A.W. (Peter) Machen to Rose P. Machen

September 11, 1969

Viet Nam

Dear Mom:

Thanks for the Kool aid!

The latest word is that we are going on ship by October on the USS Valley Forge and are going to either Okinawa or  the Philippines.  Well, you know the Marines.  You can't [count] on anything they tell you but I've got my fingers crossed.

About that picture of the man and the girl.  Well that was a picture of a guy in the woods with his date but I changed it around to a more contemporary setting and made the Marine writing a letter and changed the punchline: FLASH DUE TO LACK OF INTEREST, THE WAR IN VIETNAM HAS BEEN CANCELED.

My squad leader is from Baltimore.  My CO is a Negro from Baltimore and the gunner is from DC and I met a guy the other day from Towson and knows Larry Ives.  It's a small world.

Things ain’t so good anymore.  The fit has hit the shan, so to speak.  We have been hit every night and they have been putting two guns out on night ambushes (machine guns).  Last night we, my platoon, got one confirmed and we found another dead gook.  He'd been dead for a few weeks and was an NVA.  Believe it or not he wasn't much older than 14.

Americans think 18 is a bad draft age.  It ends at age 26.  The NVA has them drafted from 14 to 33.  They are getting desperate.

My squad is a good one-- all those Colt fans -- how can we go wrong!

I'm been flooded with mail.  Write again soon.

Love,

Pete