‘Dear America’
Character Profile Chart

Letter Writer: Frederick Downs

Military Rank: Platoon Leader with Company D, 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division, Operating out of Duc Pho, August 1967 – January 1968

KIA/Survivor: Survivor

EXPERIENCES:

• WIA on 11th January, 1968, where he lost his left arm and took a bullet to he’s rear end.

• After he’s experiences in the war, he thought that hospital was a fantastic place.

FEELINGS AND POINTS OF VIEWS:

“Last night in was comforting everyone, but there was no one there to comfort me”

• After being WIA, In one of he’s letters, Fred talks about how many other soldiers became depressed because of their misfortune. However, Fred still believed that he was very lucky and explains that he’s personality is the same and that he’s experiences will not change that.

RELATIONSHIPS:

• Married to a woman named Linda with whom he had 2 children, Tammy and Terri. They have since divorced.

MAKES THE READER THINK, FEEL, UNDERSTNAD, LEARN, CONSIDER:

• Personally, Fred compilation of letters make me really feel for him and the horrific things that he had to endure and also for his family at home, he’s wife waiting, uncertain of what events would unfold. Also he’s children, wondering if their dad would ever return to them. These feelings are ones that I could not even begin to imagine.

By Kirsty