Aida Sandoval, oral interview with Maria Alamilla Ochoa and Jett Bachman, Claremont, California, May 3, 2015. Digital recording.

Aida Sandoval is the wife of a Vietnam Veteran. The daughter of two immigrants, she was “not living like the kids in the neighborhood,” commuting to a different area to go to Catholic school. She wanted to be a nun for a long time, but fell more and more in love with her now husband, Tom. One thing that interested her about being a nun was the idea that these were smart, educated women. Education has always been present in her life, going back to school to learn more later on in her life. Another area of interest that has always been prominent in her life is helping others. She states that,

“Before I was girlfriends with my husband, I became a pen-pal for soldiers that had nobody to write to. I read something in the newspaper and I sent away and I volunteered to write to soldiers. So I was writing to a Native American soldier, to a Filipino who had been raised in the Midwest, and to a farm boy from Texas. And they would write back and tell me about themselves and send pictures and I sent them a picture of me and my family so that they could see. So I wasn’t looking for a boyfriend, it was just that they had no mail, and I just thought that was terrible. And they would tell me they didn’t know why they were there, so I really wasn’t sure what was going on.”

Mrs. Sandoval was one of many Americans who was very aware of the war, but wasn’t quite sure as to the reasons that the United States was in Vietnam. She did try to help out those who served by writing letters, giving them something to look forward to, and when her husband served she would send him lots of things. Below, she recalls when she visited him in Hawaii and some of the things she sent him.

Sending packets of instant-oatmeal for him and his fellow troops was one of the small gestures that she did to give the troops something to hold onto. She was compelled to help the soldiers, even if it was a simple act that she hoped would sustain their endurance while in Vietnam. Mrs. Sandoval has always been a helper, and as an army wife she felt even more compelled to help those who served. Helping others was, and always will be, part of her true nature.

Mrs. Sandoval refers to herself as “an old soul” and believes this is the reason she is so drawn to caring for others. She describes herself as a very reflective person who likes to pause and evaluate herself and her values on a regular basis. Her ability to persevere in difficult times is clear when she talks about how she coped while her husband was in Vietnam:

Mrs. Sandoval focuses a lot on the role as an army wife, from helping others to what it was like for her to have a husband who served in Vietnam. The two were married shortly before he left for Vietnam and while he was away she sent him hundreds of letters and he wrote back hundreds of letters as well. Mrs. Sandoval recalls how a priest told her that she shouldn’t tell her husband he was worried, that she should write cheery replies to show that everything was going well at home, because as a wife of a soldier she had a duty to stay strong for her husband. When he had a break, she got to visit him in Hawaii, and she noticed a lot of other army wives were partying before they would see their husbands. She spent some quality time with her husband before it was time for him to go back to Vietnam. She noticed that he was different, saying how the look in his eyes was different, and he had definitely changed while he had served. She was very devoted to her husband, even when the two faced difficulties later on, they faced the problems together.

Mrs. Sandoval didn’t speak much about what it was like for her husband to readjust to life after the war, but it was a difficult transition. She recalls how at that time, no one had really thought of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, thinking of how a few called it “shell-shock” during the second World War. It was stressful to see how PTSD affected her husband, but she didn’t elaborate on it too much. Mrs. Sandoval’s story as an army wife has taught us that several things regarding the war. Regarding the relationship of the Latino community and the war, she has taught us that it is important to stay connected to those that matter, and that even if you are different from the others (for example, the army wives) that doesn’t lessen who you are by any means. She teaches us that a little bit can go a long way, and that helping others is important.