Former Morris County Woman Dedicated to Veterans and Their Stories

One day while sitting in her office, Susan Hunter recalled when she was 14-years-old, entertaining thoughts of one day entering the military. She back then approached her dad, and she remembers the ensuing discussion, especially one key sentence her dad uttered.

“He said to me, ‘You know, there are other ways to serve your country. Just find that other way.’ And I said, ‘This is it!”

Hunter travels the United States doing interviews with and produces documentaries about Vietnam veterans. Her series is titled Take Me There: Vietnam, and those resulting documentaries which she produces and directs were initially inspired by her book, 77 Letters, Operation Morale Booster: Vietnam, which was inspired by a loving project her mom, Joan, had done in 1966.

“It started very organically,” Hunter says of her documentaries. “I found some letters my mom had written during the Vietnam War, so that prompted me to write the book, and then the book has just had such an impact of healing.” During the Vietnam War, Hunter’s mom, Joan, began a mission called “Operation Morale Booster,” which ensured that each American G.I. would receive mail weekly, which is where her relationship via mail with Sergeant Robert Johnson comes in. “The tone of it, the fact that it really portrayed a Vietnam veteran more accurately than they tend to be portrayed, and the fact that you're in Sergeant Johnson's head from age 24 to 32 - because he had four tours over there - a few people have said this is akin to the Diary of Anne Frank, where that was two years of one person writing to herself during wartime. This is seven years of a dialogue between two people during war time, so it really has made an impact.”

“Impact” perhaps is the best way to describe Hunter’s current work as well. “I get an email from a reader every day - mostly veterans, but not all - just saying how healing it was,” Hunter says of her interviews. “And then, oftentimes they'll go in and give me a little bit of their experience. They just open up to me.”

Hunter, originally from Massachusetts, eventually moved to Parsippany for 25 years, and now resides in Nashville, Tennessee. She was contacted by a Massachusetts man who said he’d like to join her in the project and be a co-producer and director. “I had all the contacts in the Vietnam community, and it's a community that they're very close to the chest, very guarded and for good reason,” she says. “So, to break into this community with this type of trust is an honor, and I take it as such. So, he knew I had already established this, and he asked me if I wanted to join in, and I said, ‘Sure.” Hunter and he have since gone separate ways, but she has continued her work. “I saw the healing even just in the interviews. The healing that happens, you visibly see it, and at the end they tell me, and that felt really good.” And those interviews with the veterans have led to further introductions to others she has interviewed. “What I really try to do is get all the perspectives of this war. My whole mission is to get people to understand who a Vietnam veteran is. Not just what they did and what they are, but who they are.”

Among the Vietnam vets that Hunter has interviewed are former Pittsburgh Steeler, four-time Super Bowl champion running back, Rocky Bleier. “He often gives a tip of the hat to his fellow Vietnam vets,” Hunter says. “He said to me, ‘When I came back, I was a story, and so I was going to share my story.’ But for those who just came back, they didn't share it. They've had to suppress it for 50 years.’ He was a great guy.” Hunter also sat down with Captain William Robinson, who was the longest held prisoner of war, held captive for seven and a half years in Vietnam.

Susan Hunter’s book, 77 Letters, Operation Morale Booster: Vietnam.

 To view some of Hunter’s interviews, visit her Facebook page titled, “Every Time the Wind Blew” (www.facebook.com/EveryTimeTheWindBlew), which contains photos and videos of her many interviews with proud Vietnam veterans.