Join us in-person in the library for a multi-media presentation by journalist Nancy E. Lynch, author of the award-winning book, Vietnam Mailbag, Voices From the War: 1968-1972, and Vietnam veteran Rick Lovekin.

When American troops in Vietnam answered the call to correspond with a young reporter four decades ago, they could not have envisioned the enduring relevancy of their war letters or the rich legacy their words, photographs and memorabilia would leave to succeeding generations. Ms. Lynch discusses and reads selected war letters from her book, based on her popular newspaper column, “Nancy’s Vietnam Mailbag.” Accompanying her is Vietnam veteran Rick Lovekin, a Huey helicopter door gunner, Cobra crew chief, and frequent letter writer to Nancy, who shows slides from Vietnam set to 1960s music.

A Bethel, Delaware resident, for five years Lynch wrote her News Journal column, "Nancy’s Vietnam Mailbag," receiving nearly 1,000 letters and hundreds of pictures from our troops on the front lines during the undeclared and polarizing war. In her final column in December 1972 she promised “her guys” she would someday put all their war letters and pictures in a book to honor them. The 2008 Veterans Day release of her 456-page social history fulfills her pledge. The book earned a gold medal from Independent Publisher in 2009 for Best Non-Fiction in the Mid-Atlantic.

Rick Lovekin had a medical disability and could have avoided service in Vietnam but chose instead to enlist in the Army and spent a year in combat as a door gunner on a Huey helicopter and later as crew chief on a Cobra chopper. He was based in Bien Hoa and Vung Tau with the 147th Helicopter Company. He wrote frequently to Lynch during his 1969-1970 tour, always signing his letters, “Your Man in Nam.” Now retired, Lovekin, formerly of New Castle County, lives in North East, Md.

Registration is required.

This program is underwritten by a grant from Delaware Humanities, a state program of the National Endowment for the Humanities.