Letters from Vietnam subject of genealogical group's meeting

The Lower Delmarva Genealogical Society (LDGS) was founded in 1979. The objective of the Society is to increase interest in and raise the standards of genealogical research and compilation by means of education programs, workshops, and the publication of genealogical data.

The Society serves the seven counties of Sussex, Dorchester, Wicomico, Worcester, Somerset, Accomack and Northampton.

On Wednesday, Nov. 18 at 2 p.m. journalist Nancy E. Lynch, author of the award-winning social history, Vietnam Mailbag, Voices From the War: 1968-1972, will speak on “Preserving War Letters, Touchstones of Time” at the Laurel Public Library, 101 E. Fourth Street, Laurel, Del. This is sponsored by the Lower Delmarva Genealogical Society and the Laurel Public library and underwritten by a grant from the Delaware Humanities Forum.

Lynch will discuss the relevance today of selected correspondence from her book, based on nearly 1,000 letters she received from Delaware troops in Vietnam as a columnist with The News Journal in Wilmington, Del..

War letters, first-hand accounts from the front lines, provide a unique window on that conflict and constitute primary source material. Preserving these priceless letters as social history for future generations is critical she believes.

After Lynch’s book was published in 2008, she faced the dilemma of how to preserve her letters from Vietnam, believed to be the largest collection of war correspondence ever addressed to one reporter.

Learn how—and how not—to safeguard letters from any war as well as old family missives, even farm journals, in Lynch’s informative and interactive program. She will provide a handout of resources for the proper disposition of these valuable social records.

Lynch has written seven books and remains a freelance writer. A University of Delaware graduate, she lives in Bethel, Del.

— Mr. Dickerson is president of the LDGS, visit LDGS.org for more information.