Tuesday Night
9 Dec. 1969

I had hot pad duty for 12 hours today! From 0600 to 1800 with 40 minutes off for lunch. Nine hours of it I was all suited up in my flight gear but did not get to fly! It’s quite frustrating.

We were told to scramble once this morning, but when we got to the end of the runway, ready to take off, they told us to come back!! All the trouble we went to just because some guy goofed!!

Going to Ubon is getting away from Chu Lai, getting out of country, getting to stay in a real hotel in a real city, getting to see normal people leading normal lives, getting to eat a few good meals for a change, etc, etc, etc!!! A plane diverted last night to Ubon only 10 minutes after I landed!! I could not believe my lousy luck!!

I’m very well stocked up on books now. At the rate I’ve been getting books I’ll have to read one a day to get caught up! Ha.

We had a good movie tonight titled Daddy Went-a -Hunting. It was sort of an Alfred Hitchcock movie, keeping everyone on edge to the last minute! However it had a happy ending. If it hadn’t, I’d been moping around for hours! Ha.

It’s funny how much a mere movie can effect you over here! I suppose it’s the only real connection with the “world”!

A cold front moved in today dropping temperatures lower than they’ve been so far. The weather has been just like the early winter in Lubbock. Chilly, the wind blowing very hard, and the sand blown by the wind! Just like Lubbock.

The high wind is the reason that plane had to divert to Ubon last night. We had managed to land just before with the wind just as bad and it was plenty hairy!! I suppose we could have easily had an accident, but we didn’t! I don’t worry about having an accident. Look at it this way, if I get hurt, they’ll have to send me home!!

I expect to be on the hot pad again in the morning at 0600! And it’s getting late now.


Photo - in the foreground, the bomb shelter for the officer's club. at the left, back of the movie screen