48 Years After Reading the Christmas Card That Got Him Through the Vietnam War, He Finally Got to...

I hope all children who send cards and letters to service members who are deployed, truly appreciate how important their small gestures really are. I have heard many stories such as this. Indeed, this past weekend, I carried a bundle of letters written by sixth graders, most 3 and 4 pages in length, to patients at the Long Beach VA Hospital. We passed them out as students from a high school passed out pizza and drinks, a kind of post Thanksgiving decompression. The pizza and drinks were placed aside as the patients eagerly read their letters. Some spoke warmly of other such cards and letters they received. A few managed to dig out collections to share. Mail has long been recognized as a morale builder to service members. Stories such as this bear witness to that fact