There were things U.S. Army chaplain’s assistant Arnold Swift wished he could have said to John’s widow as he typed the man’s death notice in Vietnam more than half a century ago.
Personal things, like how much John loved his wife and children and was a good man who felt deeply and drank himself to death over an incident that likely wasn’t his fault.
But the U.S. Army had rules and protocols for notifying next of kin when a soldier died in Vietnam.
One never mentioned particulars.
Arnold Swift works with children at Tan Mai orphanage in Vietnam. (Courtesy Arnold Swift)
“You would not go into detail as to how they died,” said Swift, 72, a Vietnam veteran who lives in Missouri. “I had to make 11 carbon copies of the letter. If you made one mistake, you started all over again.”…