From the collection of the National Park Service, National Mall and Memorial Parks.
note, handwritten
VIVE 35486
04/23/1990
Handwritten note dedicated to U.S. Marine Corps Lance Corporal (LCpl) Richard Evancho. The note is addressed, "Dear Mr. Evancho", is signed, "Sincerely / Jennifer Opuszinski [?]", and reads, "To some you are just a name on my bracelet. / To me you are the man who saved this country & my generation. / I will always be grateful and I will always visit you here. / And thank-you for my life". The artifact was left at The Wall by Jennifer Opuszinski [?] between January - April 1990.
HANDWRITTEN NOTE DEDICATED TO U.S. MARINE CORPS LANCE CORPORAL (LCPL) RICHARD EVANCHO. THE OBJECT CONSISTS OF A NOTE HANDWRITTEN IN BLACK INK AND CURSIVE SCRIPT UPON A TORN SCRAP OF PRINTED WHITE PAPER. THE NOTE IS ADDRESSED, "DEAR MR. EVANCHO", IS SIGNED, "SINCERELY / JENNIFER OPUSZINSKI [?]", AND READS, "TO SOME YOU ARE JUST A NAME ON MY BRACELET. / TO ME YOU ARE THE MAN WHO SAVED THIS COUNTRY & MY GENERATION. / I WILL ALWAYS BE GRATEFUL AND I WILL ALWAYS VISIT YOU HERE. / AND THANK-YOU FOR MY LIFE". AT THE REVERSE OBJECT SURFACE, SOME TEXT FROM THE ORIGINAL SHEET (FROM WHICH THE SCRAP WAS TORN) IS VISIBLY PRINTED IN BLACK INK AND BLOCK SCRIPT. THE TEXT APPEARS TO RELATE TO AMERICAN POW*MIA SERVICE MEMBERS IN VIETNAM.
VIVE-00071
1
Text of the handwritten and printed inscriptions upon the obverse and reverse object surfaces, respectively, is transcribed in full, as follows: [Obverse object surface, handwritten inscriptions] "Dear Mr. Evancho, / To some you are just a name on my bracelet. / To me you are the man who saved this country & my generation. / I will always be grateful and I will always visit you here. / And thank-you for my life / Sincerely / Jennifer Opuszinski [?]" / [Reverse object surface, visibly printed inscriptions] "[...] back a week later and recovered the [...] of the area for two more days, but no fur- [sic] [...] viec had disappeared. / The U.S. Army listed [...] he North Vietnamese. / He had been held in [...] elease. / No word had ever gotten out to the [...] nscious when he was captured, and did not [...] ced since the latter years of the war. / It is [...] Americans were withheld from release, and [...] m were kept completely separate from the [...] to be held without knowledge of other [...] g to Americans in Southeast Asia. / Whether [...] s not certain. / What is certain, however, is [...] they proudly served."
Item Weight: 1.2g
Item Length: 10.8cm
Item Width: 14.8cm