Cu-Chi, Wednesday, June 25,
l0:30 pm:
Oh, the
suffering I do
for you. I just finished my
exercises and they get harder every night
it seems. If I
didn't like the thought of
being sexy to my
lover I wouldn't bother because I'm always dead tired by bedtime. But for you I suffer because I love
you.
At lunch, after a
very slow morning, I felt what I
thought was a piece of bone or wood stuck between my teeth and when I couldn't get it out I looked in the mirror
and half my tooth had just cracked and
fallen out. It's the same
one that has been giving me all the trouble, so when I get home I'll
have to get it capped. It's a
little shorter than the other,
but the dentist
smoothed off the rough edges for me this afternoon.
Tonight I silk screened
some more t-shirts and then went
home teaching for
a while, until Mission Impossible came on. The one on tonight
was about a micro-circuit, crazy dope-heads, padded cells, etc.
I get some more
pictures back Friday or Saturday so I'll send you one as soon as I get
them. Meanwhile I still have plenty Vietnam countryside to
keep you busy with.
I have $l25 saved so far towards my tape recorder, but I won't have
enough by payday to get it,
I don't think. Maybe next month.
I sure get head-neck aches
to go with your backaches so I guess we're good medicine for each other.
I'll hurry home.
If you can talk the people
out of our house by Aug 31, you could get Hugo to move the
stuff and we could move there when I get home instead of staying at your parents.
How's that sound?
I love you dear. I've said that so much it seems like a
cliché or whatever. Stay
tight and don't forget your
pills and prayers.
p.s. Still no tape, but I got two letters dated March 12.
Cu-Chi, Friday, June 27,
9:30 pm:
The
flick got out early for a change so I
just might get enough sleep again tonight.
A treat for you
tonight. I got the pictures back of my
big airplane ride already so I'll send you one or two at a time.
Business was
slow today and I only got your letter so (not to sound ungrateful) it
was just a normal everyday type day around here. The only
thing exciting to happen is that I went and got two more uniforms
to send home for wearing around the house when I work.
Someone just
threw a smoke grenade by my hootch and I didn't even know it until one
of the guys opened my door and stuck
his head in with his gas mask on, then I noticed my room full of smoke. Lucky it was only smoke this time
because if it had been CS gas (tear
gas), I would have gotten the full dose.
One of the guys from chemical was just telling
me how fast you can get killed with nerve gas (5 seconds) and how
useless our gas masks are against
it. Oh well! 69 days and I won't
even have a mask.
Those pictures you're
taking are really good. Wait till I send you some lenses (telephoto)
so you can take portrait shots.
I'm
glad Larry and Barbara like their china.
I can't even remember which one it was now. Did I tell you that a similar Bronzeware set with only 82
pieces sells for
$l44.50 here. I guess we got a
good deal after all. Save me some love,
I'll be home soon.
Cu-Chi, Saturday, June 28,
ll:00 pm:
Another Saturday gone
by. I just returned from losing a pinochle
game but it was
fun. We sat around a footlocker on cushions playing
for about two hours.
I got some more pictures
back today from the "sniff
mission" I went
on. I now have so many pictures to send you I don't know what to
do. I guess I'll have to send 2-3 at
a time like you do so you'll get
more excitement out of waiting.
The monsoons almost got here
today. It rained off and on
all day today,
so much so that my clothes never dried enough to iron and besides, today
Wild, Wild West was on in the afternoon
and Lan is in love with that #1 cowboy James West. I just couldn't make her miss that program or she would hate me
forever. Hai and Lan begged me to give
them a picture of Nikki to go with the
one of Jonette they already carry in their
wallets You send such cute pictures of our kids even the
hootch girls love them. As far
as me choosing one of Nikki - I just couldn't because I think they're
all super fantastic
and you as
the photographer get 50%
of the credit. The rest goes to my good-looking daughters.
I found out who threw that
CS grenade at my hootch the other night.
It was Russ Blanchard, the one Steve knows (whether he admits
it or not).
If it gets much slower at
the shop I'm going to close up and take a 3-day pass. Everyone is out of money so they don't come
in for fear of getting the wrath
of the barber on their
heads. I have $150 saved up for my tape
recorder but I need $238 so I'm still a little short this month. Speaking of short. I hope your money is lasting
the whole month now. You only get this one and two more before I
get home, but that's $1500 in 3 months
and even you should have trouble
spending that much.
I love you very
truly dear so take care of yourself and watch for Trojans bearing gifts
or something. I'll be home soon
(I hope) and we'll take up where we left off, only
better.
Cu-Chi, Sunday, June 29,
ll:00 pm:
Just
a note to tell you I still love you.
Dave Anderson came down tonight
and he and I
were playing cards against the
guys next door to a draw and quit before the last hand because it was so
late. It's even later now so I'll just
enclose a couple of pictures of me
to make up for not writing more.
Cu-Chi, Monday, June 30,
8:00 pm:
I'm writing early
tonight because I'm going to bed
early. I'm really dead tonight
for some reason,
mainly lack of sleep.
I didn't get to sleep till midnight last night because
Dave and I sat up BSing. Today was
payday and business picked up a little.
I had a real bad headache so I took three Darvon. They didn't seem to work so I took another and everything was groovy
till about 4:30 pm when my vision started getting blurry and I felt weird
all over, in fact I almost didn't finish the last haircut
because I couldn't see very good. I sat
down for a while and when I got up
to go next door I staggered just
like I was drunk. Wow! I'm still
a little dizzy but
I don't have
a headache. This is
the first time Darvon did
anything for me and it sure socked it to me.
It was like drinking
a 6-pack of Coors
or something. I'll be more careful next time. It's just a good thing it was
closing time or I would have really been in big trouble.
Right now
we're sitting here watching
the Grammy awards on TV and eating that
smoked Salmon you
sent me. The guys
say thanks to you. Ron Watson (the Chicago Cop) of 9th Chem.
bought a new Mamiya like yours,
so I was showing
him how to work it so he can take pictures as good as yours. He also bought a new Akai tape recorder so
we've been listening to the
tapes you sent me. Dave Anderson didn't get back to Tay
Ninh so he's staying over again tonight.
It's nice to have him here where he can sleep without
worrying that Charlie is going to sneak up and wipe him out. I
have a real deep sense of compassion for him because he's out in the
boonies and living in the mud.
I try and make it as pleasant on
him as I can while he's here because he's not here very often or long.
Otherwise dear, I love and
miss you terribly and can't wait to
come home to you and your special backrubs.
I'm really
looking forward to your tape
now that you've started it.
p.s. Lan's boyfriend (an ARVN Captain) is jealous
of me. I guess I still have the
old zing!