Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam

"Dear America" is a collection of letters back home from men-and women- in Vietnam. DA is split up into 8 sections, giving the reader a decent exposure into what guys went through over there. For the record, this reviewer was in country from July '70-July '71. (Most vets dropped the "19" when it came to their years over there). Describing Vietnam in writing to someone who never came within 15,000 miles of the place is virtually impossible but the letters herein do a good job in this regard.The most poignant section in the final one. These are letters from guys, including one female, who did not make it home. This reviewer was pained to read of the Army nurse from Canton, Ohio who was killed when her hospital was mortared. For the record, 8 military women were killed during the War. Their names are on the Wall. Reading about soldiers who were just weeks away from homecoming before dying is excruciating. Being a "short timer" over there was the most sensitive of subjects.This reviewer will stop at this point but not without adding one personal note: He should his lucky stars every day that he was not in the infantry and escaped the worst over there. He is also lucky that he did not extend his tour to get an early discharge. The Army dangled that little sweetener and some guys who grabbed it-including at least two in these pages -were killed during their extension. Apologies: A good review should exclude personal tales, but this is Vietnam! Some reminiscing is hard to avoid.There are so many superior Vietnam writings out there. "Dear America" is yet another. It is fully recommended for its insight into that conflict that affected so many of us.

I was searching for those soldiers that lived and died with my ex husband of 3 decades, when a Vietnam Marine recommended this book. My search led me to trying to understand the different PTSD for those who enlisted and those drafted. I was sure that there is a difference. Also I can not understand how these Vets are not part of the Crisis Intervention teams and how they are not Certified PTSD Veterans Counselors. For the life of the names on the Wall, how are we grouping this PTSD with all the others? If, the Vietnam Vets were asked to discuss their bonds to their Service, they could have devised good guidelines to reclaim our Service People.This author was in Vietnam when my ex husband lost friends, including his best friend. He came home and never picked up a gun again, because guns are weapons used for only one thing - to kill. We, as a society could have learned much from our Vets but especially those Vietnam Vets. I have all the letters he wrote to me from Nam. I haven't looked at those since 1970, because of the tortured soul who wrote to me.I plan on watching the documentary associated with this book.Thank you Bernard Edelman and everyone who left their letters at The Wall or shared with another.

The basis for the HBO production of the same name, _Dear America_ provides a glimpse into the Vietnam war through letters home by the young men and women who served. The book is broken into seven sections, each portraying a different view of the war, from first impressions ("Cherries"), to life in the field ("Humping the Boonies") to "quiet" life in the rear with the gear ("Base Camp"). The editors include a variety of voices both enlisted and officer from all branches of service (and some from other civilian volunteers). Taken as a whole, the book does a solid job of showing the sweep and scope of experiences.Similar to  Since You Went Away: World War II Letters from American Women on the Home Front  - a collection of letters from the "home front" in World War II, _Letters Home from Vietnam_ is intensely personal, powerful and moving, all the more so because the editors tell what happened to the writers after the war - many moved on to successful careers in the civilian world in all manner of occupations. Some died in the conflict. Knowing what the future held for the letter writers makes the letters all the more powerful in the reading.An excellent resource in teaching history and as a collection of primary documents, it is also a haunting reminder of the personal sacrifice Vietnam demanded of those who served.

This is an outstanding collection of letters written home by American forces in the Vietnam War. There is absolutely no work of fiction that can rival the pure outpourings of angst and the descriptions of war represented in these letters. As a teacher of senior English, I used this book to help students understand the real emotions of those fighting there for the United States, and to show students that definitive words and descriptive passages can be written by ordinary people, not just by celebrated authors. There is also a companion DVD that I would recommend be purchased along with the book.

I cannot say enough things about this book. I discovered it years ago and wore out that paperback copy. I ordered this again as a permament edition to my library. I have not read a compilation of letters or journal entries from any time period that matches or comes close to the wonderful job Mr. Edleman did in putting this book together,What the reader gets from this book would depend on many factors -- are they military or former military, are they anti-war proponents, or particularly interested in the Viet Nam era. Personally, I watched my father serve three tours (one in 1963 as an advisor to the French as it was his second language, once in 1965 when he was wounded and spent a year at the hospital in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and again in 1971. As a military child, I was keenly aware of the effects of the war on my mother, myself, and the mother and children who lived on the base during this time of great death and sorrow. Mr. Edelman starts out with the "newbies" and ends with the aftermath the war had on families.I would recommend this book to anyone. It is filled with very personal and intimate details of so many young men and women who served.

A factual but so personal insight into the thoughts and feelings of young men and women fighting in a war not always understood by many. All the more poignant when you know the reception they received on returning home.

great seller

I brought this great book second hand I'm only on page 16 but its a really good read and the book is in good condition

Saw the film in the 80s. Found the book on Amazon in an American Second hand book store. God Bless America!

Opera di grande valore documentale; la guerra sporca vista dal basso e da punti di vista diversi da quelli dello storico. Molto commoventi le parole di chi non è tornato, illuminanti quelle che ci fanno capire ( non solo a chi ha vissuto il periodo come me, ma anche ai giovani) le motivazioni condivisibili o meno di chi si è trovato per caso o per scelta a viverla o a morirne.