Vietnam. Part 2

I want to begin by saying I realize some don't want to relive this era, but since I didn't really remember it, since I'm working in my 7 Continents altered book, the area had to come up sometime.  I could make scrapbook like pages, or I could make pages that are poignant and thought provoking.  I decided to do both.

My no-name friends gave me eight names of Vietnam veterans to speak to.  I provided each with a questionnaire, assuring them their names would not be mentioned.  I also explained I didn't want to know about their units, only what branch of the service they were attached to.

I asked for their year of birth, to put their dates of service into perspective.  I also asked what year they went to Vietnam, and where they were stationed.  I also asked if they enlisted or were drafted.  Then I asked for some personal feelings on or things they remember about the war.  So far I have heard from three vets.

Please note: the stories I created are in my words based entirely on what I was told. The letter I created below is just a way to introduce a few things I couldn't in the rest of the story.  Please remember, all names are fictitious.

Because this affects how I feel in my heart and soul, I'm adding it to Elke's theme, Landscapes of the Soul at Art Journal Journey. 

This is the story of "Barry."  He was in the special forces and was an advisor in Vietnam before the Marines arrived later (1965).  Barry was engaged when he went to Vietnam.  From talking with him, what he remembered when he got home was not what others I talked to felt.  It could be because of his age and time of service.

Although Barry had doubts about the war when he returned home, he stayed with his unit and served his country for twenty years.

Barry told me he liked the energy and beauty of Saigon and hated to see the carnage there as it was being overtaken (at the end of the war).  He thought his mother and fiance would have liked the architecture.

This is Barry's faux girlfriend.  I found this photo in my stash (one I had purchased in a batch at a garage sale), but it had a girl's name in the upper left corner, so I had to hide it under the picture of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City).

Apparently some of the beautiful French architecture survived as is shown in this modern day image taken from a travel magazine.

I bought a four-pack of "special forces" dog tags years ago, and it prompted this set of pages for my altered book.

Materials include a sheet of heavy card stock I covered with a sheet of deli paper.  I added the computer generated text, a faux fiance, a picture from a travel magazine, faux dog tags, and a dried flower.