Early in his first term, President Donald Trump signed the Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act of 2017, establishing March 29 as National Vietnam War Veterans Day. The law honored the women and men who served in the military during the Vietnam War, and, as Trump put it, “were spit on and treated like dirt for serving.” It was clear that Trump envisioned himself that day righting an age-old wrong. After decades of neglect and disdain, Vietnam Veterans Day would offer these Americans the heroes’ welcome home they never received.

The letters are heartbreaking. Women who had borne three, four, five, or more children in as many years of marriage wrote to Margaret Sanger (1879–1966), begging her to "tell me how to keep from becoming pregnant."