This Coastal Connection is sponsored by Baths by Spicer Bros.
OCEAN VIEW, Del. — A bestselling novel about women in the Vietnam War has sparked renewed interest in the untold stories of those who served. For Delaware journalist Nancy Lynch, that mission has been decades in the making.
Lynch, the author of Vietnam Mailbag, is traveling across Delaware and beyond, sharing firsthand accounts from local troops who served in Vietnam. Her lectures, including a recent one at the Ocean View CHEER Center, shed light on the personal experiences of those who fought. Her current lecture is entitled "The REAL Women: Veterans of Vietnam," touching on the Delaware women in the war whose contributions were often overlooked.
“As far as we know, no other state had a journalist corresponding one-on-one with troops in Vietnam,” Lynch said. “Mail was so important to these guys. It could make or break their day.”
Her book is a collection of letters she received from Delaware service members while writing her Vietnam War column for The News Journal from 1968 to 1972. She believes her work was unique in the country.
“As far as we know, no other state had a journalist corresponding one-on-one with troops in Vietnam,” Lynch said. “Mail was so important to these guys. It could make or break their day.”
Among those featured in her talks are Lance Hall of Lewes, who served in the Air Force and now lives overseas, and Larry Gum of Millsboro, a Navy medic who later became mayor and fire chief in his hometown.
Vietnam veteran Dean Levering shared his own reflections, recalling how service members had little choice in their deployment.
Her book is a collection of letters she received from Delaware service members while writing her Vietnam War column for The News Journal from 1968 to 1972.
“When we went over there, we didn’t want to go,” he said. “They told us that’s where we were going. That’s what we did.”
Levering says as a veteran himself, he believes reshape public perception of Vietnam veterans.
Lynch is giving lectures across the state.
“I actually think now that people have started to gain some respect for Vietnam veterans,” Levering said. “There are more and more books coming out, more truth being uncovered about what actually went on over there.”
Lynch also remains committed to a promise she made to the troops who wrote to her: to preserve their words and memories. That promise led her to publish Vietnam Mailbag in 2008, ensuring that the voices of those who served would not be forgotten.
Lynch reviews a passage from her book, Vietnam Mailbag
“I made a promise in my last column on Dec. 18, 1972,” she said. “Someday, I was going to put all their letters and pictures in a book to honor them and Vietnam veterans throughout the country.”
Today, many of those letters are archived with the Delaware Public Archives, available digitally for future generations. Lynch’s lecture series continues throughout the month.