FOR THE SENDER Alex Woodard

Over the last couple of months, you've heard words and music weaving together into the true story of For The Sender: Love Letters from Vietnam.
You've heard the love letters Sergeant John Fuller sent to his wife decades ago when he was stationed in Vietnam. You've heard his daughter answer those letters back in time, after finding them buried in a closet during a recent move.
You've heard about how Sergeant Fuller's escape from his demons got him killed in the driveway of a house he was renting for his lover, and you've heard the letters his daughter wrote to him and from him in her heart to work through his death.
And you've heard the songs inspired by those letters.
You've met veterans from the Vietnam War to the current conflict in the Middle East, who are struggling with PTSD and traumatic brain injuries. They've told you about using heroin and darkness to cope, and then trading the drugs and depression for the joy of the ocean. Or the spirit of a therapy horse. Or the support of a psychiatric service dog.
Because there is joy on the other side. There can be something post-traumatic other than a disorder.
And now, the last waltz is here.
Join me on the dance through this final exchange between a daughter and her dad, who was stationed in Vietnam in 1968, and is now stationed in her heart.
And hear how this correspondence shifts, from the daughter who imagines these words to the woman who really needs to hear them: her mother.
 
 
 

In this serendipitous, full-circle episode of For The Sender: Love Letters from Vietnam, I meet a dog trainer who rescues dogs from shelters and trains them to be psychiatric service dogs for veterans.
I realize that the three things I depend on also ease the burdens carried by the veterans I've met with PTSD and traumatic brain injuries.
And what inspired the For The Sender project is the same force that will bring it to a close:
The love of a dog.
 

In this episode of For The Sender: Love Letters from Vietnam, I'll take you with me as I walk through the barn doors of Idaho's Swiftsure Ranch and into a world where PTSD and traumatic brain injuries wilt in the shadows of some very special horses.
You'll meet a Vietnam veteran who's never spoken about his time in combat and a veteran of multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan who depends on a makeshift cane to walk.
But that changes after they meet these horses.
Join me on this adventure that the Huffington Post is calling 'important, enlightening, and ultimately inspiring.' Proceeds from the For The Sender: Love Letters from Vietnam book and album (you can check that out at forthesender.com) go to veterans causes featured in the story, including the ranch I'm going to take you to now.
Let's go.
 

Here's Episode 9 of For The Sender: Love Letters from Vietnam, which is the true story with a soundtrack of an incredible correspondence into the past between a daughter in the present and her dad, who was a sergeant stationed in Vietnam in 1968.
This story has been unfolding week by week, so if this is your first time listening, you can go to forthesender.com/podcast to check out all the previous episodes just by going to forthesender.com, scroll down to podcast, and click on it, and you can listen to everything. We’re pretty deep in the thick of things now, with Jennifer writing her dad letters in heaven and imagining what he’d say back to her, with these songs we wrote woven through the letters, and taking over the letters… so I really hope you’ll go back and check out those previous episodes, because I think this is a story of service and sacrifice and redemption and forgiveness worth telling and hearing.
Also woven through this father and daughter correspondence is my own journey of discovery, and in the last few episodes, I’ve walked you through the creative process of writing the book and songs, and what I was thinking at certain points. And you seem to dig that, so we’ll keep it going.
We'll start with the next letter that Jennifer has written to her dad, wherever he is, and the song about that letter. In this letter, Jennifer starts to hit her stride in her healing process but still has some pretty big questions that she hopes her dad can help answer.
And we'll end with me almost losing what I love more than anything.

For The Sender: Love Letters from Vietnam is the true story with a soundtrack about an incredible correspondence into the past between a daughter and her dad, who was an Air Force sergeant stationed in Vietnam in 1968.
I'm going to take you behind the curtain again in Episode 8 and show you my thought process as I wrote this story of service, sacrifice, redemption, and forgiveness that the Huffington Post is calling 'important, enlightening, and ultimately inspiring.' In this episode, the narrative will start to shift ever so slightly toward an ultimate redemption... the last few episodes have brought some darkness, but the dawn is coming.
This story has unfolded week by week, so if you want to get caught up and check out the previous episodes, just go to forthesender.com/podcast and you can listen to the whole series. An audiobook will be available very soon with the whole story uninterrupted, and I'll let you know where to find it.
Proceeds from the book sales (the print edition was released on Veterans Day) go to veterans' causes featured in the book, and thanks to your help, we were able to fund a surf camp for veterans earlier this month! If you'd like to support the project, you can find the book and album packages on Amazon (just search For The Sender: Love Letters from Vietnam).
Thanks for listening.

For The Sender: Love Letters from Vietnam is the true story with a soundtrack about an incredible correspondence between a daughter and her dad, who was an Air Force sergeant stationed in Vietnam in 1968.
As the story unfolds here in Episode 7, I'm going to take you behind the curtain and show you my thought process as I wrote this story of service, sacrifice, redemption, and forgiveness that the Huffington Post is calling 'important, enlightening, and ultimately inspiring.'
Proceeds from the book and album sales go to veterans' causes featured in the book, and thanks to your help, we were able to fund a surf camp for veterans earlier this month! Thank you... the next surf camp is September 11th, so stay tuned for more details about how you can volunteer if you're interested, or head over to forthesender.com to check out the books.