Dear Mr. Gulledge -

My name is Margaret Hunter and I am a gifted history/language arts teacher here at Claymont Junior High School in Uhrichsville, Ohio.  I have become appalled at how these students know so very little about Vietnam.  Their textbooks give but little attention to it; therefore, these children of this generation do not know the pain of loss nor the worry and angst that springs from what happened in southeast Asia.  I am one of the lucky ones: my dear husband served there in the 459th Signal Battalion [HonTre Island] from 1967-1968 but he came back to marry me.  My heart still breaks for those who were not so fortunate.

Because I want this generation to remember and grieve the loss, each year I assign what I call The Vietnam Project.  I peruse The Virtual Wall website and I choose a soldier at random to assign each child to 'remember'.  After permission is established by me for the student to make the correspondence, I allow that student to e-mail or postal mail the 'contact person' whose name I have from the website; the student will more or less get to know that one soldier in a deeply emotional way, so that when the student goes to Washington D. C. on the annual trip there, the student will carry an attachment of the heart that will last a lifetime.  That student will always remember their "soldier", and that is why I began this unit three years ago- for someone to always remember.  This year I saw your two sites, The Purple Foxes and The Warriors of Hill 881S, and ask your permission to assign some of those Marines who were killed in action to a few of my students.  I can assure you that nobody works as hard as the students involved in this; I give them parameters to guide them, and the majority of them are irrevocably changed- that is the essence of the project.  Each student will go to DC in April and visit The Wall- but now when they do, they 'know' more than what they came in with- they also get a rubbing of their soldier's name to put on our class 'wall' and at the end, we all sit down and talk and cry.  I have had some students correspond for the past three years with their initial contacts- the bonds were that deep with some.  And that is good.  Someone needs to have the loss passed on so that there is always somebody around that remembers a boy.  Hence, the reason for this e-mail.

Do I have your permission to allow some of my students to contact you for this project?  I would be deeply honored, as well as in giving you the assurance of the heart that this is one of the most rewarding things I have ever personally done.  All your help and information will always be greatly appreciated.

Please respond soon so that I know whether or not you wish to help us.  I would be, with that, most appreciative.
 

Thank you so much.

Warmly and with regards,
Margaret Hunter