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At the Institute’s core is the Gilder Lehrman Collection, one of the great archives in American history. More than 85,000 items cover five hundred years of American history, from Columbus’s 1493 letter describing the New World through the end of the twentieth century.

Handy, Gerald, 1949-2020 to Donna Lawyer

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC09908.37 Author/Creator: Handy, Gerald, 1949-2020 Place Written: Vietnam Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 8 August 1969 Pagination: 4 p. : envelope ; Order a Copy

One letter from Gerald Handy to Donna Lawyer dated August 8, 1969. He writes in an explicit letter how much he loves her and can't wait to see her. He mentions mutual friends and the weather in Vietnam. He also mentions an accident at his base in which a spark from a mortar got into some gun powder that was nearby. It killed the two men that set off the original mortar as well as a navy sailor, and wounded 25 men. The explosion set off all the mortars, 32 illumination rounds, 92 RPG rounds and destroyed four Army Personnel Carriers. He addresses the letter to Donna Handy despite their not being married.

Handy, Gerald, 1949-2020
Lawyer, Donald, 1928-2017

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