For Vietnam War veteran Bob Johnston, his affinity with the armed forces didn’t end when he came home.
This year, the former soldier-turned San Martin Post Office employee is collecting cards, wrapping paper and ribbons so that troops overseas can send Christmas love back home from places where holiday themed goods aren’t so readily available.
Johnston, 63, spent the Christmas of 1971 in Vietnam and remembers receiving holiday letters and wanting to reciprocate the gesture.
“I was in the country around Christmastime so I got letters and cards from home but I didn’t have anything to send back,” he recalls.
When Johnston retired from the Army as a Sergeant First Class after more than 20 years of service, he became an employee of the U.S. Post Office in San Martin, where he has worked for more than 30 years.
Johnston is also part of the San Jose chapter of Vietnam Veterans of America. The group has organized letter-writing campaigns before, but often the energy behind those campaigns tapers off after a few years.
This year, Johnston noticed San Martin’s Post Office had packs of blank Christmas cards that were tucked into junk mail by Christmas card manufacturers and even a couple of veterans organizations, who try to get people to participate in fundraisers or send out sample Christmas cards.
The cards are sent by bulk mail, so if the intended receiver has moved, the cards become undeliverable and non-returnable.
Johnston got tired of throwing them out, and thought maybe they could be sent overseas to men and women who can’t find holiday cards locally.
Motivated by his own experience overseas, Johnston set up a box designated for the collection of blank holiday cards, wrapping paper, bows, ribbons, labels for presents and handwritten letters inside the lobby of the post office. Items will be gathered through Dec. 20 and will shipped by the Blue Star Moms, a group of mothers who send care packages to servicemen and women overseas.
“They can either send notes in them or blank ones so troops can send cards back – not just receive them, but send them back,” he explained.
The effort is starting to catch on according to Johnston. He says more people are starting to notice the box, such as one recent customer who purchased one of the holiday cards for sale inside the Post Office, wrote a short letter on the spot and tucked it into the box.
For Johnston, the project fits into the goals of his Vietnam Veterans of America post, which works to make sure that future generations of veterans are never forgotten the way that many Vietnam veterans were forgotten.
“We resolved that never again should one generation of veterans abandon another,” said Johnston. “This is one of the things that keeps that motto alive.”
