The last two letters were recreated and uploaded while I was enjoying a vacation on Cape Cod with my family and friends. Grace Slick said “Feed your head”, and I did, filled it with the sounds of laughter, good conversation and emotional support. But do all good things come to an end? I’m back in Texas dealing with “stuff” I had emotionally left behind for two weeks. So, back to Viet Nam.

I ended the last letter with a button that said “Next letter.” I didn’t have the following letter with me on the Cape so I didn’t know what to put in the button. We can now do this together. This letter is from Sept 26^th. Dutchess was the family German Shepard.

“Dear Mom, dad, Rob, Sue & Dutchess, Sept 26

“Speaking of Dutchess, you never mention her in your letters. Do we still have her and is she ok? Some good news this time and some bad, but nothing serious.

“We arrived in Tay Ninh the day before yesterday. Our company [This is the first time I haven’t been able to read one of the words in my letter. It looks like “trains.”] trains (logistics, recored, etc) is set up although all of our supply hasn’t yet arrived from Phuoc Vinh. The Colonel gave us a big speech about how we are entering a heavy combat area and have to keep on our toes. The base is virtually safe from any sort of ground attack, but now and then they throw rockets in here. The company is out in the jungles working from LZ Ike once again. 18B NVA regiment is no longer in our AO (area of operations). They have gone into the Delta. But the 95C regiment is still here harassing the LZs in the area. They include Ike, Becky, Grant, and Jamie. Ike and Becky seem to be the primary targets.

“But for the time being, I’m at the rear trains [?] in Tay Ninh. Supposedly I’m here under observation and to regain my strength before I rejoin my company. Most of the time I feel pretty good. I don’t believe I’ve had any fever since I left the hospital, but I do have periods of extreme weakness where any physical activity will make me quite dizzy. Needless to say, I’ve lost weight, but expect you to rectify that when I get home. Some of that good food and exercise should do the trick. My ringworm has gotten worse. I’ve got it on my forehead and left leg primarily, also some blotches on my stomach and the left cheek of my rear end. However, when our aid station gets set up I’ll be able to get some medication and clear it up. It’s funny the way it all hit me at once. I’ve gone through 9 months here with little more than a headache and the month number 10 – malaria, jungle rot, ringworm, crotch rot – all due to the monsoon rains at Song Be and Phuoc Vinh. I’ll be glad when it’s all over in 65 days. I also expect to cut down on my smoking when I get home and can relax a little. I think I smoke a lot as a substitute for food which is simply not available in decent enough quantity. I imagine I’ll look like a physical wreck when I get back. I really don’t know if I’ll see the field again, but I expect I will. It won’t be so bad. Usually it’s only when you run into something that the gooks want to protect that you make contact. Sometimes they play silly games with us at night or we may run into small groups working the trails that day, but for the most part they try to avoid contact with us in the field. They’re more interested in the LZs and Tay Ninh.

“For myself, it would be nice if I could stay here in the rear until it’s time to come home, but there’s little chance of that, some chance, but very little.

“As you can probably tell from this letter, I’m pretty tired right now. I had guard duty on the perimeter last night. I was sergeant of the guard for two 8 man bunkers. The problem was that there were only 4 of us on each bunker, and we were on a yellow (50%) alert – two men up at all times. I got grand total of 2 1/2 hours of sleep. And twice the officer in charge gave me a bad time when he made his rounds. The first time when he approached my bunker, I greeted him with ‘Hello’ instead of the proper challenge and countersign. This made me mad. It’s a ridiculous stateside procedure and I was in no mood for silly games, The second, he came by and I pointed my gun at him (safety off), made him give me the countersign and show his ID. Then he proceeded to give me hell because I was the only one on guard. I told the other guy to go to sleep. It’s better to have one man awake and alert on guard than two men asleep which has happened before. I told him I had been in the field 10 months and knew what I was doing. There wasn’t much he could say to that. I would liked to have put a bullet in his brain if he had one.

“No mail in the last four days hasn’t done a whole lot for my morale either. But I’m still hopeful for today. My nerves are shot and I am looking forward to my leave in 30 days. Guess that’s all for this one. Hope everything is well with you all. There are rumors of drops for people who leave in December, so you never know, I may pop in a few days early, but don’t expect me for Thanksgiving. Take care,

Love Dave”

As you may have guessed I probably screwed up the order of the last several letters in Sept. One thing is sure, the next letter is dated Sept 30. I’m having trouble reconciling dates and places in my letters with my actual remembrances. I’m hoping it will become clear over the next several letters. I do not remember my time in the rear at Tay Ninh, nor do I remember the guard duty incidents with the LT. One reader commented that maybe I make things up in my letters sometimes. I assure you that I do not. I think the letters are more reliable than my memory of my time in Viet Nam. PTSD can be a bitch, and I believe I locked much in my brain that still hasn’t surfaced, although alcoholism may have something to do with that. I will have 45 years of sobriety on Nov 1. Yay me! See ya next week from wherever the hell I am in the Sept 30 letter. I am attaching what I think is a telegram I sent home around this time.