1 May 1970

1 May 1970
TGIF

Another month is behind!  For breakfast this morning I had apple & cinnamon flavored oatmeal, and it was delicious!  One of our corpsmen said his wife had sent him 80 packs of instant oatmeal!  I also understand that instant cream of wheat is quite good for breakfast.  I bet you think I never eat c-rations - but I do - every day.

The past two days we’ve spotted approximately 40 gooks (VC) carrying packs and rifles, operating in our area.  We’ve tried everything we can to get them, but to no avail.  In fact night before last we moved after dark to where they had been seen.  Only - they ambushed us, and the whole company was pinned down for about 3 hours.  This was at 2100 - 2400.  I requested 2 flights of air and received them!  Which also required a plane to drop flares.  Anyway, I got to control some air in a real emergency type situation - and I had a ball!!  We only had two casualties - both minor.

Last night I saw four gooks moving across a rice paddy about 300 yards away.  By the time I told some one and we started shooting at them - the gooks were already gone - so we didn’t get any.  We know they’re here - but we just can’t actually get them.

There are four places in S. Vietnam that are considered hard core, VC controlled, and we are working in one of those areas!  This is the Queson Mountain area, and the VC are really plentiful all around here.  Also, most of the “civilians” are considered VC sympathizers - but we can’t do anything about them.  We know they feed the VC, hide them, and are probably married to them in some cases.  But the women and children are immune from our fire!  I suppose that’s only right, because we can’t very well go around shooting women and kids!

I often ask myself - does the average Viet Cong soldier fight the Americans because he is a communist, or because we are here, destroying his villages and crops, killing his friends and in some cases his women!  Pillaging his possessions, etc, etc, etc.  How would I feel if some foreign army entered the U.S. and proceeded to do the same thing to me?  I’d fight back, just to protect my family and home - wouldn’t I??  Anyway, I often wonder just what the real reason is that the VC fight us.

We had a real thunderstorm yesterday afternoon!! Complete with lightening and thunder.  These are real rare over here.  I saw right away I was going to get wet, so I just stripped down to my shorts, go my bar of soap, and took a shower in the rain!!!  Most of the other men were under their ponchos trying to keep dry - and thought I was crazy - maybe I was - but you have to be a little bit crazy to survive over here!!  Ha.

Photos - these photos were taken in a village in the area we bombed after we were ambushed.