8 Jan 67
Hello Brother and Sister-in-law and little actress,
How’s every little battle on the home front? How are the little things growing?
Me, I’m fine, considering. Charlie still hasn’t found out how to spell my name, so he can’t put it on any of his bullets. That leaves the elements still after me though. You know? Nobody can tell me to go to hell. That’s because I’m already there.
Well the air temperature has gone down, but it’s getting a hell of a lot hotter here. We just got back from a five day operation. The thing was battalion size. The first day saw 11 Charlies zonked and 21 wounded, 27 captured. No one in this battalion was hurt. The next day things were a little different. One Charlie body and five wounded. A Company was responsible for the kill and some of the wounded. We had no casualties, but B Co. had 1 rag and one pole (rag= dead, pole= wounded). C Co. one rag, one pole. Charlie also lost one base camp and lots of chow. The following day there was no fighting. Charlie unassed the area right before the choppers got us there. This time we uncovered a field hospital and another base camp. Complete with supply and ammo. Later on that day a rice storage place was found, complete with 14 tons of rice. Charlie really is ticked off. Another day came and each company moved out in a different direction to meet in to same place. First to move was C Co., then B Co., and finally A Company. C Company was moving through the thick single file (bad tactics) and walked into an ambush. 4 rags, 7 poles in just three seconds. By the time they returned fire Charlie had made it with maybe a couple wounded. The whole operation saw 4 VC weapons captured and all else I mentioned. A VC weapon is worth 5 VCs. So much for that junk.
Got the camera. Thank you very much. It’s just the thing. Don’t worry about the Film, for I’ll let you know. I think that 127 roll film is plentiful now. Already have shot up one roll. If you happen to get some horrid pictures please don’t show them to just anybody. You know, the bloody type.
Like I said before, beer is the main beverage here. I drink a lot more than I did before. Don’t get drunk though. You like to know how a medic spends X-mal cap. Well we get all the medics together plus grapefruit & same juice mix in 5 gal. water can and add 2 to 3 qts of 190 proof grain alcohol. (00000). Man you talk about getting drunk. There were 15 of us and 10 gal. consumed. Couldn’t see worth a damn the next morning, but was not sick.
You all enjoy your TV and out door sports, for I don’t, indoor sports are in season.
Your Brother,
Donnie