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From the early 1960s through March 1973
hundreds of thousands of men and women served in
Vietnam, in an undeclared and highly controversial war.
During the peak years of that conflict, from May 1968
through December 1972, a young reporter, Nancy E. Lynch,
relayed the hopes and fears, the joy and tears of
hundreds of soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines from
Delaware through the Vietnam Mailbag column she wrote in
the Wilmington Morning News.
Nancy kept all those letters, and the pictures sent with
many of them, neatly folded in their original envelopes.
Now, 40 years after she began writing her column, Nancy
has written Vietnam Mailbag: Voices From the War,
1968-1972, giving a new generation a fresh look at
the first-person accounts of troops in the combat zone.
The full-color, 460-page book, featuring many compelling
photographs taken by the servicemen themselves, captures
the hopes, fears, joy and tears of all who served in
Vietnam, and a series of contemporary interviews with
veterans describes how the war shaped their lives. The
correspondence that forms the nucleus of this book is
the largest body of primary source materials known to
exist in this era.
“Delawareans indeed spoke for all American through their
letters and gave those of us at home an unprecedented
window on the war,” Nancy says.
Nancy and some of the veterans who wrote to her 40 years
ago are sharing their experiences at a series of free
programs at public libraries and other venues, starting
Nov. 20 at 7 p.m. at the Brandywine Hundred Library in
Wilmington, and Nov. 22 at 1 p.m. at the Laurel Public
Library. Copies of the book will be available for
purchase. Here’s where you can see
Nancy.
You can also meet Nancy and purchase your copy of
Vietnam Mailbag: Voices From the War, 1968-1972 at one
of these book-signings.
Click
here for the schedule.
Vietnam Mailbag: Voices From the War, 1968-1972 can also
be ordered online.
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