 1967. Jim served with Golf Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, March 1968-April 1969. He and wife Melody have a family of daughters: Maggie, Katie, Beth, Kara, and Annie. Jim’s brother-in-law, Air Force Capt. Francis Bissaillon, was KIA in 1966. Two cousins were WIA. Several friends from his class at the University of Massachusetts served in Vietnam; his roommate, Navy Cross recipient Marine 2Lt Michael Casey was KIA in 1968.

The subject of Jerry’s letter, David Ranson, was KIA on 7 April 1969. He is buried near his family’s home in Illinois.

In September 2001, Jim and Jerry returned to I Corps, visiting many of the places at which they’d been stationed.

18 Dec 65

Dear Mom,
I don’t like being over here, but I am doing a job that must be done. If I am killed while carrying out this mission, I want no one to cry or mourn for me. I want people to hold their heads high and be proud of me for the job I did….
Love,
Rick

PFC Richard E. Marks, who grew up in New York City, served with Company C, 1st Battalion, 3rd Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, which operated in I Corps. He was killed in action on 14 February 1966. He was 19 years of age.

19 Feb 69Hi Sis,
One guy was from Floral Park. He had 5 days left to go. He was standing on a 250 lb bomb that a plane had dropped and didn’t explode. So the NVA wired it up. Well all they found was a piece of his wallet….
Love,
Sal

Sp/4 Salvador L. Gonzalez served with Company D, 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division, which operated in I Corps, from December 1968-December 1969. He is an electrical engineer who was living in Queens, New York, at the time of the dedication of the Memorial.

Don’t ask questions. When I come home if I feel like talking about it I will, but otherwise don’t ask.

10 Feb 69Hi Mom,
Today, I am at the river swimming, washing and taking the sun. The beach is great, the sand is white and the sky is clear. Boy I wish every day was like this. Then I wouldn’t have any problems while I’m here… I heard that you and Jo’s parents got together. It is about time if I am going to marry her I do suppose you should get together. I hope you like them because you will be seeing a lot of them when I get married. My plans are already down in my head. All I have to do now is wait till I am home to talk it over with Jo. It will be a wonderful wedding.
Love, Jack

Sgt. Jack Calamia, from Glendale, New York, arrived in Vietnam in December 1968 and was assigned to Company D, 3rd Battalion, 11th Light Infantry Brigade, Americal Division, operating in I Corps. On 20 October 1969, he was killed by a land mine. He was 21 years old. In a note accompanying this photograph, his mother wrote: “He was going to be married when he came back. He was our Angel.”

25 Jun 70Dear Debby
I often ponder over our petty misunderstandings of the past while dreaming of the future… Surely, it is not good to dwell on such things; but the heartaches we shared, and my failings as a husband, hang heavily on my heart. I can only hope and pray that you harbor few regrets over the many long years you’ve wasted waiting for me. I’ll make it all up to you someday Debby I swear. When I return , you will find me older, wiser and far more capable of being the husband you deserve. Please keep faith in me, darling.
Alan

Air Force Maj. Edward Alan Brudno, assigned to the 68th Tactical Fighter Squadron, was shot down over North Vietnam on 18 October 1965. He spent 7-1/2 years as a prisoner of war before being repatriated in 1973. Debby, his wife, notes that he had wanted to become an astronaut and was told he’d first need experience as a pilot. He joined the Air Force. On 3 June 1973, four months after his release from captivity and one day before he was to turn 33, Alan Brudno took his life.

26 Nov 68

Dear Vikki,
…It’s so funny to write my little sister with a a Mrs. in front of her name…I was at your wedding, although not physically, I was very much there mentally…I have a far greater task at hand that will ensure that not only my sister but everybody’s sister can get married in the church of her choice.
Bless you both, Johnny

PFC John Louis Brown was assigned to the 586th Signal Company, 43rd Signal Battalion, 1st Signal Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, based at An Khe, May 1968-May 1969. At the time the Memorial was dedicated in 1985, he was living in Flushing, New York, with his wife and two children and working as a Port Authority police officer assigned to Kennedy International Airport.

27 Nov 67

Hello Darling,
My RTO, who has 28 days to go, cracked up. He was shaking and crying, not loud but the tears were running down his face. The last couple of letters he received from home, his wife said she didn’t care whether he came back or not. He is real proud of his son whom he hasn’t seen yet. His wife doesn’t know what she is doing to him. It is bad enough over here, but when your wife writes like that it completely destroys a man…
your husband,
Fred

2Lt Frederick Downs, Jr., a son of Kingman, Indiana, was a platoon leader with Company D, 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division, operating out of Duc Pho, August 1967-January 1968, when he was seriously wounded in action, losing his left arm. He is the author of three books about his experiences: The Killing Zone: My Life in the Vietnam War (W. W. Norton & Company, 1978), Aftermath: A Soldier’s Return from Vietnam (W. W. Norton & Company), and No Longer Enemies, Not Yet Friends: An American Soldier Returns to Vietnam (W. W. Norton & Company, 1991). He has worked for the VA as director of the Prosthetic and Sensory Aids Service.

11 May 75

Dick,
…It isn’t very easy for me to even tell myself what the motivation was to come here. I went into this searching for something. I have it now. If I could, I would probably go home…
Adios, my friend

Air Force 2Lt. Richard Van de Geer, from Lorain, Ohio, was a helicopter pilot assigned to the 21st Special Operations Squadron, based at Nahom Phnom, Thailand. He participated in the evacuations of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and Saigon in 1975. When the S.S. Mayaguez was seized by Cambodian forces in May 1975, his unit was called to action. As his chopper, filled with Marines, flew to the island of Koh Tang, it was hit by enemy fire. All aboard were killed. There were no remains. Officially, Richard Van de Geer is the last American to die in the Vietnam War: his is the last name on the national Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

8 Dec 71

Dear Soldier Friend,
Hi. My name is Roger Barber. I belong to Den 2 Pack 79. I’m sorry you had to fight in the war. I don’t like to fite do you? Please! Watch out. Have you had snow yet?
your friend Roger David Barber ( age 8 )

Sp/4 Frank A. Russo, serving with D Battery, 71st Air Defense Artillery, II Field Force, based at Phan Thiet, from February-December 1971, received letters from an eight-year-old pen pal, Roger Barber from Conesus, New York. He and his wife, Maria, live on Staten Island, New York, with their daughter, Denise. Frank currently works in the information technology department for Entergy Corporation as a software quality assurance coordinator. Of his time in Vietnam he writes: “Hard to believe it happened so long ago, and yet the memories are still so vivid.”

14 Feb 66Dear Mom,
I feel different now after seeing some horrible things and I’ll never forget them. To kill somebody, turn your head and walk away isn’t hard, it’s watching him die that’s hard, and even harder when it’s one of your own men…27 Nov 69
Hi Sweet Thing,
Yesterday was one of the happiest days of my life. Hearing about the baby. It is one of the best things a man over here can be told. I wish you could have seen the way me and my friends were acting after we heard about it. We were shotting our rifles and making all kinds of noises….
All my love,
Bernie

PFC Bernard Robinson was assigned to the 3rd Marine Division’s Civil Action Program 357 in I Corps, where he served from June 1969-July 1970. At the time the Memorial was dedicated in 1985, he owned a video-rental store in New York City.

7 Jan 71

Dear Family,
The tree was a huge success. We rigged up the lights with dry-cell batteries, and it was the only “formal” tree in the small camp. Christmas out there was really something. At midnight on Xmas eve, the mortars and the trucks and tanks and all the 1st Cav artillery sent up a barrage of high altitude flares – – all red and green star clusters. We were in a valley. It was quite a show. The whole area calmed and hushed and we could just hear one of the firebases start singing “Silent Night”. It was picked up by everyone. It echoed through the valley. I’m positive it has seldom been sung with more gut feeling and pure homesick emotion – a strange and beautiful thing in this terribly death-ridden land….
Love,
Peter

Sp/5 Peter C. Elliott was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 20th Engineer Brigade, attached to the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), based at Bien Hoa. He served in Vietnam from January 1970-February 1971. When the Memorial was dedicated in 1985, he was living in Dallas and operating a construction company.

27 Sept 68Dear Mr. Morris:
The enclosed mail, addressed to SGT Kenneth D. Combs 2/502 Inf, 101st Airborne Div, bears your return address. Official records of the Department of the Army as of 5 Sept 68, indicate that he was reported to have deceased on 27 Aug 68. I regret that it was not possible to have delivered this mail to him.T.C. Adams
LTC, AGC, Commanding

24 Mar 68

Dear Dotty,
So far, everything’s alright. The only problem I got now is that I got 8 more months over here. It’s a beautiful country, but I hate it.
Love,
Nick

SP/4 Nickolas Szawaluk, who lived in Hackettstown, New Jersey, served with Company B, 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry, 101st Airborne Division. He was killed in action on 3 June 1968. He was 20 years of age.

16 May 68Dear Susan,
By the time this arrives, I will have told all my hairy war stories and shown you my scar. One thing that worries me – – will people believe me? Will they want to hear about it, or will they want to forget the whole thing ever happened? I’m pretty proud of my last year. I saw a lot of combat, and got a few results. But they mean very little to anyone outside of that group of Americans who have been over here and who have been through it. It’s going to take a while to get over the nervous anticipation one gets from being constantly under the gun, so to speak. I’ll hear a car backfire, and I’ll reach for a machinegun.
Love, Dick

Lt. (jg) Richard W. Strandberg, from Minneapolis, Minnesota, served with River Patrol Sections 533 and 522, operating along the Mekong River, from May 1967-May 1968. A fine artist, he was curator of the first art show about the Vietnam War by those who were there, held in St. Paul, Minnesota, in November 1980. A year later, he brought the show, “The Vietnam Experience,” to New York City, in an exhibit co-curated by Bernard Edelman. He now lives in Mesa, Arizona with his wife, Susan.

New York City Vietnam Veterans Memorial Plaza

North Side of Memorial Wall

Excerpts of 83 letters sent home from Vietnam are etched in the memorial’s glass block and granite wall. Below are the inscriptions that appear on the south side of the wall.

New York City Vietnam Veterans Memorial Plaza

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