Forty-five years ago, on this date, I wrote this letter to my family. Then later on in life I added the Between the Lines. Letter # 8 30 Oct 68 Hi everybody, I just got back from a company size patrol which was really a joke. We moved out last night at 12:30 and surrounded a village. Then this morning we went in looking for Viet Cong. I think we found maybe one. Then we moved out of the village at 9:00 this morning. Right now we are restricted to the tents because we are supposed to go out on an operation. I dont know how often ya get to write on an operation, but Ill write as much as possible. No mail has come in since the 28th, but Im hoping there will be some today. Its funny that in your letter you said to find a big foxhole because that night (the 28th) the NVA mortared holy hell out of An Hoa. I did get a face full of mud from a round that landed in a stream. Actually, I wasnt scared; but it kind of gets on your nerves when ya dont know where the next round will hit. It has started to rain off and on in the last few days but nothing like it did during my first week in country. On my address, add “1st Plt.” to it as thats the platoon Ive been assigned to. Well cant think of much more to say except dont worry. Love ya all, Paul PS. Say “Hi” to Tiger Lilly, too. ---Between the Lines--- I went on my first combat patrol in which we surrounded a village located not too far outside the defensive perimeter of An Hoa. I was too new in country to appreciate an uneventful night in the bush. All I remember is being on watch in the middle of the night that never grew dark because of the illumination overhead. The way the greenish yellow flares swayed back and forth beneath the parachutes, made everything before my eyes seem to move, and made for strange and eerie shadows. The world was awash in shades of chartreuse green colors. ——— An Hoa did get mortared but none of the rounds landed close to my position. Maybe I lied trying to make my father think I was John Wayne or something—I dont know. What I have found out from these letters is that as an eighteen year-old kid, when nothing was happening around me in Vietnam, I was making up all sorts of stories, but when the horror struck, I wouldn’t even write. ——— Tiger Lilly was the family cat. I missed her as much as I missed everything else back in the world. Excerpt From: OConnell, Paul. “Between the Lines.” iBooks. This material may be protected by copyright.
Posted on: Wed, 30 Oct 2013 13:55:47 +0000