WEBVTT

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The last time Martha Gibbons heard from
her brother in law Sgt. Steve Flaherty of

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Columbia was in December of 1968.
He just it is not going to be a very good

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Christmas so this will have to be
your Christmas card for this year and you know

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I will be better next year.
Just 3 months later while on duty in

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Vietnam before his body was recovered
a North Vietnamese Soldier took several

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letters Flaherty had written, but not yet mailed.

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43 years later in a ceremony in front
of Columbia's Vietnam War Memorial those

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letters were finally returned to
his closest living relatives.

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I haven't read them and I don't plan
on reading them till a little later.

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I don't think I could, but we are glad they
are back home and I know Steve would

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be glad they were back home.

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Reading them is going to be very extremely
emotional that is why we have chosen to

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wait until we get into our own private
family gathering to read them.

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The letters were returned by the Vietnamese
to Secretary of Defense Leon

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Panetta when he visited Vietnam last month.

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And I just recognized them that they are
in remarkable condition to be 40 years old.

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The current Deputy Commander the unit
Flaherty served within Vietnam had the

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honor of handing the letters over to the family.
This is a great story that we talk to

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soldiers about.
Hey, look at you know look at how we

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never forget our comrades that have gone
before us and you know 40 years later we

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are able to present these letters to his family.
I mean it is just a very inspiring story

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and it is inspiring to be part of this.
While Flaherty's family has yet to read

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any of the letters snippets from those
letters have been published and one letter

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Flaherty wrote: "I felt bullets going past me.
I have never been so scared in my life."

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Those people experienced something that we
- a lot of us will never, ever experience.

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It is regrettable but it had to be done.
Steve was part of that.

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He is history.
He made history and I am glad he is here.

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I am really glad he is our nephew.

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Now through these letters he will live
forever and be apart of history.

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The letters will eventually become part
of a display at South Carolina Military Museum.