Dear Mom & Dad,
Greeting once again from Vietnam. It's about 11:00 in the morning and we just got
cleaned up from breakfast so I have a few hours yet before I start supper. I
received your tape yesterday and I just got through playing it again. It's so good
to hear your voices and I enjoyed listening to WBZ. However, they didn't play the
popular tunes but it was good to here it anyway.
As of yet, I haven't received your package. Perhaps it will come today.
Most likely it will. Things are going good here. We are still in Long
Binh. We have been here for six days now and will probably leave here around the
30th. We are suppose to go to Blackhorse until the 15th of August and then move with
the squadron to Loc Ninh which is about 65 miles due North from here. The 11th ACR's
1st. Squadron is there now. The news report here say that they are making quite a
lot of contact up there. They have been getting pretty high body counts and only
loosing a few men. The 3rd Squadron will be next to relieve them. After about
90 days of chasing Charlie through the rice paddies the 2nd Squadron will probably relieve
us.
I am not looking forward to going. We are right in the middle of the monsoon
season and it rains every day. At first, it was thought that we would stay back at
Blackhorse and helicopter the chow out to the field but this has changed. Perhaps we
might set up in the squadron trains at Loc Ninh and air-lift the chow to the men like we
did at Phu Loi. Actually, I could care less. One place here is Vietnam is as
good (or bad) as another. Just as long as my days go by.
I have been in country over 100 days and have seen a and learned quite a few things.
I have been engaged in several mortar attacks, a few firefights and have been
sniped at a couple of times so I have seen a little action but nothing to compare with
what these guys in the line platoons see. They see see action about every day.
Right now, there is a lull in the fighting. There doesn't seem to be too much
action in the Republic. Intelligence says that the NVA and VC are planning the third
faze of their TET offensive against Saigon and neighboring cities. As you know, the
TET offensive began in January and the second faze was in progress when I arrived here in
April. The third faze will most like be the final and the less effective one.
We always hope that these offensives are less effective than the previous ones and that
they do not last as long. I think that after this final offensive some sort of
agreement will be reached in Paris. I certainly hope so. As soon as this war
is over the sooner we can get back to base camp and get out of these damn stinking rice
paddies. Your get one or two rains and these rice paddies are like lakes. I
have even seen Vietnamese fishing in them.
Well, so much for the war in Vietnam. I just thought I would write and let you
know that I am well and where we are going shortly. So, until again . . .
By for now!
Love,
Bob
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