Rick Holt's Adventures in Vietnam
Letters Home from Vietnam, 1971
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Long Thanh North
October 5, 1971
Tuesday
10:30 pm
Dear Folks,
I went to the dispensary this morning to try to order some flight glasses. Found out that I can't get any because I'm not on crewmember status. My flight orders say non-crewmember. When I struck out on that count I tried to order some regular sunglasses, but when they looked in my records they couldn't find the prescription. So if I want to get glasses made I'll have to go to the hospital in Long Binh and have my eyes tested and bring the prescription back here to order them. In other words I might just as well forget getting any sunglasses from the army.
I was on burm detail today. In the morning we burned grass. We sprayed a mixture of mo-gas and diesel on it and lit it. That sure beats swinging a blade all day. This afternoon we worked on Bunker 45 till about 2:30, then Claybough came out and got me to go on another test flight. This one was as unsuccessful as the last time. They are trying to relay between a helicopter and an RWI which is some kind of radio telephone system. So that the guy in the chopper can talk anywhere in Vietnam on the telephone. It sounds real good on paper, but the guy with the RWI in Saigon wouldn't answer when we called. Maybe some day we'll get in touch with him and I'll have him dial 288-2589.
Would you believe they did away with the morning formation? I can't believe it either!
Rick