A Reflection On Veteran's Day: Letters From Vietnam...

  Back in 2006, there was a movie entitled: Letters From Iwo Jima, directed and co-produced by the actor Clint Eastwood.

Here is a short synopsis from Wikipedia: "The film portrays the Battle of Iwo Jima from the perspective of the Japanese soldiers and is a companion piece to Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers, which depicts the same battle from the American viewpoint; the two films were shot back to back."

It would be an understatement for me to say that the movie was tough to watch as any realistic war movie should be.  War is truly hell on earth, and is a punishment for the grievous sins committed by a fallen mankind and is devoid of the second great Commandment: to Love Thy Neighbor... 

As most know, the majority of the Japanese soldiers died in battle, many committed suicide, and some were taken as POWs by the Marines, who themselves suffered tremendous casualties, with nearly 7,000 dead and wounded in the five-week battle...

As you can see, I titled my article: A Reflection On Veteran's Day: Letters From Vietnam...

I can speak from personal experience of just how important it was to get letters from home ("the world").  Also important was sending letters from Vietnam to the folks waiting and praying for their sons, fathers, uncles, cousins, friends, etc., to know that they were "all right." 

It played on my mind if I didn't get a letter from home for a couple of weeks or more.  Sure, it took time for a letter to get home and just as much time, or more, for a letter to reach me, so everything depended on how often someone would take the time to sit down and write, it was as simple as that.   In some cases, a G.I. might get a letter every day from his wife, fiancé, girlfriend; that's right, every day!  And some, much less frequently.  And there were cases where the G.I. would get a heartbreaking letter -- known as a "Dear John" letter -- which indicated that a relationship was over, done, kaput.  Regardless of the circumstances, in my mind, it was a heartless thing to do to a G.I. in a war zone... On the flip side, there were G.I.s who did the dirty thing to their lady love back in the States.  When the cat's away, the mice will play, but that shouldn't be the case. 

Actually, it is quite amazing how the system for sending and receiving mail was so efficient considering my letters had to travel 12,000 miles via air and ground!  Plus, there was even an opportunity to make a phone call using the MARS station operated by HAM radio geeks who communicated with other HAM-based specialists in the U.S. who would then run a "phone patch" to the home number.  Everything would occur on a first come, first serve basis, and since the chances of getting into the MARS station were slim, I decided to depend on the written word...

What follows are fictional letters written by my brothers-in-arms as well as a letter that I wrote (I can only vaguely remember what I probably did say in such a letter).

As a caveat, I will say that one of the letters that I will present could not be finished because the writer was killed (KIA).  The severely wounded (WIA) could not correspond for weeks or months or never.  In those cases, the families of those KIA or wounded, would be notified by either the military authorities or the Red Cross back home.  So very, very sad...

I will also indicate by brackets what really happened but did not put those incidents in the respective letters in order to spare the already anxious and nervous folks back home additional anxiety.  And there was plenty to see and hear on the infamous "6 o'clock news," especially when the liar and traitor Walter Cronkite shot off his big mouth every day of the week...

As a side note, I will tell you that I have forgiven Cronkite as I did Jane Fonda for supporting the North Vietnamese Army propaganda arm of the Communists.  It took 50 years -- 50 years! -- to forgive those traitors, but I finally did forgive them...

I do remember hearing about my cousin, now an elderly DDS, who, at the time of my Vietnam tour, was a Captain in the reserves, but never served overseas, decided to mention the battles and deaths of G.I.s while my folks were present.  I heard that he realized his stupid error and apologized for his major goof... My parents, as you can imagine, didn't need nor want to hear the gory details of the ongoing war in Southeast Asia with their son in harm's way...

I will now present three letters: one from me (Sergeant of Air Force Security Police.  Note, I didn't make Staff Sergeant until I was transferred from Tuy Hoa to spend the second half of my tour in Cam Ranh Bay), one from an Army soldier and one from a Marine...

Note also that my job was much different than the Army or Marines out in the field, as my task was to defend the perimeter of the two air bases that I was assigned to during my one-year tour of duty...

Here is my first letter to my folks back home in New Jersey, just before I turned 21-years-old...

... December 16, 1967

Dear Mom and Dad,

I arrived in-country -- at Cam Ranh Bay -- the other day and everything is okay.  I flew from Cam Ranh Bay via a big C-130 troop carrier and arrived at about 10:30 pm at Tuy Hoa.  The tarmac was incredibly noisy and smelly from the engines and exhaust of the planes and maintenance equipment.

[When I disembarked from the C-130, the first thing I saw were bright, glowing tracer rounds being fired from 50-caliber heavy machine guns from the Army base several miles to our south.  I watched those tracers travel over 1,000 yards and ricochet off the rocks and boulders.  The idea was to harass the VC as they traveled at night along well-established trails...  I asked myself: what did I get myself into?????  This was the real war, and I was now part of it, for better or worse!]

Over the last several days, I was given extra weapons training along with some of the other police before they assigned us to the day or night flight.  As it turned out, I got the night flight duty and that's okay with me...

I'm starting to get settled in now; I have my barracks assignment, and, most importantly, I know where the chow hall is!!  Food isn't too bad, but it's not your great cooking!  When the cooks serve liver and onions, most of the guys pass it by, but I take as much as I want!  The eggs are powdered, but I don't mind that... I cover it with black pepper and salt as you know I always do...

So far all is quiet...

While on duty, I keep my eyes and ears open, especially during the wee hours of the night and wait for daybreak.  Every so often the supervisor brings coffee around, but it's only lukewarm by the time it gets to me, but since I'm not a big coffee drinker, I don't mind...

Here at Tuy Hoa we have pretty modern bathrooms and barracks, not bad considering...

[I didn't tell my folks that surrounding the barracks were plywood walls filled with sand nearly three feet thick to prevent any shrapnel from mortars and rockets from penetrating the walls of the barracks.] 

Here's something that will make you smile... Me and my buddy, Chuck, from California, have been "recruited" by our good Irish priest, Fr. Mohan, to set up the altar and serve Mass!  What timing, as we'll serve the Christmas Mass.  Of course, by the time you get this letter Christmas and New Year's will be over with, but time flies here, and I'll be home for next Christmas -- for sure!

[Actually, time doesn't fly, especially when the stuff hit the fan and enemy activity was all around, as it was during the 1968 Tet Offensive that began in January.  Minutes seemed like hours as the threat of a ground attack was always a present danger... As I saw the Offensive unfold right before my eyes, and the mayhem associated with it, I kept my mouth (my pen) shut, because the leftist media did their usual treasonous propaganda blasting one-sided reports of the battles being fought all throughout the Four Corps areas of Vietnam.]

I'll close for now so I can get this letter in the mail.  [I was never one for really long letters] Hope you and Dad are well, give my regards to Rich [my brother] and say hello to Paul Stewart [my neighbor].  By the way, G.I.s have free air mail! 

Take care and keep praying... Love, your son, Gene. 

As I indicated earlier, what I just wrote was from memory or what I probably wrote.  But you get the idea...

The next letter was from an Army trooper from the 173rd Airborne regiment stationed about three miles south of the Tuy Hoa air base... These guys were either dropped into battle zones or were helicoptered into sometimes "hot LZs" (landing zones taking enemy fire).  I had great respect for these troopers as well as for the 101st Airborne -- the famous Screaming Eagles -- who, by the way, made Tuy Hoa their first homebase back in 1966, about a year-and-a-half before I arrived in Tuy Hoa...

Here is the letter from 19-year-old Corporal James Jackson to his folks back in Atlanta, Ga...

...February 5, 1968

[Note: by this time the 1968 Tet Offensive was in full swing... The enemy was getting their rear-ends kicked back to the stone age, but that's not what was reported by the anti-American Marxist media "news" anchors back in the States.]

Hi Mom and Dad,

I wanted to get a quick letter off to you because I'll be out in the field for a couple of days, maybe even a week or more.  That's all I can tell you right now, you know, for security reasons.  But I have a great bunch of guys I can depend on, so don't worry...

[When the Airborne troops go on a mission out in the field, they can suffer heavy casualties, that is, if they come under fire from snipers, mortars and 122s (rockets) not to mention being outnumbered on some occasions.  James doesn't mention this and for obvious reasons...]

Things have gotten a little dicey around II Corps, as the VC made a move to hit some of the Air Force bases and some of our firebases out in the boondocks.  We were called in to help a South Korean outpost that needed some reinforcement and kick the VC to kingdom come...

[The 1968 Tet Offensive was an all-out attempt by the VC and the NVA (North Vietnamese regular Army) to send a military -- and political -- message to the U.S. and its allies as well as to the folks back home showing the "futility" of the war.  Over time, it worked.  But militarily, the enemy got badly beaten.  Again, this was not reported back in the States, just the opposite.]

I think I forgot to tell you and dad that the air force base just north of us has some of the best food and stuff for sale in their commissary.  Those Air Force guys have it pretty good, but they also have some great pilots that give us ground pounders out in the field much needed strafing to clear out the bad guys.  When I hear those jet fighters overhead, I know we're in good hands.  Our choppers are a big help too, as they bring in supplies and take out the wounded.  I have been told that when a G.I. gets wounded and is taken out of the field by a chopper, his recovery is pretty darn quick.  I take my hat off to those "dust off" chopper pilots... 

[What James didn't write, is that some of those brave jet and helicopter pilots were shot down trying to save the troops on the ground.  Some were killed or wounded outright, and some were taken as POWs, suffered severe torture and depravation with some dying in VC and NVA prisoner of war camps.]

Please tell Maria not to worry and to keep thinking of me... I will try to get a letter off to her in a few days.  My time is pretty limited so I can only write when I'm back at the base...

Love, James...

The last letter is from a Marine: Sergeant Phil McGuire to his parents in Pocatello, Idaho...]   

...February 25, 1968

[At this point in time, the Marine base at Khe Sanh was under siege and remained so for at least 77 days... There were about 5,500-6,000 Marines and allied forces occupying the base that was, in effect, surrounded by an estimated 20,000-30,000 plus NVA and VC troops.  Initially, the only way for supplies to be brought to the besieged base was by Air Force C-130s.  In addition to re-supplying the base, the wounded were also extracted from the combat base via the C-130s, many coming under indirect or direct enemy fire with some planes destroyed and crews, themselves, killed or wounded.  Much has been documented and written about the Marines under siege at Khe Sanh, and here we have 21-year-old Sgt. Phil McGuire's -- unfinished -- letter...]

Dear Mom and Dad,

I will have to keep this one [letter] short, as the VC are kicking up a fuss and keeping us awake at night, with the shelling...

[At this point in time, the Marines were getting almost non-stop shelling from the enemy's artillery, in some cases, only a couple of hundred yards from the wire (perimeter).  Add to this deadly harassment, were periodic attempts at penetrating the Marine perimeter with most of those attempts being crushed and the bad guys suffering heavy loses, but also with Marine casualties as well.]   

Forgive the mud spots on the letter... It has been raining and some mud decided to make its home on my writing pad...

[Life in the trenches was miserable with mud, ankle deep water due to the Monsoons, trash, constant ear-splitting noise from the big guns -- both theirs and the Marine's -- little to no sleep for days on end...]

For the time being, we grunts have mostly C-rations with only an occasional hot meal.   Everyone would try to get the first pick of "turkey and fruit cocktail" being the best, and "ham and lima beans" just about the worst I have ever eaten.  A whole universe away from your wonderful cooking, mom...

[Hot meals were few and far between.  Cs and some coffee once in a while were all that grunts could look forward to.]

I hear that one of those Air Force C-130s are supposed to make an ammo drop and pick up some of our wounded, either today or tomorrow...

I had to stop writing today (the 25th) and I'll pick it up again as soon as I can...

[Later in the day on the 25th, NVA artillery hit the ammo dump on base, exploding every type of ammo, grenades and artillery rounds stored in the "protected" bunker, sending armor piercing shrapnel flying in all directions... Sadly, nearly 10 Marines were either killed or wounded, Sgt. Phil McGuire was among the dead.  He was never able to finish his letter to his mom and dad... His parents would be presented the Purple Heart posthumously as did another 250 parents of Marines and close to 2,000 Purple Hearts were presented to those who survived the siege of Khe Sanh.]     

A Reflection On Veteran's Day: Letters From Vietnam...

Pray for strength and honor!

Viva Christo Rey!  Bl. Fr. Miguel Pro, Fr. Emil Kapaun and Fr. Vincent Capodanno, pray for us...

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle...

Gene DeLalla