I came across this email recently from a military veteran on LinkeIn and was touched by the sender’s message. I’ve included his original message and his Vietnam Veterans Day tribute. Read this, I’m sure you’ll feel the same:
John,
Just wanted to reach out and thank you—not only for your service in Vietnam, but for the way you’ve kept that legacy alive through your writing and shared stories here on LinkedIn. I recently shared a post for Vietnam Veterans Day, and you came to mind.
A lot of us who fought decades later were shaped by what your generation endured and passed down. I also appreciate you following my newsletter, The Harbor Site Report. I feel the weight when speaking on anything related to our prior conflicts, and I aim to treat it with the respect it deserves.
I wanted to share my post to thank you personally.
Respectfully,
Sean Todd
A Message to Vietnam Veterans
You tested new battlefield tactics in the heat of Ia Drang—outnumbered, surrounded, but still standing.
You endured over 100 simultaneous attacks during the Tet Offensive, when the American public was told the enemy was defeated.
You held your ground at Khe Sanh, three-to-one odds, 77 days under fire.
You fought house to house in Hue, in urban combat so brutal it changed our military doctrine.
You fought for Hamburger Hill in the rain and through mud, advancing uphill into machine gun fire—
only for command to abandon the terrain a week later, a common trend.
And while you were bleeding in the jungle—
Jane Fonda posed for photos with the same guns used to shoot down American pilots, and the country let her.
You were called baby killers.
You were spit on in airports.
You were blamed for a war you didn’t start.
But you endured.
You trained and inspired the next generation.
You passed down hard lessons written in blood.
You shaped the tactics and mindset that defined the GWOT warfighters, and those lessons carried into the ranks today.
Your legacy lives on in those who picked up a rifle after you—
because you taught us how to patrol in uncertainty, endure overwhelming odds, and fight for each other when the nation stopped fighting for you.
I’ve included the direct link to Sean’s personal LinkedIn page in case readers want to learn more about him: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sean-todd-67858121b/
*****
Thank you for taking the time to read this. If you have a question or comment about this article, scroll down to the comment section below to leave your response.
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CherriesWriter - Vietnam War website 
The toughness we learned in training grew and was reinforced in battle. We toughened from what we learned from those who looked after us when we were FNGs.
We toughened as we walked through rice paddies filled with mud and leeches. Our feet grew tough as we humped up mountain tops and and sweated in 105 degree jungles. Our hands grew tough and callused as we cut down trees with machetes and dug holes to sleep in each night. Our shoulders toughened as we pulled past thorns and wait-a-minute vines.
We grew even tougher as we somehow avoided death in firefights and wrapped those who did not in ponchos. We toughened as we pushed on for another day and another and another – all blending and blurring.
And we grew even tougher as we boarded our freedom birds and came home to a public who did not care how tough we were and looked down upon us as killers and losers. We grew tougher as we refused to wear our uniforms in public and hid our military service in our civilian careers.
And we grew tougher as people said “thank you for your service,” but had no idea how tough that service really was.
Yes, we are a tough bunch but some of that toughness has slowly faded and is getting softer around the edges as we learn to be empathetic again.
We are still tough inside – proud of the sacrifice we made for our fellow soldiers, for families, for our country and for you.
Robin Bartlett
Author, Vietnam Combat
http://www.RobinBartlettAuthor.com
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resplendent! Breakthrough in Alzheimer’s Early Detection 2025 select
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I need to resubscribe as I lost my old email and have not received your emails send to dnehasert@gmapl.com
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You have to resign-up with your new address.
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morning from Mobile, Alabama space thank you for keeping our stories from Vietnam alive and imprint without men like you that continue to put our stories in print so all can read and remember the struggle of fighting in the jungles and the city streets of Vietnam. I myself joined the(Party in November 10, 1968) My job that time was to launch and recover the helicopters off the USS Okinawa LPH3(landing platform halo) At that time we were supporting and carrying the marines1/26 BLT(Battalion landing team) they were being transported by(Sikorski CH 34) Helicopter squadron from the ugly angels we remained on station supporting these two groups until the middle of 1969 once again thank you for your support and I don’t know if you’ve been told us or not welcome home Matney ABH(Aviation boat, swing mate handler)
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Anonymous
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now that I am older and wiser, the USA should should never have been in VIETNAM, Thousands of Americans died and many Vietnam good and bad guys died ? Why.. all political?
I hope GOD FORGIVES US FOR WHAT WE DID
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I agree
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Good article. If you want to find out about the blood – soaked critical nature of the TET Offensive and how and why our war in Nam was such a disaster and a waste of lives, read the book, FIRE IN THE STREETS, The Battle for Hue, TET 1968 by Eric Hammel. One reviewer of the book states that…… “the battle for Hue was an unambiguous military and political victory for South Vietnam and the United Sates.” Many, many veterans who fought in Nam will disagree. They were fighting first for their buddies and saw through the political smoke screen. My brother ,Joseph Pullen (RIP) fought there 1967-69 in the 17th AHC and told me the war was a major waste of lives, resources and money and that the American public was woefully misinformed and misled. 4/4/25
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John, your link to identify your website audience doesn’t seem to work. If your getting fewer responses, this could be the reason.
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It worked for me. Here’s the direct link: Who visits this Website? – CherriesWriter – Vietnam War website
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I am so grateful for this veteran putting into words what so many have felt. I assure you that those who served in the war on terror were treated to a hero’s welcome they owed to the veterans of Vietnam. A handful of veterans were willing to talk to me after the war when I tutored history while in college. I wanted to learn about this war that had affected so many, including my dad, a WWII veteran high school teacher who until the day he died said, “I buried thirteen of my boys to that war”. The guys who talked to me were curious regarding my interest because nobody talked about the war. They were still polite and tried to answer my questions factually without getting bogged down with emotion. I had so much respect for them. I started reading books written by veterans in the 80’s and have learned so much. No two books are the same, something I see pointed out in your column, but they each add a layer of understanding for a war that was so complicated politically, militarily, emotionally, technologically, and personally. Thank you for sharing so much, for providing a platform for others to contribute and to feel safe doing so. Keep up the fantastic work and a little late but truly heartfelt, thank you for your service.
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Good
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Great article and what a superb picture that captures the Vietnam war in all its grit.
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Why do some veterans want to go back to Vietnam for a visit??
Sent from AT&T Yahoo Mail on Android
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Thanks for sharing this post, Polack! It gives me hope for young Veterans of the GWOT! How are you and what did you do on our day last Saturday? Brian
Sent from my iPad
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Sent from my iPad
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John, Just read this and resonated
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On rare occasions while we were in Vietnam a package from home arrived in the mail. The care package from Mom or other loved ones was usually filled with goodies and other items unavailable in the far-flung military bases, especially those far from the major population centers of Saigon and Danang.
Whenever a care package arrived it was an occasion for joy and excitement. The guys gathered around and watched in anticipation for what goodies may be in that box. Sharing was expected. To fail to do so was a major breach of etiquette and subjected the recipient of such largess to resentment and ridicule.
One day while I was stationed in Danang, the mail brought a gift from Mom. My mother was an excellent cook and one of my favorite treats that she made for me when I was a child was peanut butter fudge. When I opened that package in the privacy of my office, I was delighted to see that unexpected treat – peanut butter fudge.
Although I could have taken the box into the outer office and shared with the guys, avarice and selfishness overcame my normally generous soul. Well, it was my favorite candy and it was from my MOM, after all. I took one piece and thoroughly enjoyed it. Then I put the box with the remainder in the top drawer of my desk to savor at a later time.
Frequent visitors to our quarters in Vietnam were rodents and other vermin. They got into everything and it was hard to find any way to keep them out of our food and other hidden-away goodies. My desk, it turned out, was not a secure storage place.
Next day, when I opened the drawer to have a piece of that delicious peanut butter fudge, to my dismay I found that a rat had helped himself to a generous portion of my hoarded treat. He had even walked all over the pieces he didn’t sample and left his little black “calling cards” behind. What is it that the kids would call this? Karma? It served me right for being so selfish.
I was so ashamed of my childish behavior that I never told any of the guys what had happened.
Captain Herman Hughes. U S Navy Ret.
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