Welcome to Cu Chi, a city north and west of Siagon and the operations area for this letter. We never actually saw the city, but we were getting closer to the Cambodian border. This is a fairly short letter so I’m going to address the Peni, Susan issue. You may be wondering why I include these two in my letters. At the time it was a very big issue for me, and I would be short changing you if I left this part of my journey out of the letters. This post is being written on a Friday as I have a very busy schedule on Monday.
Now the actual letter. “Just a short letter to let you know we made it to Cu Chi without incident. We flew from Cu Chi (which is real nice) to LZ Jackson which is in the process of being built. There is an ARVN compound nearby and also some villages. First impression is that it is similar to the Phouc Vinh area, but it is too early to tell. The land is flat and it’s nice to be in an area not completely demolished by B-52 strikes. There is very little jungle, a lot of open area and rice paddies. It’s almost pretty here. We’re expecting a combat air assault soon, but there has been no word officially. Last night we dug in about 1000 meters from the LZ not having any idea what to expect. We’re all still jumpy from our experiences at Rita where all told we lost one man (I didn’t tell you about that) and had a total of about 15 wounded including the 5 from our own artillery. We did receive a couple of rounds of sniper fire last night, but no harm was done, probably some inexperienced gook with a new AK-47, anxious to show it off, not knowing what he’s getting into. But at least we don’t think there’s NVA here, probably VC, farmers by day and VC by night. There is no place for the NVA to hide around here. As far as the weather goes, it’s quite warm and not a cloud in the sky.” I don’t have much to add here as I honestly don’t remember this arrival or the sniper rounds. Nor do I remember LZ Jackson. But, moving on:
“Cu Chi itself is big. When we arrived at the air strip, all dirty and unshaven, we received a lot of stares. And they immediately closed down the snack bar. Probably afraid we’d overrun the place, it had been so long since we’d had anything cold to drink.”
“So I guess that’s about all I’ve got. Good luck on your ‘I’ve had it’ campaign. Wish I could be there to contribute. Say ‘hi’ to Brenda for me. I’ve got a buddy over here who digs sister Sue – a replacement for John. He’s due to leave the country next month. So I guess that’s it for now. Take care…”
I don’t remember what the “I’ve had it” campaign was but I may be talking to my sister today (day after Thanksgiving). Maybe she’ll remember. “John” was her boyfriend at the time, and I’m assuming that my parents weren’t crazy about him. When I refer to Cu Chi as being “real nice”, I am referring to the base there. Also the acronyms I mentioned. ARVN was the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (supposedly the good guys). NVA (bad guys), the North Vietnamese Army. The B-52s were (and still are) large high flying bombers. VC (more bad guys) were the Viet Cong, like local militias. We all know the AK-47, right? The primary assault weapon of the NVA and the VC. Still popular today and used around the globe, mostly by folks who would do us harm. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. See ya a week from Monday.