After 52 years, Minnesota Vietnam War veteran reunited with box of medals, memories
OTTER TAIL COUNTY, Minn. – For many veterans, the memories of war can be difficult, even painful.
But a Vietnam War veteran in Otter Tail County is learning that fellow soldiers will follow through, half a century after their mission is over.
"I signed a huge contract for $13,000 with the Atlanta Falcons," said John Nordgaard.
Nordgaard's path to Vietnam actually began on the football field. A stand-out quarterback at the University of Minnesota-Morris, he had a tryout with the Falcons.
For him, making the team meant playing in the NFL. Getting cut meant going to war.
"When [coach] Norm Van Brocklin called me in to cut me, he said, 'Swede, what do you think you're gonna do now?' And I said, 'I'm afraid I'm gonna be going to Vietnam.' Shortly after that, I did," said John.
He became a medic who spent 13 months and seven days in Vietnam. And like many soldiers, John saw things he'd rather not remember.
"It was very tough on me. But I think it would have been very tough had I not had Eleanor," said John.
"Very proud of him. He was one of the older guys in his unit, and he took care of a lot of other people," said Eleanor Nordgaard, John's wife.
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And he was recognized for it. Local newspapers even wrote about his time in combat and how he saved lives.
When the day finally came to go home in the spring of 1971, John packed up his medals and memories and mailed them back to the U.S. The problem is, they never made it home.
"Most of this stuff didn't matter until all of a sudden you get older and older and say, 'Geez, you know, that would be neat,'" said John.
Years went by with no sign of John's Vietnam box. But a couple states over, in Michigan, Peter LundBorg and his wife Joan were trying to solve a decades-long mystery.
"I'm amazed at it. First of all, I can't believe it's been in our basement all this time," said Joan.
Peter was the postal clerk for John's company and responsible for the mail during the war, though the men never met. All Peter knew was that for 52 years a soldier's box had been sitting in his basement with no address on it.
"I had a name, and that's about all there was," said Peter. "When you have to go back 50 years, you just couldn't find where people were."
Peter thinks John's address may have been torn off when soldiers were going through the mail during inspections. Not knowing where to send it, he took it home, but it never completely left his mind.
"I had to get the mail through, you know, deliver that mail," said Peter.
So a few years ago, Peter's son did research on the name John Nordgaard and sent an email to someone he thought was a relative. Turns out it was John's daughter.
That email got stuck in her spam folder. Four years after it was sent, she finally saw the message and responded, confirming that John was her dad and the box belonged to him.
"It's kind of hard to put into words that finally, you know, it really, actually happened," said Peter.
The two veterans began sending letters to each other, and just before Memorial Day, it was agreed that Peter would drive to John and deliver his mail in person.
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"You've heard the term 'snail mail.' I thought this is really slow but at least I have it. But when he brought the box, still I didn't know what was in it," said John.
That's where things got really interesting, with the LundBorgs and Eleanor watching. John pulled out random memory after random memory from his time at war.
"Tapes of the football games after the year we both graduated," said John.
But the further down he got, the more sentimental things became. A Purple Heart, a Bronze Star, and then at the very bottom of the box – the Medal of Valor, earned while under enemy fire.
"If any of them are gonna bring tears to my eyes, this is the one that means the most because I lost some soldiers on that evening when I earned this," said John.
The two families talked for hours that day. For Peter, it was mission accomplished, after half a century.
"Tears. He had tears. I had tears and Eleanor had tears," said Joan.
"It's just about carrying through with things in your life. Finally, we got that one to check off," said Peter.
Funny how an age-old mystery can lead to a new friendship.
"It was fun, exciting, and oh my God, it's the real thing. I'm almost getting goosebumps right now thinking about it," said John.
The families plan to visit each other again later this month. While the LundBorgs live in Michigan, the Nordgaards live on Otter Tail Lake during the summer, and return to Milwaukee during the winter months. That's where Peter delivered John his box of memories.
