Fallen soldier's letters make it home from Vietnam

Letters of SC soldier killed in Vietnam come home
By SUSANNE M. SCHAFER
The Associated Press

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Four letters from a courageous South Carolina soldier who tried to tell his family about the fearsome battles that raged around him in Vietnam were returned to his family Saturday, some 40 years after he was killed.

Military representatives of the Army's 101st Airborne Division presented the letters from Sgt. Steve Flaherty of Columbia to his uncle Kenneth Cannon and sister-in-law Martha Gibbons during a ceremony at the state's memorial honoring Vietnam veterans.

Flaherty was killed in combat in Vietnam in 1969. Vietnamese soldiers took the letters after Flaherty's death. They were turned over to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta last month when he visited Vietnam.

"It's a miracle these letters have shown up after all this time," Cannon said, taking a peek into the envelope that held the missives. The 80-year-old Navy veteran said the family had decided to study them in private because of the emotion of the moment.

"They are in remarkable condition to be 40-years old," he added. "I know Steve would be glad they are back home."
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