June 22, 1967

Dear Lorraine,

Hi Honey! I hope things are going well for at school. Today is another cloudy rainy day in Vietnam. The ground fog was pretty thick this morning with a light rain. In spite of the weather we flew to a place called Jackson’s Hole. We had to climb up to 8000 feet to stay above the clouds and then look for a hole to get back down below so we could land. We had to take a 4th Infantry Division Major to a meeting. Now we are waiting for him to finish so we can try to get back to Pleiku.

I got 4 letters from you yesterday and that really made my day. The rest of the guys were complaining because I got all the mail. I kind of feel sorry for them but at the same time I think its great. In your letters you talk about how much you like school, I never really liked it very much but the more I think about it the more I know I need to go back when this is over. My chances of getting a good job will be better and I want to be able to support you and a family. Right now I’m not even sure what kind of job I would qualify for. I know a lot about helicopters and machine guns but there is not much of a need for my skills at home and I don’t want to make a career out the Army. If I did I know I would be back here soon and you can only be lucky for a while.

In one of your last letters you said I might be drinking too much. Well we do drink a lot but there is not much else to do in your spare time. By spare time I mean when everything is done on the ship and my weapons are clean I can write, listen to music, and have a few beers to unwind. Some days I drink to forget but it only helps till the next day. Not much else to do here. If I went downtown I’d be drinking there too.

I running out of things to write about so I’m gonna close for now. I think I’ll check with Mr. Dobbs and see if he knows what the weather is like between her and Pleiku. When we fly high we can close the doors that helps us stay warm but I think I’ll keep them open and try to freeze the Idiot Major. He deserves it for coming here. We don’t get many chances to mess with the Officers and he can’t make me close the doors. It’s my ship not his. Yes I will be cold but I’ll be warm inside just thinking about it.

I Love You and Miss You Very Much.

Tom
S.W.A.K.