Vietnam Series

The third and final series on the War in Vietnam is titled, “A Letter Is a Living Voice.”

There were 2,709,918 American who served in uniform in Vietnam from 1964 to April 30, 1975.  Of those veterans 58,148, were killed and 75,000 were severely disabled in Vietnam.

In these episodes we will be reading letters and documents written by Vietnam veterans and their families. These letters and documents show all the emotions of war from fear to anger, love, and fellowship.

These readings are only the opinions of the writers of the documents and not those of the Voice of Vashon or the readers.

in addition, while some of the language in the documents may appear to be insensitive racially, it is the actual language of war, and is necessary to give the listener a true understanding of those veteran’s writings.

It cannot be said more eloquently than Zack Kreiger, a Vashon Island resident who stated, “War is just plain suffering!”


Steven Nourse, who holds a doctorate in education, is a long-time islander who retired in 2014 from Central Washington University after a long career in education. His Voice of Vashon show, “IsAbled,” has a special focus on topics pertinent to disabilities.

In his Vietnam series, Steve has collaborated with Linda Summersea. Before moving to the Pacific Northwest, Summersea was a writer for NPR’s “Tales from the South” and the producer of “Artbreak,” an award-winning children’s art program for community access TV. She has also had a long career in art teaching and administration.