Send Me Pennies from Vietnam: A Sister at Home, a Brother at War

In this family story that includes more than 70 letters from Vietnam, the raw honesty of one homesick teenage boy speaks for every lonely soldier at war. Huey crew chief Larry Smith grew into a hardened man in his First Cavalry helicopter while his little sister Tracy started kindergarten back in New Jersey and learned of war from the family television. As Larry turned 19 in December 1967, battles intensified and his letters darkened, casting doubt on his promise to return home.

Decades after the war, as he lay in a coma, Tracy read her brother’s letters in full and vowed to uncover the whole truth of his war. What she learned makes the case for generational trauma in the mental health realm: children do not belong in war, nor should they watch one unfold on television.

After a career in commercial real estate development, Tracy Smith Mathis completed broadcasting school, and became a freelance author. She lives outside Charlotte, North Carolina where she spent 12 years as a newspaper columnist with the Concord/Kannapolis Independent Tribune. Larry Ray Smith is a co-author in memoriam, sharing his private words in over 70 letters.