The 18th Airborne Corps Podcast, Episode 16: The Letters of Corporal Johnson

In 1966, while fighting in the Vietnam War, Corporal Rob Johnson received a letter addressed “Dear G.I. in Vietnam.” This letter would lead to a decades-long friendship between an unlikely pairing of Americans.   Throughout the remainder of his tour in Vietnam, as well as his subsequent three tours, Rob sent a volume of letters to Joan Hunter. The letters sent by Rob, a black Soldier, to Joan Hunter, a middle-aged white woman in a coastal Massachusetts town, reveal much about that war, the men who waged it, the Nation bereaved by it, and race relations amidst the Civil Rights movement. Filled with fear, hope, range and love, his letters reveal the dark and tender wisdom of the Vietnam veteran.    This podcast episode, released specifically for National Vietnam War Veterans Day (Monday, March 29, 2021) stands as a tribute to all the Americans who fought in that war, all those who supported from the homeland, and all those who suffered in silence from PTSD in its wake.   This is perhaps the emotionally-charged story we’ve covered on this podcast. It’s one that every American should hear. We hope you will listen and pass this episode on to friends and loved ones.   In this episode we reference a recent New York Times article on this story, which can be found here: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/20/us/joan-hunter-77-letters-vietnam-war.html?searchResultPosition=2.  We also reference the book “77 Letters,” by Susan P. Hunter, available on Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/77-Letters-Operation-Booster-Vietnam-ebook/dp/B08H8WG3SF