The Collection Battle Lines: Love Letters from the Front



DEAN ALLEN had been married for only two years when he was ordered to Vietnam after attending officer training school. In this letter to his wife, Joyce, he expresses emotions he could not express to anyone else. Four days after writing to Joyce, Dean stepped on a land mine while on a search-and-destroy mission. As he was being evacuated there was a second explosion. 1st Lt. Dean Allen, a recipient of the Bronze Star, Air Medal, and Purple Heart, died three days later. Get transcript


A U.S. Army soldier directs a helicopter in South Vietnam, 1966 (Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration, ARC # 542300)
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