by Terra Osterling
Nancy E. LynchNancy E. Lynch was less than a year out of the University of Delaware and a general assignment reporter with the Wilmington Morning News (now The News Journal) when her editor proposed an idea. The new column would forty years later spawn her book Vietnam Mailbag, Voices from the War: 1968-1972. Lynch now travels the northeast to promote the book by giving talks about her experience reporting the column called Vietnam Mailbag. She will appear at the Newman-Riga Public Library at 7:00 p.m. on October 18.
It all started with a spring 1968 form letter that Lynch sent to the military addresses of Delaware servicemen in Vietnam. She introduced herself and the column, and asked them to send letters about anything, writing to them, “we at home want to hear from you.” Three weeks went by before a single reply arrived. The next day, two letters arrived, then 15 letters, and before long the column increased to three times per week to keep up with the mail volume.
In letters to the Vietnam Mailbag, Navy Storekeeper Harry Porter of Wilmington, Delaware, asked readers to donate supplies to a Catholic orphanage outside Can Tho.“The boys knew when they wrote to me that their letters would get published,” recalls Lynch. Despite charged stateside political debates, the letters were published in full and not edited in any way.
“This is your column,” Lynch says she told “her guys.” The soldiers wrote about their feelings on Vietnam, covering the spectrum from skepticism to full support. In all, she received nearly 1,000 letters from Delaware servicemen (and a few women).
One wrote from a foxhole on Christmas Day, 1970, apologizing for the dirty stationery. Some expressed bitterness over the war, others felt aligned to a mission. One airman wrote a letter dated May 4, 1968, and was shot down the next day. His family later confirmed that his letter to Vietnam Mailbag was the last he wrote.
Lynch answered every single letter personally, saying she felt it was the least she could do. “I like to think of myself as a facilitator … a cheerleader at home,” she says of the column that also celebrated holidays, anniversaries, birth announcements, and even served as a bulletin board for servicemen trying to reconnect.
She also encouraged Delaware readers to write directly to the soldiers, as mail, she learned, meant so much to them that it could make or break their day.
In 1972, mail volume began to decrease as troops withdrew from Vietnam. Vietnam Mailbag, the only column of its kind in the country, published for the last time in December of that year. Lynch wrote “you guys are coming home” and promised to someday put all their letters and photos into a book to honor their service. “It was a powerful experience for me. I lived this,” she says of the profound effect the column had on her.
Marine Private First Class G. Hunter Metzner of Milford, Delaware, shown here sitting in front of a Delaware state flag, returned home in 1971 after spending several months helping train South Vietnamese soldiers in tactics for breaking down the Vietcong’s infrastructure.Lynch never forgot her pledge and in 2006 found herself led to the boxes of letters stored in her barn. She took them with her on a solo trip to Canandaigua Lake, where she had summered as a child with her grandparents, spread the letters all over the living room floor, and sorted day and night.
“I knew we had a huge book,” Lynch says. She secured permission from The News Journal and assembled a team of ten people who worked with her to self-publish the 456-page book, released in 2008.
Lynch maintained contact with many of the soldiers over the years, and often bumps into others at her book talks. At the public library in Odessa, N.Y., a man who had sat at the back of the room approached Lynch, saying, “I’m glad to finally meet you.” He had corresponded with her from Vietnam as a Delaware serviceman.
She says her mission both then and now is to increase awareness of the service and the sacrifices of our Vietnam veterans. Lynch fulfills that mission with her free talks, visiting the area twice a year, and extends it to support veterans of any era, who often identify with the soldiers’ letters. She notes meeting veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq at recent appearances.
The mission continues. Lynch plans to co-produce a feature length documentary specifically about Vietnam Mailbag with a Delaware-based filmmaker. And Florentine Films, documentary filmmaker Ken Burns’ organization, has been in contact with Lynch regarding the letters as they research for their Vietnam series slated for 2016.
In addition to her visit to the Newman-Riga Public Library on October 18, Nancy Lynch will appear at Haxton Memorial Library in Oakfield on October 24, the Yates Community Library in Lyndonville on October 25, and at the Lee-Wheedon Memorial Library in Medina on October 29. All are free and start at 7 p.m.
Vietnam Mailbag, Voices from the War: 1968-1972 may be purchased at the event or online at www.vietnammailbag.com.
