A Nice Email

A perk of this job is occasionally receiving nice emails from strangers.

This one is from Nathan in Australia - it’s shared with his permission and I have added some links.

SUBJECT: Peter Haran in Vietnam 50th anniversary commemoration speech

Hi Brady,

My name is Nathan, and I work as a speechwriter for the Australian government. Recently, I was asked to write the national commemorative address to mark 50 years since the end of the Vietnam War.

I’ve been a fan of your work for many years, and was quite moved by the stories you posted with your father retelling his time in Vietnam. I re-visited them during my research for the speech. This led me to research your father a little more and it lead me to an oral history project he participated in some 20 years ago. At the end he was asked something along the line of how he would like future generations to remember the war and he said:

“The Vietnam War reflected Australia’s character. It showed all the good things about Australians under extreme, extraordinary conditions.”

I know it was just two quick sentences, but after all my research I felt it nicely captured a sentiment among the veteran community and was something that might resonate with them, so I included his quote (with attribution) in the speech. I was pleased to see when I attended the ceremony today that the Minister elected to keep the quote.

I wish I could have featured more of your father’s story in the speech, but sadly we’re always limited in what we can say. But just wanted to drop you a line to thank you for sharing his story. I think he, and the people he served alongside, were really remarkable people, and it’s sad that it took so long for their service to be properly recognised.

 Anyway, thought you might appreciate hearing about that, and please also pass on my gratitude to your father for sharing is story and for the service he gave our country.

 Many thanks,

Nathan

PS: Here is a link to the full speech the minister delivered: https://minister.dva.gov.au/news-and-media/minister/vietnam-veterans-day-national-commemorative-service

Private Denis Ferguson with dog Marcus and Private Peter Haran with dog Caesar