← Part of Letters from Vietnam
letter
Letter to Terrie, 22 February 1971 — extended to June 14, the long hours, and a death from December
Charlie's two-page evening letter to Terrie dated 22 February 1971, reassembled from its scans (dad167 page 1, dad168 page 2). Two days into the Camp Eagle clerk job, he still hasn't cleared his old company but everything is in order. He confirms he has extended and will be out of the Army on 14 June. The work isn't hard but the hours are long, 7:30 AM to 7:00 PM, seven days a week. The April R&R allocations haven't come down yet; he expects them around 2 March and presses Terrie again for a firm answer and to tell her parents. He has just seen two men from his old platoon on their way to Bangkok R&R, who told him how it has been out there, 'pure hell.' The soldier who stepped on a booby trap the previous December, while Charlie was in Da Nang, died 21 days later. His platoon-mates missed his presence and his letters to his congressman about the war; he is, he says, so anti-Army and anti-war now he can barely describe it. He asks her to let him know about Hawaii as soon as possible. Signed 'I love you. Love, Charles.'
What the letter is
22 February 1971, evening, written two days into the Camp Eagle job. It carries the two registers of the late tour side by side: the administrative future, the extension that fixes his out-date at 14 June, the long clerk hours, the R&R allocation calendar, and, breaking through it, the war he has just been pulled out of. Two men from his old platoon pass through on their way to Bangkok and bring the news that the soldier who stepped on a booby trap in December has died of his wounds. The contrast, a safe desk and a dead friend, is what sharpens the anti-war line that closes the letter.
Transcription
Feb 22, evening
Dear Terrie,
Well I’ve been here two days. I still haven’t cleared my old company but everything is in order. I’ve extended and I will be out of this damn army June 14. The work isn’t hard but the hours are long, 7:30 AM to 7:00 PM, 7 days a week.
Allocations haven’t come down yet for R&R in April. They should come around March 2 or so. I need a reply from you as to what you want. Yes I do want to see you but I want you to tell your parents too.
I just saw 2 guys from my platoon who were on their way
[page 2:] to R&R in Bangkok. They were telling me how it has been. I guess it has been pure hell out there. The guy who stepped on a booby trap last December while I was in Da Nang died 21 days later. It must have really shook them up. They all missed my being there and writing to my congressman about the horrible war and stupid army. I’m so anti army and war now I can barely describe it.
Let me know about Hawaii from your end as soon as possible.
I love you.
Love Charles
What the letter records
The out-date. “Out of this damn army June 14” fixes the date the whole spring is counting toward, the same horizon as the “down to 115” day-count in the 18 February letter. The extension was the price of the early-out arrangement.
A death reported secondhand. The soldier who stepped on a booby trap “last December while I was in Da Nang” connects to the 2 January 1971 booby-trap letter; here, weeks later and through two men passing toward Bangkok, Charlie learns the man died of his wounds. The fact arrives flat and lands hard.
“So anti army and war now I can barely describe it.” The clearest statement of the politics that runs through the late letters, set directly against the safety of the clerk job, the men still in the field, and the friend who didn’t make it.
Scans
