Guys, this will be the first of many letters that my uncle George Carmel wrote to his family in 1964-1965 while stationed at Camp Holloway with the 119th Av Co. I have other letters from his basic training at Ft. Dix and from his advanced training at Ft. Rucker Alabama. From the letters, I learned that he was trained and assigned as a helicopter mechanic and then became a crew chief while in Viet Nam. So.. for those who are interested here is his first letter home. Comments in brackets are mine.

Hi Folks,

Well finally made it to good old Viet Nam. I got here Thurday morning at about 10 o'clock. I found out almost immediately that I won't be staying here in Saigon, where I am now. This Tuesday I am supposed to be flown up north, close to where Greg is now. I'll be with the 119th Avn. Co. as before, but I'll be near Plei Ku.

Yesterday I went into the city for the heck of it. It was Friday the thirteenth so i figured things couldn't get any unluckier than they were. I went with 3 other boys. I went to the embassy to deliver the letter for Mrs. Metras. Just as I was going in and showing my I.D. card to the guard he said "watch it" and moved me to one side. He drew out his pistol and two more armed Marines came from a room with thier rifles loaded and ready. I didn't know what was going on until I looked out the door and saw this black sedan. two armed men got out of the car and opened the back door. Henry Cabot Lodge, the ambassador stepped out and walked right past me and said "good morning" to me! That left me pretty well stunned.

After that we went through the city and saw different places that were scenes of mishaps. I saw the American School that I've seen pictures of with guards standing on the roofs with machine guns and rifles. All American building in the city are protected with barbed wire in front and sandbags aganst the walls on te inside.
Above the streets are wide banners with such sayings as: PEACE YES! PEKING NO!... LONG LIVE US-VN FRIENDSHIP... PEACE OF THE BRAVE,NOT OF THE GRAVE...PEACE MUST BE FOUGHT FOR NOT BEGGED FOR.

When I landed at the airfield I saw McNamara's plane. There were banners and placards saying "Bon VOyage McNamara". It's really interesting. If only I could get a camera now. I'm not sure when or how often I'll be able to come down to the city from where I am going o be. Then it would have been nice to take pictures of all the things I saw in Hawaii. Maybe I can get them on the way back. Time will tell.

Well I have to sign off for now. Don't write until I get my permanant address, O.K.? Everything is fine here. I hope the same applies to you.

Love, your son and brother, George