Kudos for your March 8 issue, “Voices of the Century: Americans at War.” This issue surely ranks among the best magazines ever published. As a military historian, I gained a better perspective of this turbulent century from this single issue than from many other sources combined. The first-person accounts are the genius of the issue. And your selection of storytellers was truly inspired. The “Voices of the Century” is so powerful that I will urge all of my friends to read it, buying copies for those who are not subscribers. Many persons today, especially those born after WWII, do not comprehend or appreciate the defining events of this century. How can we be more confident that they will be aware of our vital past when making important social and political decisions during the next century? I have great confidence in the American spirit and will, but this missing perspective is my principal concern as I leave this nation to the ministry of my daughters, my grandchildren and their generation. Why not publish “Voices of the Century” as a booklet and make it readily available to all young people? Why not urge every school system to make it required reading prior to graduation from high school?
Alan R. McKie Springfield, Va.
Your March 8 war issue was a powerfully illustrated essay of the men and women who have served our country and the people of other lands in so many capacities. But it was the photos that touched my soul and made me cry all over again for the human loss, my loss. As I stared at the pictures of the injured, dead, dying and crying, I felt as though I were intruding on their private hell. God bless all of them, and my sincere thanks for a free America.
Deborah Ames Sparks, Nev.
In the 1950s those of us who, because of our age, had been “cheated” out of the thrill of serving in WWII, finally got our chance to be in the first wave of draftees for the Korean War. There was still honor in military service: many of us volunteered and few of us took off for Canada or Oxford. My crew flew 38 electronic reconnaissance missions over North Korea. Night after night I could see the gunfire on the ground far below, and realized that some of my friends wouldn’t be coming home. The “war” finally became very personal for me when we lost an engine on climbout from Japan and had to abort the mission. The next night our sister crew, flying the same mission, met a MiG over the Sea of Japan, and we got back one man out of a crew of 16. We had trained with these men, flown with them, known the names of their wives, kids and even their dogs. For the media and general public, Korea may have been a police action and forgotten. For me and my generation it was indeed a war and will live forever in our hearts and minds. We know that we served our country with honor. We know we made a difference.
Tom Bishop Dunwoody, Ga.
I was glad to be able to share my reminiscences as a staff sergeant in the 99th Infantry Division of the U.S. Army in your important “Americans at War” issue. I do want to re-emphasize, however, that the concentration camp we liberated in May 1945 was Dachau 3-B, one of many Dachau subcamps, and not the much larger and more famous main camp, KZ Dachau, which was many miles away and was liberated on April 29 by members of the 42d and 45th Infantry divisions. You can’t imagine how many veterans and civilians alike have been getting in touch with me about the vivid memories your most impressive project has evoked for them.
Curtis Whiteway Marshfield, Vt.
I want to say thank you to Leann Thieman, the nurse from Iowa in your story, “Operation Babylift,” who volunteered to help airlift Vietnamese orphans out of Saigon in April 1975. My adopted daughter, Rosie, was one of the babies who escaped with Thieman. Rosie has graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and is a wonderful, spunky 24-year-old who is now pursuing a career in nursing herself. Without Thieman and other caring orphanage workers, who knows where Rosie would be today?
Ron Bates Studio City, Calif.
I just finished reading “Voices of the Century.” I was struck by the accounts of so many young people caught up in all the wars through the years. I felt I owed every person a huge debt of gratitude, particularly the young men and women in uniform. They handled such horrendous situations with unbelievable bravery. Nothing has been more powerful in your magazine than these “voices.” Thank you for this series.
Nancy E. Fording Ogunquit, Maine
The picture of the handsome young marine on your March 8 cover has haunted me ever since I first saw it. If the marine is alive today, I believe that he would be approximately my age. I would like to tell him and his family “thank you” for risking his life in serving my country so that I could enjoy my life of love, happiness and, above all, freedom.
Barbara Joye Lagattuta Irvine, Calif.
The words of nurse Edie Meek’s Vietnam experience in your story “Nursing the Dying” really hit home. My mom, an Air Force nurse, and my dad, an Air Force aircraft-maintenance manager, did two tours. Your article reminded me that they not only had to deal with the strangeness and sadness of war, but also had to go home and have people not know what to say to them, look at them uneasily and not feel proud of them. I think the uneasiness has haunted America, including my generation, with the question: how do we feel knowing our parents fought in this tragic and misguided war? Whether the war was right or wrong, I am really proud of my parents for all they went through. It makes our problems today seem trivial.
Monica Piergrossi Denver, Colo.
I arrived in this country at 15 as a Jewish refugee from Nazism. I became an American soldier at 19 and a U.S. Foreign Service officer at 29. As a witness to much of the history covered in your special issue, I wanted to congratulate NEWSWEEK on a superb job. In your excellent introduction, I found only one word with which I take issue: that “after the war Rosie and her cohort happily went back to the joys of motherhood and built the baby boom.” Rosie and her cohort were forced back into their traditional gender roles, and it took the women’s movement another generation or two to win back the gains achieved during the war.
Lucian Heichler Frederick, Md.
On the cover of your “Americans at War” issue, you have the accompanying text “From WWI to Vietnam: The Grunts and the Great Men–In Their Own Words.” In each of these wars, the grunts were the great men.
Paula S. McGuire Charlotte, N.C.
I have never read every word of an issue of NEWSWEEK the way I read the one on “Americans at War.” I cried with practically every voice, saddened and yet inspired by each tale. I’m wondering now, though: if life is so precious, why do we choose to destroy it?
Lori Solomon Chicago, Ill.
As a member of generation x, I have never experienced the horrors of war that my parents and grandparents have known. Your issue on “Americans at War” reminds me once again of the incredible bravery and valor of the men and women who served this country in the past century. If America should ever find itself again in the midst of a world war, I only hope that my generation will respond with even a small portion of the honor and courage of those who have gone before us.
Brad Guilford Knoxville, Tenn.
I’ve always wanted to say thanks to Bob Hope and Connie Stevens (interviewed in your story “A Voice in the Dark”) for the wonderful Christmas show they gave us aboard the USS Ranger. We had been on Yankee Station, a spot of ocean off the coast of North Vietnam, for several months. We were homesick and tired, and the sendoff we’d received when we left San Francisco had made an unforgettable impression on us. As we passed under the Golden Gate Bridge, people dropped bags of garbage onto our flight deck. Since then we had lost several aircraft and their crews to North Vietnamese antiaircraft fire and to flight-deck accidents. But that night when Bob told his jokes we laughed, and when Connie sang “Silent Night,” it was so beautiful that we cried. Our homecoming the next spring was different. Again people dropped things onto the ship from the bridge, but this time it was flowers. The San Francisco fire boats escorted us into the bay, spraying geysers into the air. The battery cable on my car had corroded away while I was at sea, but a mechanic in Oakland fixed it for free. Thanks to all the people who gave a damn for us. Your kindness more than made up for the ugliness and indifference of so many others.
Jeff Ross Tijeras, N.M.
Your March 8 issue was painful for me and other members of my family as a result of the photograph you included on page 62 showing a wounded soldier being dragged from the line of fire during the Tet Offensive. My family had previously confirmed with the photographer that the soldier was my youngest brother, Marine Cpl. Robert Mack Harrelson. His bullet-riddled body fought hard to survive and, with the assistance of many excellent, caring members of our U.S. Military Medical Staff, he was able to regain some degree of normalcy after his return. But the injuries he received were too great to overcome, resulting in the military funeral he had requested. The rekindled grief brought on by your photo is keenly felt throughout our large family, and especially so by our dear 85-year-old mother, who still speaks of Bob as though he might reappear at any time. In spite of the photo, I sincerely congratulate your fine publication for reminding the world of the tragedy of war.
Lowell L. Harrelson Bay Minette, Ala.A Woman Remembers What She Saw–Up Close
With all due respect to the heroes who stormed the beaches on June 6, 1944, we women also saw the ravages of WWII up close. Having barely escaped from Nazi Austria, I was soon tossed into the midst of the horrors of the London blitz. A witness to–but not a victim of–the deadly fire that rained down on us night after night, I joined the British Army and served for five years. Here our battles were fought mainly in the cookhouse and dining halls, feeding thousands of troops each day. We lugged pots of food that weighed more than we did, and washed plates until the skin came off our hands in shreds. I am an old lady and a grandmother now, but the war and its horrors remain engraved upon my soul.
Frances Nunnally Richmond, Va.
