14 April

Dear Mom,

I wish you would send me a couple of paperbacks. The days get pretty long sometimes. Don’t send more than two because I wouldn’t have anyplace to put them.

I found out that halazone is not so much dangerous as useless. I tried some halazone on one canteen H2O and had dysentery for two days. Iodine is supposed to be better but still not entirely effective.

Don’t feel guilty about not going through what I’m going through. In a way Dad and the uncles paid the bill of responsibility for your generation. I feel like I’m doing approximately the same thing now. Unfortunately the issues are a lot less clear cut now than in WWII.

In WWII the guys who did the fighting could feel that they had their friends and everybody else behind them. Now I know that even if the kids my age don’t oppose the war the chances are darn good that they don’t support it either.

With younger people, opposition to the war often extends into hostility towards people in the military. There were two reasons I didn’t wear my “greens” while I was home on leave. I didn’t like being stared at and I didn’t feel like being forced to clobber some anti-war loudmouth.

I don’t mind people being opposed to the war, I’m against it in a lot of ways myself. I just get hot under the collar when someone bad mouths me because I fit a generality.

If you can find a copy of “Stranger in a Strange Land” for me please send it along. I’ve heard a lot about that book.

Sorry to hear about Corky’s leg. I hope he gets better fast. The cast must make him really frustrated.

I’m going to see if I can get authorization to hitchhike south to see John Dietrich and Jim Tadtman (an Army engineer who was the older brother of my best friend from high school) when I get my 3-day in-country R&R. I sent a letter to John but I kinda doubt if he got it. I haven’t gotten any answer yet. See if you can get Jim Tadtman’s address for me from Monica, OK? Tell her that Tommy had better get on the stick and write me a letter.

Also ask her if Steve is still working for J.B. Malone in Mareeba, North Queensland. I sent a letter for Steve to that address and haven’t gotten any reply yet.

Neither my letter to John D. or the one to Steve have come back since I mailed them so they may have been delivered.

My R&R isn’t due for four more months (at least) but I’m already looking forward to it. I want to go to Australia to see Steve and maybe Rodney Watts. If Steve isn’t in Australia by the time I get R&R I think I’ll go to Bangkok. I’ve heard it’s a fantastic place and dirt cheap.

I wish I could send my watch home, the crystal is getting badly scratched. It’s difficult to turn the bezel because of the dirt in the grooves. It’s too bad there’s no way to make a package, and no way to mail it if I could.

The yellow rice paper is a poster the V.C. put up in our village. A rough translation (very rough) is that it says, “The Popular Front is well armed and will soon slaughter the Marines.” I imagine it was made by a little slant-eyed optimist with communist leanings.

The spring rains will be along soon (according to the old salts). It’s been windy and uncomfortably cool at night for the last few nights.

My camera is in my seabag at CAG headquarters, I can’t get it out until I go on R&R. The camera wouldn’t weigh much but I would have no way to carry it. Even 1 lb. is too much extra weight with all that I’m humping now.

How did Corky break his leg?

Save that poster for me.

Will quit for now.

Love

Roch