This letter is dated October 4th, and apparently I am in the rear at Tay Ninh. If these letters written while I was trying to recover from malaria are appear somewhat confusing, all I can say is that they are confusing to me as well. They contradict several of the few memories of this period that I have been carrying with me down through the years. Anyway, let’s get to it.
“Dear mom, dad, Rob and Sue Oct 4 Tay Ninh
Received your letter today of the 29th, and as usual enjoyed it very much. No need to send any more Kool Aid! I don’t want to bother with it, and I don’t want you to bother with it. I’m still in the rear in Tay Ninh. I was to rejoin the company at Ike today, but it was difficult to get a bird out. So I sat on the log pad in the sun and when I realized I wasn’t going to get a flight, I started walking back to the company. I got dizzy and had a chill. I thought I probably had a fever. I immediately went to the aid station, told them of my revelations and they proceeded to take my temp (it was a little over normal), and give me an examination. So now I get at least one more day back here. Tomorrow I’m going to try to see the chaplain and ask him to help me stay out of the field. A guy told me today that they’re not supposed to send me to the field if I’ve had malaria. I feel that all I need is a good diet and gradual exercise to put me back in shape. This I won’t get in the field.
“I had another tooth pulled the day before yesterday, quite painless until the novacaine wore off. Today there is no pain and I believe it’s healing well. So far I’ve had both wisdom teeth on the left side pulled and one filled. The dentist wanted me to come back in three weeks to pull the other two on the right side. I’m kind of nervous to have two teeth pulled at the same time. The dentist looks like a slob, but seems to know his business. Army dentists aren’t as bad as people would have you believe. After he finished pulling the tooth, he said it would be nice if they all came out as well as this one (my tooth).
“I’m a little surprised that you upset Debbie, knowing how sensitive she can be. She also should have known from past experience not to discuss politics with either of you, and she also should have avoided marijuana (I don’t want to sound like a smart aleck know it all), but I’m going to try to set you straight on a couple of things. There is an ad on the tube over here that shows a couple of grunts in the field, naturally wearing flak jackets and all the gear we don’t carry. Charlie is supposed to be in the area. One guy is watching when the other guy leans against a rock, takes off his steel pot and lights up a joint, cursing the army. The other guy says ‘What’s buggin’ you man? Oh you’re smoking that stuff again. You sure pick the wierdest times to blow yourself away.’ The other guy says, ‘Relax man, I’m enjoying the war’, and then he proceeds to freak out. He fires his gun (in slow motion) and does all sorts of things that I couldn’t believe. Then there is AK fire in the background. The scene flashes to the two guys dead on the ground, a gook standing over them with his AK-47 (Russian equivalent to our own M-16). The final scene centers on the still burning joint in the guy’s hand. Anyway, I’ve never seen such ridiculous garbage in my life. You say you are proud of me, but I certainly take no pride in what I’m doing over here. Also I believe that you are disappointed in the fact that I do, on occasion, smoke only in a rear area, and not at all since my malaria. You’ll never believe me when I say I do it for enjoyment and relaxation. An escape from here and what is happening. It calms my nerves, they’re bad enough as it is. Although I don’t think I’ll ever be able to convince you to condone it, I do hope to convince you not to condemn it so harshly. I heard an M.P. say on the tube the other night that although little is known of its long term effects, he believes that laws regarding possession should be lightened. He does not condone its use, nor does he condemn it.
“As far as John M’s brother is concerned, I think, by your description, he should fit quite nicely to the general atmosphere of TCU. It’s a very religious school and I think he will find a group of people who are quite like him.
“I don’t suppose dad and Howie are cooking up anything concerning the store, are they? Is dad so well known that Howie is coming to him for suggestions? Sounds like more than that to me. Keep your eye on dad, mom. You never know what he’s going to do next.
“My going back to school is still a big question mark. I’ve never had 2 friends like Ed and Mouse. The three of us have been putting our heads together and we may go into business together. We’ve tossed around a lot of ideas, and may have come up with something. It’s also possible that we have found a 4th party who appears to have the money to back us if we need or want it. We feel we won’t need him, but he likes our idea and wants to be part of it. He appears to be loaded, but this is something we’ll have to check out when we get out. I’ll tell you more about it when I come home. I think you’ll approve. Naturally, if it doesn’t work out, I can always go back to school. Ed owns land in Alaska and New Hampshire. Something else to think about. We plan to start our business in Boston. You may think this is all quite pre-mature, but I think we may have a good thing.
“Ed has decided he may not go through with his dishonorable discharge. He’s been offered a rear job with Headquarters, and if our CO will release him from the company, he’ll get it. If the CO won’t release him, he’s right back where he started, and he’ll go after the 212. He’s been in the army 5 years and is fed up with being used like pawn in a chess game. No matter what his final decision is, I’ll back him all the way.
“Mouse is also in the rear. With 18 days to go, he’s doing his best to stay back here. He was supposed to go out with me today, but we’re both still here. I hope one day you’ll be able to meet these guys. You’d really like them. It almost seems like it was planned that we’d be thrown together over here.
“I read a real fine article on the teenage parent problem the other day. Maybe I can offer some suggestions on how to handle Sue when I get home. And Sue, I think I can pretty much understand what you are going through right now and I hope if you ever have problems that between us we can straighten them out, and maybe I can give you a little bit better understanding of mom and Dad. They can be pretty hard at times, can’t they? It wasn’t so long ago that mom had me over her knee slapping hell out of my bare bottom, and dad cracking the old switch in the cellar, sometimes unjustly. But you’re lucky you never went through that. Argg!
“Rob, what’s going to happen to the downstairs room when I get home, man? We’ll have to work out some sort of schedule or something so we won’t always be at each others’s throats. I suspect that Steve will also want a share. And I imagine that Sue spends a fair amount of time there also. How’s the stereo? The last time I was there, the turntable dragged and it almost ruined my romance with Peni.
“Guess I’ve rambled on enough in this letter and still have to write the Hopkins’ and good old ‘Ma Perry’. Take care all! 57 days short. Love Dave”
“Enclosed is a picture of yours truly taken here a few days ago. Camera – a Yashica Electro 35. Picture taken inside with flash. Circle on subject’s forehead is = RINGWORM! It’s gone now. I seem to have gotten rid of the beggars.”
There is a lot to unpack here. Let’s start with Mouse and Ed. We were unable to maintain our friendship when I got back. It seems like I lost contact with Mouse first, then Ed. I don’t remember what happened with Mouse, and by loss of Ed’s friendship is a story for another day. One of the great regrets of my life was not being able to continue a lasting friendship with those guys.
Debbie was a summer love who up and married a Vietnam veteran named Dale Hopkins. He was a scary guy and we never hit it off.
“Ma Perry” was the mother of my best friend in high school.
At our house on the Cape there was one room in the basement and an office for dad. The one room was kind of a living room, but had a sleeper couch. Brother Rob spent much of his time down there working on his stamp collection. I think my thoughts were that I might end up sleeping there when I got home.
As you can see, my parents believed in “spare the rod, spoil the child.” I never have. On the ringworm picture, I attached it to a previous letter.
Dad owned and operated a supermarket called the Pocasset General Store. While I was in college, he sold it to a guy names Howie, and it became Howies Market. Dad started a new business called Sealmaster. He and another guy had developed a chemical that could be sprayed or painted on brick bldgs to prevent or repair leaks.
I talk more about marijuana in this letter. One of the issues that we had to deal with when we got back to the states was that we were all a bunch of dopers. No doubt some of us were. And some of us were called baby killers, but I can say that everyone I served with served honorably, even Ed. I really enjoyed reproducing this letter. It triggered some good memories. The next letter is Oct 6, and I took a peek at it. Try not to judge me too harshly. See ya next week.