John Melzer, a veteran of the United States Armed Forces, has stated throughout his entire career that a Christmas card sent to him by a young girl helped him get through the Vietnam War.

On Christmas Day in 1970, John was given the letter, which read in part, ‘Dear Serviceman, I want to send my sincere thanks for going over to war to fight for us.

The students in the class are holding out hope that you will be able to return home.John, who was 23 years old and serving as an Army helicopter sniper at the time, found the war to be an extremely trying experience.

‘When you got up in the morning, you always wondered whether you would see the sun go down at night,’ John said. ‘When I got up, I wondered whether I would see the sun go down at night.’

Even though John did not know the girl who had sent him the card, he was moved by her thoughtful gesture.

John stated that he believes the item has a greater significance to him now than it did when he first received it.

He went on to explain that this was due to the fact that she had expressed gratitude for it.

The fact that the letter was signed ‘DonnaCaye’ was John’s only lead as to who the letter’s author actually was.

John had no idea who had written the letter. After a number of years had passed, John was eventually successful in locating DonnaCaye Ludemann Sica, and he was able to express his gratitude to her in person.

She stated, ‘I recall composing the letter,’ and I quote: ’I was astounded that I could have the opportunity

to write to a serviceman and perhaps make his life a little bit easier for a couple of minutes,’ the author explains. ‘It blew my mind that I could have this chance.’

People all over the world who use social media have expressed how moved they were by their reunion.

‘Words have the power to save lives. Ask them what their service was like in addition to honoring servicemen and servicewomen, as well as the families (spouses) who made sacrifices,’ one user commented.

Another person added, ‘There are so many sad people out there that you have to remember to give a good word to somebody. It could very well be the only thing that helps them make it through another day!’