In this episode of Dearest Suzie, Popi’s letter from April 17, 1965 takes us to a medal ceremony in Bạc Liêu, where he receives the South Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry. The moment should feel triumphant, yet his tone is subdued. He stands in the heat, listens while his citation is read in Vietnamese, and has a wreath placed around his neck by young women in traditional clothing. For Popi, it is another box checked before two nights of R and R in Saigon.

Using this brief letter as a springboard, the episode looks at how war creates ceremonies that can seem disconnected from daily reality. What do medals mean when the recipient is exhausted and counting days until home? Why do local civilians appear only as backdrops in official rituals? And how do these choreographed moments sit beside funerals for friends lost just days earlier?

What’s covered

• Popi’s Cross of Gallantry ceremony in Bạc Liêu
• The role of performance and pageantry in wartime morale
• South Vietnamese civilians as stage props and what that reveals about power
• The emotional gap between formal recognition and lived experience
• Popi’s upcoming R and R in Saigon and the monotony of waiting

📷 Featured Photo: A street scene filled with schoolgirls in white áo dài and conical hats, with younger children playing in a cultivated patch of earth. The image invites us to ask whether the people in Popi’s photos were subjects in their own right or part of the landscape his unit flew over.

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