Cu-Chi, Wednesday, June l8,
8:30 pm:
I love you too,
so there! Who's wedding were you supposed to go to on Friday
the 13th? Whoever it was had the balls to tempt fate. It won't last a year.
I'm glad to hear that
Nikki is better. I bet it's rough
with two diaper messers. I'm anxious to
get home to you and them again.
I put $75 in the
safe next door
towards my tape recorder or whatever I decide to buy. I figured
if I put it in the safe I wouldn't spend it as easily.
I got a card from Marlene
with the usual jabberwocky on it. I
sure wish she'd learn how to write so
it can be read instead of
decoded.
We got some more rockets
at 6:00 am this morning and then they called a red alert so I couldn't
go back to bed for 45 minutes and had to get dressed and put on my
battle gear. It wasn't so bad but it
made the day seem longer.
Then, this afternoon I took
Lan and Mama San from next door to
the doctor because the both had sore throats and headaches. The doctor gave them both some cough syrup
and aspirin and Lan asked me if she had to smuggle it out past the MP's
or not. So I told her that since it had
her name on it she could just carry it
out.
On the tape I told you about how I gave Mama San
next door (a poor peasant woman but a hard worker) some soap and candy
to take home and how she thanked me with twinkling
eyes. Well, today she brought me in a
bunch of bananas as a
gift. I didn't know what to say except thanks. It took me by surprise. But they were ripe and tasted
great so every time I
passed her I thanked her again. She's even trying to pick up some of our slang
like #1 (good),
#l0 (bad), etc. Since
she doesn't speak any English at all it shows how hard she's trying to
be friendly. She does
come from a village where 50% or so are VC, so I don't know what to
think. Maybe she'll decide that Americans aren't all like the VC
say we are.
Col. Straugham,
the FAC pilot, came in today and told me that he couldn't take me Sunday
because he had to fly up to Cam Rahn
Bay, but that
he was thinking of me. So I
still might get to go some Sunday. It
will really be an experience because
I don't like to get sick and I will.
Well,
sweetheart, Mission Impossible
is on in a few minutes and the men are yelling for popcorn, so I'd better close for now.
Guess
what? Today was a milestone. I could hardly button my pants when I first came over and TODAY I
had to cinch them up
a little because
they were too loose. Hurray! Those sit-ups must work.
I was given a 30 round
magazine for my AK-47 today so I'm
all set now
to ship it home when I think of a fool proof
way. And that Thompson I was going to
get for Larry
- the guy sold
it just before I called Pix to get it for me. $30 is all he wanted. I
could kick myself.
p.s. I still haven't gotten your tape yet. Did you
send one?
Cu-Chi, Thursday, June 19,
ll:00 pm:
Late again
tonight, but things have finally quieted down for the
day. I just finished my exercises and bucket bath and reread your letter so
I can relax and think once more.
This morning I grabbed a
ride into Saigon to pick up my
clipper blades but I didn't get
a chance to get to the USO and call.
Besides that I didn't have any money,
but I would have borrowed
some had I got the chance. But
as I was saying I went to Saigon, by jeep, and when I got back at
noon I heard on the news that the police were having a running gun
battle with some VC assassins in the
same area. I didn't
see anything, anyway,
but I thought I'd tell you.
Lan didn't work today as well as
most of the other girls,
some Buddhist holiday or something. But come mail call time I got a letter, a roll of magazines (some
German) and a package of German food.
Wunderbar!
I
knew there was a reason I loved you. It's because of all the surprises
you pull on
me. I was really surprised
to open up the box and smell some good sausage floating up to my
nostrils. It ought to make a
real good meal one of these
nights soon. Thank you honey!
I had
Lan get me some thongs that turned out to be too small for me so I'll send them
home and you can give
them to Kerry if they don't fit you (which they better not).
Bill
Hepworth is still at Ft. Lewis and finally made Sgt. so
I think I'll drop him a line and keep
in touch. think they are a fun couple if the kids stay home.
Cu-Chi, Friday, June 20, Midnight:
Some heavy artillery
is going off just outside the wire and being so calm
tonight, they sound real close. The National Anthem is playing because it's midnight and the start
of another day. And what a day it's
been. This morning I got the urge for
a little taste of that salami
you sent me so I reached for it in the cupboard and it was gone. So after
accusing everyone of grand theft
- salami, I decided to check the trash in case it had gotten mixed up with the wrapping paper and thrown away. But Lan
had already taken the trash out so I had to go out into the big trash
barrels in the street and dig
around in the garbage1 which was pretty
raunchy to say the least.
But I found the salami, carefully wrapped in the wrapping paper, and still looking
good! So I came back to the shop and
cut me a small slice which was great. The rest was
put away for a TV time snack.
Oops, AFVN-FM just went off
the air for an hour so I have
to tune in AM for a while. Those shells are getting louder every minute and could worry
me if
I wasn't awake already.
Tonight after work
I went next door and we started a pinochle? card game at 6:30 pm and
just finished at ll:30 pm.
It took us five hours to play to 500 points of
double deck partners. Then I had to
come back here and count the day’s receipts and do my exercises before I could
start this letter. We ate the salami
during the card game along with
some crunchy peanut butter and some
sodas. It was fun to play cards
again. We'll have to learn how to play
bridge so we can play against your parents sometime.
I'm glad to see you back
sewing dresses again. I want you to
keep in practice for when I get
home. I received another card from Marlene that said the exact same thing as the last
one. That girl is too much. I
still didn't get that tape yet. I hope you sent it.
Well, my
loved one, it's way past my bedtime so I'll quit for now and write again
tomorrow night. I
love you more than the poets can tell so I won't try to
rhyme this letter. Take care and spend
your allotment check foolishly because
they're going to stop soon - 76 days!
Cu-Chi, Saturday, June 21,
l0:30 pm:
I received your Thursday and Monday letters today.
can't figure out why
Thursday's is so late but I enjoyed it
anyway.
I'm
anxious to see your new nightie
on you. Anything is sexy when you're in
it. I'm glad you bought
some new clothes. I
was beginning to feel guilty
because you were walking around in rags.
Anybody that looks like Claudine Longee must
dress accordingly. I
might not be Andy Williams but I try hard.
Your mishap with the camera sounds
like a typical Jacobsmeyer.
It's happened to me too. The way you tell is if the rewind button
moves when you cock
it. It should turn the opposite way that you rewind. It reminds me also of me and the tape
recorder.
Now that your parents are gone on vacation I
guess you have your hands
quite full. I only wish I could
be there to help you out some. As far
as your back hurting, I have a good cure for that! It's a deep, penetrating massage.
The
flick tonight was "Paper Lion" and was really great. I laughed through most of it.
The main reason
I was in such
a good mood is that a Laurel and Hardy movie, "The Piano
Movers", was first and got me
primed. The only bad thing is that it lasted until
l0:30 and I was up till l2:30 last night.
I think I'll skip
my exercises tonight
instead of tomorrow night and take the extra five minutes sleep.
We
got our first real monsoon rain this afternoon. It got my bed all wet as well as everything
else. I went out and started building drainage ditches and got
soaked to the marrow so I closed early and went and took a shower and put on my
civvies.
I started to play cards again tonight but quit because I got tired
of losing.