October 12, 1966

Hi Honey!

So much for being stationed near Saigon, I left Lon Ben yesterday and now I’m at Na Trang. It’s about 100 or so miles up the coast in central Vietnam. Tomorrow morning I’m being sent to Pleiku in the Central Highlands and will be assigned to the 52nd Aviation Battalion. The area around here is scenic with mountains to the North and West and the South China Sea to the East. I could handle this. Maybe Pleiku will be as nice. Pleiku is about 120 miles north and west of here its farther inland and about 30 miles east of the border with Laos and Cambodia. It’s hard to believe that there is a war going on. I’ve been here 5 days and haven’t herd a shot yet makes me wonder when is gonna hit the fan. Sure would help to have some friends so I could get an idea of what is going through their heads, mine is like jigsaw puzzle still in the box, the pieces are all there they just need to be put together.

I should have APO address tomorrow. A few letters from you sure would help right now. I’ll try not telling you how much I miss you since it makes me depressed just thinking about it. If I write about things that are going on here that are upsetting don’t tell my parents my mom doesn’t need to know.

I had a dream about you last night and shame on us. Not sure how I’m going to deal with those thoughts but that is not high on my list right now. Hope things are going well with you and your roommates at school. I think I will stop now before I go off the deep end.

Love You Lots,
Tom
S.W.A.K.

Tom Gator 851.