War and Love
Contributed by Bernard Walker, Jr., and Nelda Massengill Walker, Mat-Su’s New Authors
Bernard and Nelda Walker holding their book, War and Love
Invitation to book signing event
We (Bernard and Nelda Walker) both in our 70s, have written and published our first book, War and Love, a 376-page non-fiction book centered around letters we wrote to each other during the Vietnam War Era. We hope this will inspire others to share their memories and experiences, no matter your age. But I must confess, it was not initially our plan to write a book. We will share with you how this book came to be written.
For over 50 years I carefully preserved over 200 letters and several cassette tapes Bernard and I exchanged with each other, mostly during his time in Vietnam before we were married. For almost 40 years we moved them with us every time we went from one place to another. Those letters have not only traveled across the ocean, but they have also traveled thousands of miles back and forth across America. After our move to Wasilla, Alaska, I put them safely away in a closet where they stayed for another 10 years. Bernard claims he did not even realize we had been hauling these letters with us all those years.
Why would someone keep old letters for 50 years? Well, I just could not get rid of them. They told our story. Those letters helped our love survive and even thrive during one of the most turbulent periods in American history. In the letters we had shared our deepest thoughts, fears, feelings.
For our 50th wedding anniversary, I pulled the letters out and began to organize and type Bernard’s letters from Vietnam to put on thumb drives as a gift for each of our children. I did not want my letters on the thumb drive, but Bernard insisted that all the letters should be typed and arranged chronologically. That was very difficult since only a few of his letters had dates on them and letters mailed from Vietnam did not have postmarks on the envelopes. (Yes, I had even saved the envelopes.)
What began as a gift for our children became a much bigger project after our son, Jonathan Walker read one of Bernard’s Vietnam letters at a church service around a military holiday. We began to be encouraged to write a book. In August 2025, we submitted our completed manuscript to Publication Consultants and by December we had our first copies in hand.
It is generally recommended that a a book has a release and signing event within 1-2 weeks of being published. However, we postponed this due to Christmas and surgery. Even without a release party, we had sold over 100 copies to family and friends in 15 states by the end of January, and we were receiving positive feedback.
With major holidays behind us and my knee healing well, we are finally hosting a book release and signing event for War and Love on April 25th. You are invited to come meet us, buy a signed copy of our book and also support Band of Brothers. We will donate $5.00 from each book sold at this event to Band of Brothers. The café at Band of Brothers will be open to purchase drinks or food. Come visit B.O.B. where “mentorship matters”.
We would be honored if you read our story and join us on our journey through time and distance as our faith was tested and our love grew. War and Love is a “real time” account of Bernard, a Native American soldier, sharing his experiences and thoughts during his military training and his service as a sergeant in the field in Vietnam. It gives an account of me, the girl Bernard left back home, who seems to just chatter endlessly about everything happening in my life. I repeatedly reminded him that I loved him and missed him.
Bernard says, “Those letters literally meant the world to me. They made me know there was another world other than the one I was experiencing and someone in that world loved me and was waiting for me to return. It would be hard to over-estimate the importance of letters to soldiers in Vietnam. She could have written Old McDonald Had a Farm and as long as it was signed ‘With Love,’ I would have been happy.”
The book signing will be at Band of Brothers, 2050 N. Merciful Circle, Wasilla. AK, 99654 on Saturday, April 25, 2026, from Noon-3PM.
If you are unable to attend the book signing on Saturday, April 25, you can still order a signed copy of our book directly from us by either emailing us at walkerwarandlove@gmail.com or ordering directly from our website https://walkerwarandlove.com.