A Minnesota PBS Initiative
Steve's Name is Not on the Wall
The letter with photo and newspaper clipping of Steve Cordell below were left
at The Wall That Heals in St. Paul, MN June 2018.
Note left at The Wall That Heals for Vietnam veteran, Steve Cordell
Biographical Details
Submitted From: St. Paul, MN
Story Subject: Memorial
Affiliate Organization: The Wall That Heals, Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund
Steve,
My partner for 9 months in the jungles of Vietnam. After Nam you were sent stateside. You hated Ft. Bragg so you volunteered to go back to Vietnam as a helicopter door gunner. It must have changed you. In Nov. of 69 I got the call from your mother. You had taken your life. So very sad. Me and Tom Hardy folded your American flag at your gravesite. I handed it off to your mother- but she just sobbed and wouldn’t take it. I’ve missed you buddy- all these years.
P.S. Steve's name is not on the wall- but surely Vietnam killed him.
Jeff Nordahl
173rd Airborne
Story Themes: Brotherhood, Door Gunner, Fort Bragg, God Star Mother, Helicopter, Jeff Nordahl, Steve Cordell, Suicide, The Wall That Heals
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