I mailed these letters home, just before my 21st birthday, in the month of February.

Dear Mom, Dad, and Sis,

1 February 1968.

If you have been worried that I may have been hurt in the attack on Tan Son Nhut "Don't Be", because I wasn't there. I was transferred to Cam Rhan Bay for temporary duty on January the 30th and should be here until February the 20th. Cam Rhan Bay has to be the dullest base I've ever seen. The only amusement is swimming in the ocean. I'll be glad when I get back to Tan Son Nhut. I haven't received any mail since I arrived, or any pay and I haven't even heard whether I made Sergeant or not. I tried calling Tan Son Nhut but you can't get through because of the attack. War sure is Hell. That's a laugh as I haven't seen any combat since I arrived. This TDY to Cam Rahn has sure loused up my plans for ground school flight training. When I get back to Tan Son Nhut I'll have to start the training all over again. Tomorrow marks the anniversary of my 2nd year in the Air Force. One good thing about that is my pay will increase by $50 and if I made Sergeant it will jump another $40. That would be $294 a month here in Viet Nam or about $215 back in the States. My Bonds should start arriving in a few months. Let me know when they get there. Don't worry about me.

Love,

Dave

Dear Mom, Dad, and Sis,

17 February 1968.

I'm back at Tan Son Nhut. I received all my back mail now and have the guitar book and strings you sent me. It's not back to normal here yet. We are working 12 hour shifts now and you can still hear a lot of explosions and small arms fire in the surrounding area. Frequently hand flares are shot off near my hootch to make sure the VC aren't sneaking up on us. It seems funny to say this but tracers are pretty. They are like one solid stream of red light. None of the buildings on base have had much damage but I did see an A1E that had been shot down near the trim pad at the end of our runway. I've made Sergeant now so I should be making a little extra money soon. Dad, you asked me what my plans for the future are. I would like to get my Pilots license but other than that I have no plans. It's late and I have to get up early tomorrow so I'll sign off now. Please don't worry about me. I can take care of my-self.

Love,

Dave

Dear Mom, Dad, and Sis,

23 February 1968.

You have probably heard all sorts of war stories about the recent attack on Tan Son Nhut. Don't believe every thing you hear and be assured I'm not dead yet. The VC have been hitting the base with 80mm mortars and 122mm rockets but they haven't hit the area near my hootch. They did hit our base Chapel though and it was totally destroyed. It was about two city blocks from my hootch. The VC have mainly been dropping mortars and rockets on the flight line in the middle of the night. I've had to get into the mortar shelter a few times recently but none have landed near me. Every time the VC fire a rocket or mortar at us our radar locks on to their position and we send out an air-strike to wipe them out. I can't complain about not seeing any action any more because I have now. As I write this letter I can hear our artillery and bombers in action a few miles away. I'm enclosing another $25 money order for Dad's gift. Please spend it and the other $25 I sent you on Dad not on me. I don't need that $50. I'll have some money saved before I come home. I'm also enclosing a gift for you from Red China by way of North Viet Nam. It's a piece of shrapnel. You find it lying all over the flight line these days. Don't worry about me. I can take care of my self. I do have enough sense to jump into a shelter when trouble starts.

Love,

Dave