Letter to Terrie, 2 February 1971 — 'a last ditch effort to win the war'

What the letter is

2 February 1971. This is where the Laos thread actually begins. The 4 February letter is the one usually quoted for its “don’t be surprised when you hear about Laos being invaded,” but this letter, two days earlier, lays out the entire operation in detail — and gets it almost exactly right. Charlie is still at Da Nang; his return to the field has been suspended because the relieving division and the 101st are throwing themselves into what he calls “a last ditch effort to win the war.” He names the moving parts: the 101st into the A Shau, the 5th Mech reopening Khe Sanh, the trail bombed, the South Vietnamese sent across the border. Then the flat verdict: “I don’t like the idea at all.” The back half of the letter drops into the domestic register — three of her letters arrived that day, her father has a job, a small affectionate aside, and family birthdays.

Transcription

Feb 2

Dear Terrie,

I’m still here at Danang and we were supposed to go back Feb 5 instead of Feb 4 but the division that was supposed to relieve us along with the 101st are making a last ditch effort to win the war. It is really a big operation and there are bound to be heavy casualities. The 101st is supposed to go in the A Shau valley and also help the 5th mech US Division go back to Khe Sanh and establish a support base so the S. Vietnamese can invade Laos. The air force has bombed the Ho Chi Minh trail and now we have to go clean it up. I don’t like the idea at all. But until they relieve us here we stay in Danang. It may be an extra day or two or it may be a month or so. I hope it is a month. I would say for you to write my old address though until I tell you if we are staying or not. The sorry “lifers” can’t make up their minds.

I got 3 letters from you today and then is the first I’ve written in 3 days I believe. I’m glad your father got a job he may like. The reason for the Dec 17 letter is probably a mistake. It was probably Jan 17.

Well I’m glad you are still horny. Sorry about that. You don’t really have to read how to make love do you? I’ll teach you all you need to know.

At least it is the 2nd of Feb now. Don’t bother to send any birthday present. My parents birthdays are in Sept & Oct. Anne’s is March 1. Send a card if you wish.

I’ll try to write more tomorrow. I have no needs except for time to go faster.

Love Charles

What the letter records

“I don’t like the idea at all.” Charlie’s politics run all through the corpus, but here they attach to a specific operation he could see coming. He is not writing about the war in the abstract; he is describing a plan, naming the units, and registering his objection — while quietly grateful that being held at Da Nang meant he would watch it rather than walk into it.

“Write my old address.” The practical counterpart to the uncertainty: until he knew whether the unit was staying in Da Nang or returning to the field, mail should keep going to the existing address. The administrative thread that runs through all the late-tour letters — he is always telling Terrie where to send the next one.

“The reason for the Dec 17 letter is probably a mistake. It was probably Jan 17.” A small, useful note for the archive itself: Charlie flags one of his own letters as likely mis-dated. It is a reminder that his date headers are occasionally off by a month, and a caution worth carrying when sequencing the rest of the corpus.

Anne’s 1 March birthday. A passing family detail — his sister Anne — that helps anchor the family calendar, alongside the note that his parents’ birthdays fall in September and October.