Christmas in Vietnam During the War ~ By Michelle Shocklee

 

I was a young girl in the 1960s and 70s when the war in Vietnam took place. My brother and sister-in-law were in the Army at the time, but thankfully neither had to go overseas. Yet even though my family wasn't personally impacted by having a soldier in harms way, many, many families were. 

In my new novel, ALL WE THOUGHT WE KNEW, the Taylor family is one of the families who would never be the same once the fighting came to an end. The book, an historical split-time story, is set on the Tennessee homefront during World War II and the Vietnam War. It begins just before Thanksgiving and ends on Christmas Day. While I worked on the novel, I came across dozens of photographs of soldiers, some during the holidays. At times I found myself in tears, thinking about how hard those days must have been for the soldier as well as their family. Holidays were particularly difficult for families who'd lost a soldier in the war. It was also hard on the soldier, far, far away from home, missing their loved ones. 

Today, I want to honor those brave men and women by sharing, in pictures with few words, what Christmas was like for them. 

Vietnam, December 25, 1967
US soldiers resting on Hill 875 against bombed forests after the fierce battle of Đắk Tô.
Over 1,600 soldiers were killed and 2,000+ were wounded in the battle.

Vietnam 1969
US soldiers erect a Christmas tree in a trench.

Vietnam,  December 25, 1967
Soldiers from the 9th Infantry Division, William Dowell and Ronald Hull,
observe a 24-hour Christmas truce. However, at the end of the period,
the US recorded 40 casualties and 78 injuries.

1967 Vietnam
Merry Christmas from the 22nd Infantry Regiment, nickname "Boonies" 

Vietnam, Christmas 1970

"Santa" with some wounded warriors.

There are still many brave men and women serving in our military today, some stationed overseas, far away from their loved ones. This holiday season, let's remember to keep them in our prayers. 

Your turn: If you feel led, please write a brief prayer for our military personnel in the comments. 

May you and yours have a very blessed Christmas!

Michelle Shocklee is the author of several historical novels, including   Appalachian Song, a 2024 Christy Award Finalist; Count the Nights by Stars, winner of the Christianity Today Book Award; and Under the Tulip Tree, a Christy Award and Selah Award finalist. Her work has been included in numerous Chicken Soup for the Soul books, magazines, and blogs. Married to her college sweetheart and the mother of two sons and mother-in-law to two beautiful daughters, she makes her home in Tennessee, not far from the historical sites she writes about. Visit her online  at www.MichelleShocklee.com

ALL WE THOUGHT WE KNEW

1942
Ava must put her life back together after her husband is killed at Pearl Harbor. A job at Camp Forrest provides income, but it also puts her in contact with Enemy Aliens interned on the military installation. Can she trust the German medical student whose friendship means more to her than it should?

1969
Mattie ran away from the pain when her brother was killed in Vietnam. Now she’s back in Tullahoma facing another devastating loss. Yet it is the bundle of WWII letters Mama insists she reads that makes her question everything she thought she knew about herself.

https://www.tyndale.com/p/all-we-thought-we-knew/9781496484178