"The Letter Writer", 18 1/2" x 15", Relief
Edgardo, Army, Vietnam
The war was really scaling up and I can't tell you how many letters of condolences I had to write because I was the letter writer. You know, "Your son was blah, blah, blah. Dear Mrs." The Colonel would sign off on them, but it was my job to write them. Sometimes I had to make up how they died because I didn't know it all the time. I talked to a lot of guys to tell me exactly what went on, just in case somebody needed a bronze star, you had to write all that stuff. I was the scribe, and the narrator for all that.
I like to think that war is, war's got everything - it's got blood, it's got terror, it's got guts, it's got sadness, it's got a lot of happiness and a lot of laughter and a lot of stupid shit that happens to you. One of the things it brings out is people's survival will. And you meet the craziest characters.
The war was really scaling up and I can't tell you how many letters of condolences I had to write because I was the letter writer. You know, "Your son was blah, blah, blah. Dear Mrs." The Colonel would sign off on them, but it was my job to write them. Sometimes I had to make up how they died because I didn't know it all the time. I talked to a lot of guys to tell me exactly what went on, just in case somebody needed a bronze star, you had to write all that stuff. I was the scribe, and the narrator for all that.
I like to think that war is, war's got everything - it's got blood, it's got terror, it's got guts, it's got sadness, it's got a lot of happiness and a lot of laughter and a lot of stupid shit that happens to you. One of the things it brings out is people's survival will. And you meet the craziest characters.