Page 50 - Echo 127

Coca Cola, Budweiser, etc. brought America into this dusty, violent, strange Country. Eventually, we started receiving the new uniforms and boots and we were glad to get rid of the stuff we had worn since we landed at Qui Nhon The troops occupied themselves between patrols by writing letters home, grabbing some shuteye when possible, cleaning their weapons, maintaining their gear and taking care of their sanitary needs. My letters from Kay were absolutely the light of my life at this time. She sent me a small recorder with a tape of kimmie saying her first words—that tape meant everything to me. Kay assured me they had arrived home safely and that all our stuff was in storage and —most importantly our baby girl was doing fine! The family had embraced them at the Bluefield airport when they arrived home from California. A small army of Gross’s and Asburys couldn’t wait to see Kay and our new baby—Kimmie. Kay sent pictures of Kimmie and I noticed how much she had grown in just a short period of time.
I was able to keep the little recorder, my writing gear, etc. in the seabag stored within the Battalion Perimeter. I also carried a small 16mm camera about the size of a cigarette lighter that took 32 pictures per roll. I kept that little camera with me most of the time wrapped in a plastic bag and used it to take most of the pictures I’ve included in this project.
We conducted squad size classes on a range of topics from Vietnamese culture to reviews of land navigation, weapons’ characteristics and news from the States. I held Q & A sessions with the platoon from time to time to answer as best I could any question they had about our operations, politics, rumors, etc. We used this time for the troops to make individual announcements about their family, news
50