Well, my friends have been encouraging me to get out and do stuff, so today I went out and did stuff. Besides my usual Monday platform class at Vigor Active downtown, I was invited to play in a pool tournament here at good ol’ Cobblestone Manor. We played “pill” pool with 9 ball. If you know what that is “Great”. If you don’t, look it up. It’s too complicated to explain here. So, on to Vietnam. This letter is from Nov 9, and it is a really short one. I thought about combining it with the next one which is Nov 11, but I’m going to stick to my plan. It looks like the pool tournament thing may be a regular deal on Mondays (once a month), so I may switch my postings to Wednesdays. Of course, I’m also getting close to the end of my letters home. Back to Vietnam with 21 days to go.
“Dear Mom, dad, Rob, and Sue Nov 9
21 days to go! Back at Tay Ninh. It looks like I’ll be here until I leave. I’ve received answers to a couple of questions. First! I won’t be home early. There are no drops for the month of December. So, plan on me arriving Dec 2, barring any flight difficulties. My next duty station is Fort Hood, Texas. I don’t have my orders for my reporting date yet, but they should arrive in a few days. I’m not very happy about it, but it could have been worse. I should be able to drop in on Steve now and then. But it does put me quite a distance from Canada. I hope Peni can get down to meet me at the airport with you.
“I have received a letter from Mrs. Maxson today. She seems to be getting over John’s death pretty well now. I am enclosing the letter and a couple of cllippings she sent me.
“LZ Ike was hit a few nights ago. It looks like a hell of a lot of gooks were killed, a cook that I knew from Basic Training also got killed. Ed got wounded, too, a piece of shrapnel in his neck, but he’s ok now and back on the job. My length of leave should be still 30 days at the least. At least it will carry me through Xmas and the new year. I think I’ll go to the dentist tomorrow and have him check out my teeth for me. I guess that’s really all I’ve got for this letter. I’ll write again later. Take it easy, Love Dave”
See, a really short one and it answered one of MY questions. I couldn’t remember if I had written to Max’s mom. Obviously I did since she wrote back to me. I feel much better knowing that I wrote her. However, her letter back to me which should have been with this letter was not. That’s too bad. I would liked to have read it again. So Ed got a Purple Heart for the neck wound, and I’ll share this with you now. I did not end up at Fort Hood. The next letter finds me still at Tay Ninh, at least that is what I labeled on the back of the envelop. Today was a good day. See ya next Monday.
I’m glad to see you playing “pill” ball. No, I didn’t look it up. I’m taking it on faith that it is engaging. And time spent doing something recreational with others is time well spent!
You report “21 days to go” with an exclamation point–! I can only imagine that it must have felt fabulous to write that and know that you were not going back into the fray! I’m pretty sure that R-E-L-I-E-F was what your parents were feeling–and not the kind that came from Rolaids!
It was good of Mrs. Maxson to send you a letter that obviously was upbeat, but from the perspective of a parent, I cannot believe that she was really getting over her son’s death. I hope she found a way to live out her life in ways that included happiness and joy and emotional comfort. It’s good you wrote to her and that you know it today, too.
I’m happy that the day you wrote this entry was a good day!
Jennifer ~