Why did the veterans leave letters and gifts on the Vietnam war wall?

Answer 1

I think it was mostly part of a personal healing process. This last "opportunity" to leave behind a letter or a "gift" in a meaningfully designated place was in some cases a form of honored remembrance, a "thank you," a way of saying goodbye, or just a token that "I was here to remember you."

Many veterans returned from Vietnam with a mixture of feelings; pride, regret, guilt, honor, thankfulness, pain, joy upon returning home, but with a twinge of "guilt/sorrow" for those who didn't. To me, to leave a "gift" or some meaningful token at the memorial wall was to say "thank you" to those who helped us get through the experience and who made the ultimate sacrifice of mind, body, or life itself. We veterans who were fortunate enough to return home have a special bond with the others, we will always have special feelings for them, and we want to acknowledge this by visiting the wall and, perhaps, symbolically leaving a part of our being to be with them always.