Did anyone Ever Write a letter to a soldier in war as a kid?

Email Print posted by chrisandyasemin 06/17/2008 12:24:39 PM EST

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It just hit me all of a sudden today what those letters meant, so long ago...

I don't know if anyone's schools made them write letters to soldiers in war to lift their spirits.  It was such a wierd process, I remember they said to write a letter to a name, and you got to pick the name.  Presumably there would be a soldier with that name.  It was such a detached process for us as kids...that is until we saw some of the soldiers come home.  It was such a happy experience getting to meet them at the airport.  Although as a kid, I did not truly understand what was going on.  It just hit me today that kids can be exposed to something so extreme as a war, and they will do whatever they can to try to change it, without thinking.  As kids, we did not question our authorities, we knew we had to lift those soldiers spirits.  This was a noble cause, and we all knew it.  If our authorities would have told us to do something questionable, I would argue that we would not have done it.  What I am saying is we can do all the arguing we want, but until someone does something, it's all empty talk.  If you say support the troops, end the war, what are you doing to do that?
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Did anyone Ever Write a letter to a soldier in war as a kid? | 3 comments (3 topical, 0 hidden)
No (none / 0)
We never had that come up in my Chicagoland schools, at least the ones I attended.

by ihavenobias on 06/17/2008 02:49:35 PM EST

Not quite what you're looking for (none / 0)

My sister wrote and sent packages to my older 1st cousin, who was in special forces in Vietnam.  She'd bake cookies and things like that.  Later, once he was back, she couldn't stand him and thought he was a jerk (he was kind of a jerk) and she let him know in no uncertain terms, but he always had a soft spot for her because of those packages.  He'd tell us some pretty fantastic stories, and I never could tell if he was full of crap or not, but we liked the stories and my brother and I would grill him about it.

He had a fairly turbulent family life, lots of drinking, and he was a belligerent drunk.  His was not a very happy life as near as I can tell.  He died of heart complications last year.  I don't know if the troubles had anything to do with being in the special forces or not.  I had another 1st cousin in special forces who was in Central America in the 70s but never in combat.  He had similar problems and died a few months ago of heart complications related to a long history of drinking and drugging.  My mother insists that special forces screws peoples minds.   I don't know if this is correct or not but her instincts have tended to be uncannily accurate. 

by bfaul on 06/17/2008 08:04:34 PM EST

Special forces does mess with people... (none / 0)
I interviewed my uncle who was a scout for the marines...and he says he still has nightmares to this day from seeing his friends die in his arms.  I think the vietnam veterans never got their due from the american people, and I am afraid that will happen again.  People have not shunned the soldiers in the same way, but I think there is still some moral support that is lacking.  People want to look down on soldiers for fighting an unjust war, but these soldiers give us the right to protest by not enlisting...

by chrisandyasemin on 06/17/2008 08:46:26 PM EST

Did anyone Ever Write a letter to a soldier in war as a kid? | 3 comments (3 topical, 0 hidden)
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