Hello

Dear Marine, I stumbled across your message this morning while doing some research on a project about the effects of American foreign policy on Marines and their families. My father was a Marine. He died unexpectedly two years ago after landing an enormous salmon. He would have loved the justice of that!!

I was so moved by your message. There were more than 500 on the site, but for some reason, yours was the one that I read. I was so sorry to learn that you have not spoken about your experiences to anyone. That must be very lonely for you.

I have friends who have found themselves in similar situations. One man, recipient of two Silver Stars and the executioner of many, told me this winter that his children asked him two years ago if he had served in Viet Nam. I could not imagine that a person could carry this burden by himself for so long. He had never spoken about it to his wife either. It was too brutal, too horrible, and when he had spoken of it to his siblings upon his return from Nam they disowned him. What a tragedy. I have listened to his stories. They make me weep every time. He was two weeks short of his eighteenth birthday when he had to call in some napalm strikes on some villages. What a price all of you paid, and to think that we never knew it.

Be well. Be happy. If ever you want to talk about any of these things, I will keep your confidences close in my heart. I will be praying for you especially, as since I have begun to learn more about the effects of war on combatants, I pray for all of them every day.

Susan