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Letters to VVAW

By VVAW

Dear VVAW:

I am enclosing an article on Marine Capt. Charles Johnson (the Marine who stared down an Israeli tank in Beirut) who was an all-conference quarterback and also Sergeant Jay T. Stanley, of Towson, MD, the first American to be wounded in El Salvador.

I would say, my dear friends, that we still have our work cut out for us.

We note that Capt. Johnson's father, Don, back in Neenah, WI, says that he is the "kind of guy you'd want there" and Janice, the wife, says she's proud and "thankful no one was hurt" and I think that the Marines should land at DaNang to straighten all that mess out.

Seems to me that we are right back where we started from.

My life has been that of an observer of the Americans, and others too; it seems that I have seen such courage, such courage, and I saw it in Vietnam and I have seen it on these construction jobs when death was close. And Capt. Charles Johnson is, of course very brave, and that is not the issue, is it? I see this Texas Macho down there and it will attempt to stop a freight train, and there are the politicians who also see this and use it.

In Houston there is (or was--it may not be going still) a group of former Vietnam officers who had a rap group and I, again observed one evening; the bottom line of their hurt is how they used the enlisted men over there. They know it, deep in their heart of darkness it is still there.

Your work is needed more than ever, I think.

Al Reynolds
Houston, TX

VVAW:

Enclosed please find a money order to cover the subscription cost for THE VETERAN. During the past 18 months I've managed to get my hands on a number of issues of THE VET and have enjoyed them. The first thing I look for is the "Fraggin'" column' "Fraggin' really blows me away!

To get a little more serious--last week I sent out letters to U.S. Rep Steven Bartlett and Senators Tower and Bensten concerning the extension of the Vet Center Programs beyond 1984...

I've only been in Dallas a short time but am a veteran activist in the Vietnam veteran movement from my home state of Massachusetts. We managed to build a coalition of over 23 national and state grassroots groups, from Boston to the Berkshires, from Cape Ann to Cape Cod into a viable vehicle to address the concerns of Vietnam veterans residing in the state. According the Phil Girard of Agent Orange Victims International (AOVI) Massachusetts is the only state where AOVI and Vietnam Veterans of American VVA worked together. Phil and I saw eye-to-eye on a number of issues and based on our working and personal relationship upon those concerns. I am convinced that of all the issues we face today, fratricide is the most subtle and dangerous. It causes us to destroy ourselves as a unit and the things that we accomplish on the grassroots, activist level. So since I can't give more in terms of money, I can give of myself....

I attended the National Salute in Washington. The Sunday I returned, my wife gave me a message from a reported for a local newspaper for me to call her. The telephone interview and subsequent news story were deeply personal, emotional and full of hope. It is impossible for me not be to encouraged, not by the hoopla, but by the sheer numbers of brothers who attended. I've not seen so many Vietnam veterans in one place since I'd left Vietnam. It was wonderful. But, I cautioned the journalist, the American public should not expect us now to all go away. What confronts us now, confronted us before the events in November. They are still there...

Roland E Nichols
VVAW, Dallas TX

Dear VVAW:

I would like a copy of THE VETERAN, Nov-Dec '82. I believe this is the issue with the story of the Vietnam vet military nurse who committed suicide.

I was an Army nurse in Pleiku, Vietnam, in '68-'69. I was dismayed by this story--there has been so little support for the veteran nurse--the "unknown warrior."

Diane Evans
River Falls, WI

Dear VVAW:

I thoroughly enjoyed the Feb/Mar issue of THE VETERAN. Please send more copies of the Vol 13 #1 to me at the below address.

I found this issue to be exceptionally comprehensive and relevant.

I suggest we keep hammering away at the disparity between the Australian Vietnam Vet Compensation for Agent Orange and our own. It drives Americans crazy to be second best!

David Berg
St. Cloud, MN