Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam

Painful reading but shows the Vietnam war through the words of soldiers living it.

4118 Dear America Letters Home from Vietnam, edited by Bernard Edelman (read 13 Jan 2006) This consists of letters written in Vietnam by men there. Most are a page or less, and they give a vivid insight into attitudes of the men there, though possibly self-censored to put the authors in a better light. In other words, only a few letters tell of misbehavior. Many are poignant, the note after them telling what happened to the writer--all too often the date when he was killed. It is kind of like a book of short stories, because one only gets one view of the writer. The book has enthralling stuff in it, but was not really great reading often.

If there is any book to show the reasons to stop these wars this is it. Too many of the letters have the biographical note KIA.And how well these soldiers wrote.

Absolutely no words can describe exactly how this book made me feel. Not having much knowledge on the Vietnam war, this book really opened my eyes and my heart - it really made me feel something, just reading these simple letters home. I'm very, very glad I read this book.