Vietnam’s been on my mind lately.  I’d like to dedicate this blog to every serviceman, and I daresay woman who ever fought or served in Vietnam.

Dear Jane,

Thinking of you as you prepare to go to the oncologist’s office.  I know tomorrow is going to be especially hard, as all may learn of an unfortunate, definitive diagnoses. I pray that it is not what I think it is.  Please know that I’m with you in spirit. I’ve thought of your husband, John, constantly for the past 48 hours, particularly of his service in Vietnam and how it changed the course of his life.

The Vietnam generation is truly one of the “unsung hero.”  Foolishly, as a country, we gave back every inch of ground our soldiers ever won. We did not celebrate them when they got home—no parades, only pickets. We denied them certain victory which would’ve been ours, and, unwittingly, we poisoned them. Despite all of this, men like John, each a hero in his own right, came home to resolutely, cheerfully raise his family and to build his life, to touch so many of us, to inspire us to be our best, to never give up, to carry freedom’s torch in our own way to the next generation. Whether he ran a grocery store or a multinational corporation, we couldn’t have done it without him.  Were it not for his counsel on many an occasion, his embodiment of courage, some of us might not be here.

“Thank you for your service” just doesn’t do it. John, I fear, will need a divine miracle. This Marine’s Marine who fearlessly walked on point through the rice paddies and jungles of Vietnam, who survived the Tet Offensive, will face tomorrow an even greater foe than the Viet Cong or the North Vietnamese, and he will need every ounce of strength and will he can muster to win the fight. I’m with you John!

I’ll pray for him and I hope everyone else who reads my blog will do so as well.

Love,

Sandy

Sandman

(Photo credit of Vietnam Hat: ThomasPhoto/Shutterstock)