16 Aug 68
Dear Mom,
I received your letter yesterday of Aug 9. You said you hadn't gotten any news from me all week, well sometimes I don't have enough time to write. Like today, I'm lucky I have this little bit of time. I probably won't be able to mail this letter today.
We just landed by helicopter on this hill this morning. When we landed we got mortared and thirteen men got hit. One mortar landed 10 feet away from me and I was really praying, because I was very scared.
We are setting up a blocking force. And another Battalion of Marines are pushing the NVA towards us. Right now the NVA are down in the valley about a mile away. There are about two battalions of NVA down there now. Maybe today I will kill my first man. I'm not happy about that but it is my job so I must do it. They will probably hit us tonight. So we have to be ready for them.
I am enclosing a picture of me and my friend in front of our hootch. It is a pretty good hootch. It didn't even leak when it rained. The picture was taken yesterday. We are not at that place anymore. It sure made me mad because we had to take down such a good hootch.
Grandma still hasn't written to me yet. But I guess she hasn't had time.
Mom could you send me some homemade cookies for me and my fire team. There are three people in my fire team including me. The blonde headed dude in the picture with me is my fire team leader. He gets cookies every once in awhile and he shares them with me and the other guy in my fire team. His mother sends them in coffee cans and they stay pretty fresh. I need a few plastic bags and a tooth brush and small paint brush about two inches.
I have received all your letters, I thought you knew that and I try to get around to answering them all if I have enough time.
I hope Marcus's sore throat is better by now. Why don't you tell him to write me. Well its fixing to rain so I have to go before it gets this letter all wet.
Love your son
