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 north side of the wall.
Click on a name to expand that section:
Maj. Michael Davis O’Donnell (1) | Brian R. Sullivan | Cathleen Cordova | Sgt. Raymond Wahl | Sp/4 George T. Olsen (1) | Apollo 11 | 1Lt. James M. Simmen | Gary R. Panko | Lt. Richard W. Strandberg | Air Force Capt. David V. Forrest | Sp/4 George T. Olsen (2) | PFC George A. Williams | Sgt Thomas Oathout | Desmond T. Barry, Jr. | PFC Brian F. Gibbons | 1Lt. Robert D. Santos | Cpl. Dennis W. Lane | President John F. Kennedy | PFC William A. Maguire, Jr. | Sgt. William Nelson | Khe Sanh | Sp/4 John A. Kane | Sp/4 Peter H. Roepcke | Allen E. Paul | 2Lt Donald J. Jacques | Kevin Macaulay | Sgt. George W. Storz | Dennis M. Mannion | Sp/5 Thomas P. Pellaton | 2Lt Robert C. Ransom, Jr. | Cpl. W. D. Ehrhart | Joseph A. Morrissey | Michael C. Rush | Sp/4 Robert E. Devlin | Kent State University | Sp/4 Joseph Parisi | Cpt. John Houghton | Cpl. Michael T. Boston | PFC Robert A. Ptachik | Michael A. Mancuso | Graham S. McFarlane
Maj. Michael Davis O’Donnell (1) | Brian R. Sullivan | Cathleen Cordova | Sgt. Raymond Wahl | Sp/4 George T. Olsen (1) | Apollo 11 | 1Lt. James M. Simmen | Gary R. Panko | Lt. Richard W. Strandberg | Air Force Capt. David V. Forrest | Sp/4 George T. Olsen (2) | PFC George A. Williams | Sgt Thomas Oathout | Desmond T. Barry, Jr. | PFC Brian F. Gibbons | 1Lt. Robert D. Santos | Cpl. Dennis W. Lane | President John F. Kennedy | PFC William A. Maguire, Jr. | Sgt. William Nelson | Khe Sanh | Sp/4 John A. Kane | Sp/4 Peter H. Roepcke | Allen E. Paul | 2Lt Donald J. Jacques | Kevin Macaulay | Sgt. George W. Storz | Dennis M. Mannion | Sp/5 Thomas P. Pellaton | 2Lt Robert C. Ransom, Jr. | Cpl. W. D. Ehrhart | Joseph A. Morrissey | Michael C. Rush | Sp/4 Robert E. Devlin | Kent State University | Sp/4 Joseph Parisi | Cpt. John Houghton | Cpl. Michael T. Boston | PFC Robert A. Ptachik | Michael A. Mancuso | Graham S. McFarlane
 If you are able, save for them a place inside of you… and save one backward glance when you are leaving for the places they can no longer go…. Be not ashamed to say you loved them, though you may or may not have always… Take what they have left and what they have taught you with their dying and keep it with your own… And in that time when men decide and feel safe to call the war insane, take one moment to embrace those gentle heroes you left behind… |
 Maj. Michael Davis O’Donnell, from Springfield, Illinois, was a helicopter pilot assigned to the 52nd Aviation Battalion, 17th Aviation Group, 1st Aviation Brigade, based at Dak To and Pleiku. On 24 March 1970, while attempting to rescue eight soldiers surrounded by attacking enemy forces, his chopper was shot down. Although crew in other choppers reported that his craft had been engulfed in a ball of fire that no one could have survived, he and three crew members were declared Missing In Action, perhaps in part because his chopper was downed in Laos. In 1977, he was promoted to major. A year later, he was officially declared Killed In Action. He was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal, the Bronze Star, and the Purple Heart. |
 2 Mar 69Darling, |
Brian R. Sullivan, a lieutenant assigned to the 4th Battalion, 11th Regiment, 1st Marine Division, was a field artillery officer and infantry platoon commander in the area around Danang from June 1968-June 1969. At the time of the dedication of the Memorial, he had been an associate professor of history at Yale University. |
 5 May 69Dear Mom and Dad, |
Cathleen Cordova worked for Army Special Services as a club director in Tay Ninh, Di An, Vinh Long, and Can Tho from October 1968-October 1969. Now “older, grayer, and hopefully wiser,” she writes, she is living back in California, where her journey began. She loves her job – she is a 13-year veteran officer assigned to the Investigations Division of the Pleasanton Police Department – and, among her other activities, she is National President of the Women’s Overseas Service League and co-founder of the Circle of Sisters/Circle of Friends, an archival project for civilian women who served and died in Vietnam. |
| 20 Mar 68 Dear Mom, |
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. |
 17 Sep 69Red, …Anyone over here who walks through elephant grass should get a Purple Heart. Imagine grass eight to fifteen feet high so thick as to cut visibility to one yard, razor-sharp edges…Imagine walking through it while all around you are men who want to kill you. You’d be amazed at how much a man can age on one patrol… |
Sp/4 George T. Olsen, a son of New York City and a graduate of St. John’s University (then in Brooklyn, New York), arrived in Vietnam in August 1969 and served as a Ranger with Company G, 75th Infantry, operating in the area around Chu Lai in I Corps. He was killed in action on 3 March 1970. He was 23 years old. |
Houston, Monday, July 21 – Men have landed and walked on the moon. Two Americans, astronauts of Apollo 11, steered their fragile four-legged lunar module safely and smoothly to the historic landing yesterday at 4:17:40 pm…Neil A. Armstrong and his co-pilot Col Edwin E. Aldrin Jr. of the Air Force brought their ship to rest on a level, rock-strewn plain near the south-western shore of the Sea of Tranquility…
The New York Times 21 Jul 69
The New York Times 21 Jul 69
| 10 May 68 Hi Vern, |
1Lt. James M. Simmen, from Danville, California, was a platoon leader with the 5th Battalion, 60th Infantry (Mechanized), 9th Infantry Division, operating in the area south of Saigon during 1968. His platoon later transferred to the 1st Infantry Division, operating near the Parrot’s Beak on the Cambodian border. When the Memorial was dedicated in 1985, he had been working as a carpenter in Kodiak, Alaska. He has published one novel set in Vietnam. |
 9 Jun 67Dear Mom, The phone rang 3 times…the signal for emergency Medevac…two Marines wounded…we went down. That was the scariest part of all…we were down in the zone with the VC firing all over the place…the wounded were hustled aboard – – both were alive but head wounds can be tricky…I checked one patient over…The poor kid looked scared, but didn’t cry or scream once. He was really a brave boy…I kept holding his hand, wiping the blood off his face. He looked up and smiled and said “Thanks Doc.” I felt like crying to see the way he acted… All my love, Gary |
Gary R. Panko, who hailed from Yonkers, New York, served as a corpsman attached to the Medical Department, Marine Air Group 16, 1st Marine Air Wing. He flew medevacs out of Danang from June 1967 through early 1968. A nurse for 12 years after he got out of the service, he died in Houston in 1983. |
 14 Nov 67Dear Susan, Got my birthday presents on time. Thank you for the wingtips. They’re very nice. Only one question: Where do I wear them in Veitnam? 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. |
| 14 May 69 Dear Lynne, |
Air Force Capt. David V. Forrest was a psychiatrist attached to the 935th Medical Detachment, based at Long Binh, from September 1968-September 1969. At the time of the dedication of the Memorial, he was in private practice in New York City. |
 23 Sep 69Red, …Someday climb into the shower with your clothes on, stay there three days under the water, shutting it off every now and then but always turning the water back on before your clothes can dry out and you’ll have a reasonably good idea of what it’s like in the boonies during the seasonal rains…Red, …Yes, I do think our landing on the moon was quite an achievement… I sure as hell admire the courage of the men who went there. I really sweated out the time between the landing and the takeoff once they were up there. I only hope man doesn’t go off and louse up the rest of the solar system with his pollution and family quarrels like he has mother earth…. 15 Nov 69 |
Sp/4 George T. Olsen, a son of New York City and a graduate of St. John’s University (then in Brooklyn, New York), arrived in Vietnam in August 1969 and served as a Ranger with Company G, 75th Infantry, operating in the area around Chu Lai in I Corps. He was killed in action on 3 March 1970. He was 23 years old. |
 Apr 67Dear Ma, …This country is so beautiful when the sun is shining – – mountains, farmers in their rice paddies with their water buffalo, palm trees, monkeys, birds….For a fleet moment I wasn’t in a war zone at all, just on vacation but still missing you and the family…. |
PFC George A. Williams served with Company B, 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry (Rangers), 1st Infantry Division, operating in III Corps, from February 1967-February 1968. A retired firefighter from Brooklyn, New York, he now lives in Northampton, Massachusetts. |
| Mother I am cursed – – I’m a soldier when soldiers aren’t in fashion. from a poem by SGT Thomas Oathout |
Sgt Thomas Oathout served with the 172nd Military Intelligence Detachment assigned to the 173rd Airborne Brigade, operating in II Corps, from August 1970-July 1971. He lives with his wife and two daughters, Alex and Courtney, in Bear, Delaware, and has worked selling chemicals for ZEP Manufacturing since 1994. He is a photographer and has written a novel about Vietnam. |
 13 Jan 69Dear Folks, …I had a “short-timer’s” dream last night that I was home. What a horrible experience to wake up and find myself back in sunny Vietnam!! Only 89 days to go…. Love, Des |
Desmond T. Barry, Jr. served as a lieutenant with the 2nd Battalion, 7th Regiment, 1st Marine Division, operating in northern I Corps from March 1968-April 1969. A 1967 graduate of Princeton University, he started law school at Fordham University when he returned home in 1970. In 1972 he joined the firm of Condon & Forsyth, where he’s been the Managing Partner “for more years than I care to remember. I have had a great career specializing in the defense of airlines and aircraft manufacturers in mass disaster litigation and I have traveled all over the world in connection with my practice,” he writes. He and his wife of 30 years, Patricia, are the parents of Kate and Todd. They live in Connecticut. |
| 7 Dec 66 Dear Mary Ann & Ken, |
PFC Brian F. Gibbons served with Company B, 3rd Battalion, 22nd Infantry, 4th Infantry Division, operating out of Dau Tieng. He was killed in action on 21 March 1967. |
| 2 Jul 68 Dear Robert, |
1Lt. Robert D. Santos, one of the most decorated combat veterans of the war, was a rifle platoon leader with Company C, 2nd Battalion, 501st Infantry, 101st Airborne Division, operating in I Corps, from November 1967-November 1968. A member of the executive committee of the New York Vietnam Veterans Memorial Commission, he is now chief operating officer for the New York Public Library. He resides in Queens, New York. |
 18 Mar 68Dear Tom, …when we got to Chu Lai there was just the three of us and what was left of Doug. He was dead before he was loaded on the chopper but they kept giving him respiration and heart massage…Well, that’s it. No heroes like on TV. Everybody is just trying to stay alive…. Take care, Dennis |
Cpl. Dennis W. Lane, from Brooklyn, New York, landed in Vietnam on 19 December 1967 with Company A, 4th Battalion, 3rd Infantry, 11th Light Infantry Brigade, which would become part of the American Division operating in I Corps. He was killed by fragments from a mine explosion on 21 May 1968. He was 21 years old. |
| “The training missions that we have in Vietnam have been instructed if they are fired upon to fire back to protect themselves. But we have not sent combat troops in the generally understood sense of the word.” President John F. Kennedy, 1962 |
President John F. Kennedy. The 35th President of the United States, John Fitzgerald Kennedy emblemized the spirit and energy of a new generation. “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country,” he intoned in one of the most memorial inaugural addresses ever given. At the time of his assassination on 22 November 1963, the U.S. commitment to Vietnam was limited to some 16,000 troops, most of them in the role of advisors. |
 7 Sep 69We’re all scared. One can easily see this emotion in the eyes of each individual. One might hide it with his mouth, while another might hide it with his actions, but there is no way around it. We are all scared. They say when fear is in a man, he is prepared for anything. When fear posesses the man he is prepared for nothing. As of now fear is in me. I hope I can keep it from possessing me…. – a journal entry by PFC William A. Maguire, Jr. |
PFC William A. Maguire, Jr., of Short Hills, New Jersey, died on 28 September 1969, four weeks after he arrived in country and two days after he contracted a fever while on patrol near the DMZ with the 2nd Battalion, 5th Regiment, 1st Marine Division. He was 20 years old. |
 30 Jul 69Dear Folks, I’m still at the end of the 22nd Replacement Center. It’s really funny seeing guys going home and I’m just getting here. It’s just one big cycle. All the guys I talked to were Infantry. They seem very sad even though they are going home. I guess they saw a lot…. Billy |
Sgt. William Nelson, born and raised in the Bronx, New York, served with Company A, 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry, 101st Airborne Division, operating out of Phu Bai, from July 1969-September 1970. When he returned home, he “got it together, went to Pace University on the GI Bill, worked night jobs, earned a CPA, and worked for the public accounting firm Ernst & Young before moving to Time Warner [now AOL Time Warner] for 22 years, the last 17 or which have been spent at their Home Box Office subsidiary. Along that road, I’ve followed and contributed to many Vietnam veterans initiatives over the years.” Among these have been the reconstruction of Vietnam Veterans Plaza in New York City, for which he was instrumental in convincing HBO to contribute $50,000. |
Saigon, South Vietnam, March 23 – – North Vietnamese pressure on the US Marine outpost at Khe Sanh increased yesterday when 640 mortar, artillery, and rocket shells exploded in the base. Casualties were described as light by a US military spokesman….The usual incoming fire has ranged between 100 and 300 rounds a day…
The New York Times 24 Mar 68
 17 Feb 67Hey La, …The total casualty list for the 2nd platoon was 17 wounded and 1 KIA…When a guy is not seriously wounded it’s time for laughs, because he knows he’s in for rest and “ghost time”….We start joking, taking pictures…All this I guess is a means of keeping your mind off the troopers that aren’t breathing and wrapped in their ponchos. We mourn for them only once at the memorial service. After that we talk of them only in good spirits in reference to the good times we had or possibly a funny incident… Brother John |
Sp/4 John A. Kane served with Company A, 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry, 173rd Airborne Brigade, based at Bien Hoa, from June 1966-February 1967, when he was wounded in action. At the time of the dedication of the Memorial, he was vice president of a direct mail advertising firm in Long Island City, New York. He has since retired. |
 20 Apr 70Dear Gail, You don’t know how close I have been to getting killed or maimed. Too many times I have seen guys near me get hit and go home in a plastic bag….It is all over now. Now it’s time to forget. But it’s hard to forget these things. I close my eyes and try to sleep but all I can see is Jenkins laying there with his brains hanging out or Lefty with his eyes shot out…Then you stop to think, it could be me. Hell, I don’t know why I’m writing all this. But it feels better getting it out of my mind…. I love you, Pete |
Sp/4 Peter H. Roepcke, from Glendale, New York, served as an infantryman with Company A, 3rd Battalion, 506th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division, from September 1969-April 1970, operating in I Corps, when he broke his leg jumping from a helicopter. He died of a heart attack in October 1981. |
 8 Oct 68Dear Mother and Dad, …I don’t like to hear that you are so worried. Mother, if death is to come it will and there is nothing we can do about it! I know I’m coming home and we will build for the future. I just have to make it! All my love, Al |
Allen E. Paul served as a sergeant with Company D, 2nd battalion, 5th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), operating in I and II Corps during his tour of duty, April 1968-April 1969. At the time of the Memorial dedication in 1985, he was information coordinator for Indiana Technical College in Richmond, Indiana. |
 8 Feb 68Dear Mom and Dad, …I’ve never really regretted coming over here, even yesterday when my favorite Turd got hit. I really loved the kid. He never complained…I held his head for fifteen minutes while my corpsmen worked on him. I almost cracked…Well, you learn everyday the mistakes you are making. The biggest one is not to get too attached to any one person. Not over here at least…We see little if any hope of it every ending over here. The way we move without contact, an occasional sniper is all, you begin to wonder if the VC are even out there. And all the time you know they are. The great frustration is that they don’t come out and fight. Love, Don |
2Lt Donald J. Jacques, from Rochester, New York, arrived in Vietnam in October 1967. Assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion, 26th Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, he was a platoon commander at Khe Sanh. On 25 February 1968, he was killed in an ambush while out on patrol. He was 20 years old. |
 28 Jun 68Dear Mom and Dad, …The Khe Sanh village was overrun but not the combat base. All my gear was destroyed…My best buddy was killed the day before yesterday. He caught a piece of shrapnel in the head. I carried him over to the aid station where he died. I cried my eyes out!…He had 67 days left in country and then he was to return to his wife and daughter….I have aged greatly. I feel like an old man now. I have seen enough of war and its destruction. I am scarred by it but not scared enough to quit…We have so little over here but we share it all…. Your son and Marine, Kevin |
Kevin Macaulay, a corporal with Company B, 3rd Recon Battalion, 3rd Marine Division from June 1967-June 1968, was at the combat base at Khe Sanh during the siege. When the Memorial was dedicated, he was working as a school custodian in Queens, New York for the New York City Board of Education. |
 16 Feb 68Dear Family, As you probably know, we are now at Khe Sanh surrounded by 20,000 NVA troops so now they can’t get away….By the time they get enough artillary into the mountains around us I’ll be on my way home. Your son, George |
Sgt. George W. Storz, from San Anselmo, California, assigned to H & S Company, 1st Battalion, 9th Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, was hit by shrapnel and mortally wounded at Khe Sanh on 8 March 1968, one month before he was scheduled to rotate home. He never got to meet his second son, who was born six weeks after his father was killed. |
 31 Jan 68Joe, I guess we’re in a pretty hot situation over here. The gooks are hell bent on trying to take over this area. Sometimes it gets pretty hairy on Hill 861. I’ve come close a few times….I want to say I’m not afraid of dying. I’ll just feel sorry for my folks…If I should go…It’s been a fantastic 9 years full of the best of everything with no regrets, a barrel of laughs, good times and bad, happy and sad. So much we planned – – so much we’re gonna do. Hell, I’m only taking it one day at a time now…Nothing else really counts…It’s been on my mind constantly in the last 12 days and I had to let you know the score, just “in case.” I think you know what I mean…. See you pronto, Dennis |
Dennis M. Mannion was a lance corporal with K Company, 3rd Battalion, 26th regiment, 3rd Marine Division from September 1967-October 1968. His unit was on Hill 861 during the siege of Khe Sanh. When he came home, he became an English teacher and football coach in Cheshire, Connecticut. |
| 8 Feb 71 Dear John, |
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. |
 Mar 68Dear Mom and Dad, Our primary danger here is not Charlie himself, but the mines and booby traps he sets. The first night I spent in the field an ambush patrol from the first platoon had three men wounded when they set off a booby trap grenade. This morning, the second platoon took 14 casualties including one killed, when they set off two mines while on a road – clearing mission. So far, my platoon hasn’t had any trouble, but these booby traps are so well hidden that no matter how good you are, they’ll get you. All my love, Mike |
2Lt Robert C. Ransom, Jr. During a night ambush near Quang Ngai on 3 May 1968, “Mike” to his family and friends – was leading a platoon from Company A, 4th Battalion, 3rd Infantry, 11th Light Infantry Brigade, Americal Division, when he was seriously wounded by a mine. His death on 11 May, two months after arriving in country, was attributed to peritonitis and pneumonia. Born and raised in Bronxville, New York, he was the eldest of six sons. He was 23 years old. |
| We are your sons, America… When you awake, We will still be here.from a poem by Cpl. W. D. Ehrhart |
Cpl. W. D. Ehrhart served with the 1st Battalion, 1st Regiment, 1st Marine Division, operating in I Corps, from February 1967-February 1968. A prolific author of poetry and prose, he has published several books, among them Unaccustomed Mercy: Soldier Poets of the Vietnam War (Texas Tech University Press, 1989), Carrying the Darkness: The Poetry of the Vietnam War (Texas Tech University Press, 1989), Vietnam-Perkasie: A Combat Marine Memoir (University of Massachusetts Press, 1995, second edition), and Passing Time: Memoir of a Vietnam Veteran Against the War (University of Massachusetts Press, 1995). |
 Feb 9, 1970Dear Paul, …When you have bullets cracking right over your head for a couple days in a row, your nerves begin to fizzle. When you’re getting shot at, all you can think about is — try to stay alive, keep your head down and keep shooting back. When the shooting stops, though, you sort of sit back and ask yourself Why? What the hell is this going to prove? And man, I’m still looking for the answer. It’s a real bitch… Your brother, Joe |
Joseph A. Morrissey. Joseph A. Morrissey, a staff sergeant with Company C, 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), served in III Corps from July 1969-May 1970. After returning to his home in Parkesburg, Pennsylvania, he ran his own small company building passive solar homes for nearly two decades. In the mid-90s, he “decided on a change of career and began working in the field of child abuse,” he writes. “I’m currently a supervisor with the Department of Children, Youth and Families in Chester County, Pennsylvania. I have an absolutely wonderful wife, Mary, and three beautiful daughters, Sarah, Jessie and Erin. We live in a home I built in Parkesburg, and I try to remind myself every day how precious every moment is.” |
| 15 Jan 70Dear Petite Lovie, …I’m suffering from a rare Oriental disease of the skin. It covers the bodies of those afflicted with white spots. Must be the water. Imagine me the Polkka Dot Man. Love you, MikeMay 15 1970 Dear Joanie, |
Michael C. Rush From September 1969-September 1970, Michael Rush served as an artillery captain working with the ARVN 5th Division and Company B, 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), operating in III Corps and Cambodia. At the time of the Memorial dedication I 1985, he was a managing director at Shearson Lehman/American Express in New York City. |
| 18 Apr 67 Dear Dad, |
Sp/4 Robert E. Devlin served with the 71st Infantry Detachment (Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol), attached to the 199th Light Infantry Brigade, based at Long Binh, from July 1967-July 1968. The father of two, he had been associate director of Open Arms, an outpatient program for alcoholics, at the time the Memorial was dedicated. |
Kent, Ohio, May 4 – – Four students at Kent State University, two of which were women, were shot to death this afternoon by a volley of National Guard gunfire. At least 8 other students were wounded….
The New York Times 5 May 70
 5 Jul 68Hi Family, Well Aunt Rose & Uncle Leo guess you know by now that I was wounded. Well I’m doing OK…I received wounds in both my legs, in my side, in my back, and in my butt, the right cheek. I’m going to have some pretty nice looking scars…All together I think I have 13 wounds. Sounds like a lot doesn’t it, but I’m gonna be OK so don’t worry…. Just think in two weeks I’ll be home. Wow can’t wait to see you. I miss you both very much. See you soon. JoeyP.S.: Uncle Leo Baby I hope you’re ready to go out and get drunk. |
Sp/4 Joseph Parisi was serving with H Troop, 17th Cavalry, 198th Light Infantry Brigade, Americal Division, in I Corps when he was wounded in action on the Fourth of July, 1968, six months after arriving in country. Retired after having sold his bread distribution business, he and his wife recently celebrated their 30th anniversary. They are the parents of two grown children. |
 Jun 67Dear Mrs. Perko, What can I say to fill the void, flowers and letters are hardly enough…I never eat, always sit around in a daze. All of us are in this general condition. We are all afraid to die and all we do is count the days til we go home. Some nights I don’t sleep. I can’t stand being alone at night. I want to hold my head between my hands and run screaming away from here…I’m hollow Mrs. Perko I’m a shell and when I’m scared I rattle. I’m no one to tell you about your son Terry. I can’t. I’m sorry… Johnny Boy |
Cpt. John Houghton served with the 1st Anglico Detachment, 1st Marine Division, operating out of Chu Lai, from October 1966-October 1967. Still living in Camden, New Jersey, and still working as a letter carrier for the Postal Service, he writes, “I have two daughters, two ex-wives and a dog. What more could a man want? Truly, I’m very content.” |
 27 Mar 67Dear Mom and Pop, …I’ve been doing good since the guy in the hole with me put the bandage on after I got hit. General Wall came in the ward the other day and passed out the Purple Hearts. I guess I’m a genuine veteran now, getting wounded and everything else… Love, Mike |
Cpl. Michael T. Boston, who grew up on Staten Island, was a squad leader with Company B, 1st Battalion, 4th Regiment, 3rd Marine Division from October 1966-November 1967, operating in I Corps where he was wounded. He has been hospitalized twice since returning home, and receives disability compensation from the VA for post-traumatic stress disorder. He works as an independent auto mechanic in Brandon, Vermont, where life has not been easy for him, he reports. |
| 4 Apr 67 Dear Family, |
PFC Robert A. Ptachik, from Brooklyn, New York, was assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry, 25th Infantry Division. He had been in country three months when he was wounded by a booby trap near Cu Chi on 27 March 1967. A member of the executive committee of the New York Vietnam Veterans Memorial Commission, he holds a doctorate in public administration and currently works as University Dean for the Executive Office at the City University of New York. He lives in Nassau County, New York, with his wife Abby, daughter Sara, and assorted pets. |
| 26 Aug 70 Dear Mike, |
Michael A. Mancuso. Sp/4 Michael A. Mancuso served from June 1970-August 1971with Company C, 1st Battalion, 52nd Infantry, 198th Light Infantry Brigade, part of the Americal Division operating in I Corps. After he returned home to Waterbury, Connecticut, he took a job as a postal worker. |
| 26 May 71 It was early morning when they came and got you and the litter bearers looked like they knew their job …It was all so unreal…Flat back strapped down rolling along from the ward saying goodbye to your ward buddies for the last time. Litter cart clack clacking on the rough concrete path. The cart man was in a hurry he hated being around all those guys leaving Vietnam strapped back down. Tubes and bags dangling with all sorts of juices dripping into and threw them besides he was short….Each time a stretcher was loaded it was the same gutteral strains as the man was lifted carried clump clumping up the wooden ramp past the one armed man and the faceless nurse To be lodged into the metal racks… |
Graham S. McFarlane from Bronxville, New York, was a lieutenant with the 8th Battalion,4th Psychological Operations Group, based at Ninh Hoa, from April 1970-May 1971. At the time of the dedication of the Memorial, he was working as financial manager for an independent oil company in Dallas. |
