Rick Holt's Adventures in Vietnam
Letters Home from Vietnam, 1971

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Da Nang
August 3, 1971
Tuesday
9:30 am

Dear Folks,

We're up here again playing Army games. As far as I can see this is just a practice mission. We're flying between Monkey Mountain here at Da Nang and Quang Tri. There is already a ground relay in operation. I think the brass just want to see what we can do.

 I arrived here about 11 am. Then I took off again at 11:30 am for the first mission. Everything worked OK for me, but something went wrong with one of the generators on the plane so they called up 061 to take our place.

O'Briant was on 061. He had a little trouble in the beginning. He forgot to turn on a switch and that caused a little delay. We left him at 2 pm and everything was OK.

When I got back I found Sylvester working on the radios in 027. Somebody had sabotaged the radios last night. They just realized it this morning on the way up. All the cables were taken off and some wires were cut.

He fixed what he could see wrong. By the way, Sylvester is in Avionics. He's been over here almost 2 years and he's got 121 days to go. He'll be a radio operator for this mission. Right now we have myself, Seacord, O'Briant and Sylvester as operators.

Seacord followed O'Briant up in 027. He claimed the radios didn't work. I guess Sylvester didn't fix everything. I understand they'll be sending 027 back to Long Thanh and sending 038 up here to replace it. I hope the radios on 038 work.

They put us on standby and sent Seacord back down. That's why I think this is just a big game. They really don't need us.

We're supposed to go back up at 5 in the morning. Seacord will take that flight since he only flew about 15 minutes, then Sylvester, then me again.

As far as living conditions go this time is the best I've had yet. I'm sleeping in a room with one other guy. He works in the motor pool here at 37th Signal. O'Briant, Sylvester, Seacord and one of the crew chiefs are in the same room I had last time, the one behind personnel.

When I went to supply here to get some sheets the supply clerk handed me a box of 12 boony hats. He's got them but they aren't authorized for any of the personnel at 37th Signal. I was wearing my boony hat because I left my black hat in 061 when I came up here. I guess he thought our unit could wear them. So now I've got a dozen boony hats. Guess I'll send a few home some day.

That about wraps it up for now.

Rick
A bummer is going to Da Nang on a three day pass and getting sun-burned the first day.

(read the next letter home)