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Letter #2 19 Oct 68 Dear Mom & Dad & kids, Well, the rain finally ceased enough for the choppers to get in and get us out to our regiment. My address is as follows: PFC O'Connell P.E. 2422671 3rd BN 5th Regiment 1st MarDiv Mike Company FPO San Francisco, Calif. 96602 The mail should get to me all right with that address. I am at a place called An Hoa. It's a base situated about 30 milesfrom Da Nang (I don't know in what direction) and built in the middle of a mud puddle. My company just came back from a 27-day operation and got hit pretty bad. Tomorrow I start 4 days of orientation and then I'm just like the rest of them. Well, the light situation seems to hinder my writing for now. I'll try and write tomorrow. Take care & don't worry. Love, Paul *******************************************************************
Looking back: I've always been struck by the line, "Tomorrow I start 4 days of orientation and then I'm just like the rest of them." I had watched Mike company come back into An Hoa from an operation. The Marines looked nothing like any Marines I had ever seen. The spit and polish was long gone. Everyone of them was weighted down with enormous packs on their backs. They could hardly lift their feet when they walked, and most of them needed a shave. Their trousers were rolled up to just below their knees. The bare skin, between where the socks ended and the roll of the trousers began, was caked with a red-tinted mud.Paul O'Connell 1996
Letter #3 20 Oct 68 Dear everybody, Well it's another rainy day in Vietnam. When they say its been known to rain 40 days and nights you can believe it. Today I had to fill sandbags and build a bunker where a mortar round came in last night. No big worry. It was at least 300 yards away. That's for really! Tomorrow I draw my rifle and packs and the rest of my gear. You wouldn't believe this but I've slept better in Vietnam than I have in a long time. The food ain't been too bad but the only thing is that supplies are hard to come by so there is only two meals a day. Everybody says An Hoa is gonna be another Khe Sanh. I hope not. A lot of guys are getting souvenirs of the NVA like crazy, so if I do I'll send it home to Tommy. I've seen NVA watches, belts, hats, and canteens that are engraved. Well got to go for now. Take care & God bless ya all. Love, Paul *****************************************************************
Looking back: ...Hard to believe one could be in Vietnam for days without a weapon but it happened... Tommy was my kid brother. He was 15 at the time. He wanted to become a Marine when he turned 17, but drugs changed his mind for him in the two years that proceeded his seventeenth birthday. He would succumb to AIDS before he turned forty.
Paul O'Connell 1996 23 Oct 68 Hi everybody, Well, I'm sorry I haven't written in the last two days but I had to get resupplied with writing material; that is, run down to the PX and buy it. Well, it finally stopped raining but the NVA have taken advantage and started their move towards Da Nang. The artillery as of this morning has killed 100 and all the companies have moved out again to stop them from going any further north. That's about it on the war scene. Would you believe I bought a case of "RC Cola" today? It only cost me $2.40 or $.10 a can. Over here it don't matter whether it's hot or cold, but unfortunately it's hot. When ya open the can it blows over so much you almost loose your head. Plus I bought a carton of cigarettes for $1.20. That's pretty cheap. I wish you could see me because ever since I left Mass. I've been growing a mustache. Don't tell me where it's coming from but ya can definitely see it. Oh, no big thing, but I finally got to take a shower after a week. Boy, did I stink. The dirt must have been a 1/4" thick. Other than that, I'm in the best of health and feel real great. There is no need to worry as I'm in the rear until I finish school which is Sunday. But even after that I don't want ya to worry. Well, got to go. Love, Paul PS. Have ya received the allotment. *******************************************************************Letter #4
Looking back: About the mustache...The first time I ever shaved in my life was at Parris Island, and even that first night standing before the sink and mirror, there wasn't one hair, one speck of peach fuzz on my face. All I saw in shaving back then was a way to make your face bleed.
What I was calling a mustache was nothing more than individual whiskers, nothing more. I think I was trying to impress my family at home. A mustache; macho; a man!
Paul O'Connell 1996
Letter #5 24 Oct 68 Hi everybody, This letter is gonna be short because the light is getting dim fast. Well, everything is really going good with me and I hope it's likewise. Has Bobby reported back yet? I bet he was really glad to get home again. I bet Cheryl was happy too. Have Tommy and Marsha been doing good in school? Have them write also if they will, as it's a real boost. I'm enclosing a clipping from a South Vietnam paper, as this is the unit I'm in. (What I sent home was a picture of President Johnson presenting a Presidential Unit citation to the Fifth Marines.) Well got to go. Take care and don't worry. Love ya all, Paul ******************************************************************
Looking back: Cheryl is my older sister. Bobby is her husband. Back in 1968 just after returning home from their honeymoon, Bobby was sent his draft notice. On the day he reported for induction, two bus loads of men were taken to the South Boston Army base for physicals and to be inducted into the Army. Out of the two bus loads only two men were drafted--Bobby and one other guy. The others drafted the dodge one way or another. Bobby was offered a chance to avoid Vietnam--sign for three years instead of being drafted for two, and the Army told Bobby they'd send him to Germany. Bobby said no, took his chances with the two years. Somehow, he avoided Vietnam while the other guy drafted that day took the Army up on the three-year deal which was suppose to keep him from going to Vietnam, but it wasn't to be; the guy ended up in Vietnam and received a Purple Heart...
Paul O'Connell 1996
Letter #6 27 Oct 68 Hi everybody, Well how's everything been back in the home front? By the time you receive this letter it will probably be Halloween or after Halloween; so I wish you all a happy Halloween. I was just wondering how Joe has been making out with his flower shop lately. Has he gone out of business yet? What's daddy planing on doing if he does? I'm all done with school and will be going out with the company probably Friday. They went out yesterday and will be back Monday or Tuesday. As of now they haven't made any contact. Last night I had bunker watch and sat behind a huge 50 cal. machine gun but didn't get a chance to fire it as everything was peaceful on the war front. Have you been receiving the allotments? I hope so. A few days after the 1st of December, I'll be sending a money order home for about $275. Out of that I want ya to give Tommy and Marsha and Cheryl all $5 for Christmas, and I want mamma and daddy to pay one of their bills. Plus I want ya to pick out a friendship ring for Sharon; and when Christmas nears, bring it down for me. I'll write more information later. Got to go for now. Love, Paul PS. The dot on the map marks An Hoa. ********************************************************************
Looking back: Halloween:I guess I was still a kid at heart if I was thinking about Halloween.
The flower shop:
My Father worked part time delivering flowers for a guy by the name of Joe who owned the flower shop . In one of my Father's daily letters, he had said how Joe was thinking of selling his flower shop.
Before I joined the Marines, I worked at the flower shop part time, too. I delivered dish gardens and, at Christmas time, sold Christmas trees.
50 Cal Machine gun:
Probably wouldn't have known how to have loaded or fired the thing if my life depended on it. I was 0311--your basic rifleman. The dot on the map: The stationary I was using had a map of Vietnam in the upper left hand corner, so I marked where An Hoa would be on the map. During the indoctrination school, one of the instructors stood before a map of Vietnam, which was sitting in an easel, and pointed out An Hoa. "You are here," he said.
Paul O'Connell 1996
Letter #7 28 Oct 68 Hi everybody, Well, finally received a letter from you dated the 23rd. That really ain't too bad time for mail. There's no worry about deep foxholes as they've got some at least 8 ft deep with thick walls of sandbags. I also received a letter from Cheryl but was awfully disappointed as I didn't receive one from Sharon. But I'll give her another chance. I've got to. Today I went out as security with a private contracting company putting in another runway which will run through a village. The village people are opposing this, so today when the surveying team went out, me and 4 other guys had to protect them from any trouble; but trouble didn't come. I had a real good time fooling around with the little kids who have been left without a family by the war. If your map goes into any great detail, it might show Liberty Road which runs from Da Nang to An Hoa. There is also Liberty Bridge which ain't there no more because the Cong blew it away, plus last night, a guy lost his legs up near the old bridge site. I'll be going out in that area Friday. We are going to sweep from An Hoa to the river. Well, got to go for now but will write tomorrow. Love, Paul ********************************************************************
Looking back: I was acknowledging my Father's first letter. In his first letter and in many that followed, he used to tell me to find a deep fox hole and to stay in it. My Father had written that he had a map of Vietnam that came from a supplement to a National Geographic magazine. He had found An Hoa, I remember, but years later when I looked at his map, I saw it did not have the road known by the Marines in the An Hoa basin as Liberty Road. Liberty Road--its red laterite mud in the monsoons and choking dust in the dry season is a firm part of my memory. Its ups and downs and twists and turns. We controlled it during the day; the enemy at night.
Paul O'Connell 1996
Letter #8 30 Oct 68 Hi everybody, I just got back from a company size patrol which was really a joke. We moved out last night at 12:30 and surrounded a village. Then this morning we went in looking for Viet Cong. I think we found maybe one. Then we moved out of the village at 9:00 this morning. Right now we are restricted to the tents because we are supposed to go out on an operation. I don't know how often ya get to write on an operation, but I'll write as much as possible. No mail has come in since the 28th, but I'm hoping there will be some today. It's funny that in your letter you said to find a big foxhole because that night (the 28th) the NVA mortared holy hell out of An Hoa. I did get a face full of mud from a round that landed in a stream. Actually, I wasn't scared; but it kind of gets on your nerves when ya don't know where the next round will hit. It has started to rain off and on in the last few days but nothing like it did during my first week in country. On my address, add "1st Plt." to it as that's the platoon I've been assigned to. Well can't think of much more to say except don't worry. Love ya all, Paul PS. Say "Hi" to Tiger Lilly, too. **********************************************************************
Looking back: The company size patrol... My first combat patrol, and I was too new in country to appreciate an uneventful happening. All I remember is being on watch in the middle of the night that never grew dark because of the illumination overhead all night. The way the illumination swayed back and forth beneath the parachutes made everything before my eyes move--strange shadows. Everything was awash in shades of chartreuse green. Getting mortared... An Hoa did, but I can't really recall the rounds being that close. I may have been full of shit. I may have been trying to make my father think I was John Wayne or something. (What I have found out from these letters is that as an 18-year-old kid, when nothing was happening around me in Vietnam, I was making up all sorts of stories; but, when the shit hit the fan, I didn't even write. Watch as time goes on with these letters. Watch how the time frame changes.) Tiger Lilly was the family cat. I missed her as much as I missed everything else back in the world.
Paul O'Connell 1996
Letter #9 2 Nov 68 Hi everyone, Well, received two letters from ya written on the 24th & 25th of October. I would have written earlier but we've been out on an operation rounding up about 70 VC. So how's everything back at the home front? The cold weather should be blowing into Quincy pretty soon. It won't be long before the first snow, either. Well, I got shot at for my first time yesterday; and let me tell ya, I was really scared. The bullets were kicking up the dirt for about 30 seconds but I was hugging the ground. We are back in the An Hoa area but we should be going out within the next couple of days. I got a letter from Sharon and one from Paul D. Nothing is new withPaul D. and Sharon said that her father bought a 1964 Bonneville. Not bad. Well, I got to go for now and shower but I'll write later. Love ya all,
Paul *********************************************************************
Looking back: Got shot at for my first time... Didn't even know I was getting shot at. I remember hearing what sounded like someone snapping their fingers real close, real loud near my ear. Then I remember being knocked to the ground and realizing someone had tackled me as if I were in the middle of a football game. Then I heard the voice of my fire team leader screaming, "What the f--k's wrong with you? Are you crazy or something? That's AK fire." He had knocked me down to the ground. I might have gotten hit otherwise. Didn't even realize I was being shot at, that I was the target. I had been standing around in the middle of a ville--we were searching for VC (I didn't even know what one might look like; all I saw were woman and children) when we came under fire. Fortunately, no one was hit; yet, in some small, strange way, I think I was wounded for the first time. Some of my pride and some of my innocence was gone. My fire team leader would look at me for days and just shake his head and say things like, "You'll never make it." (Note*** I have changed the names of my friends in these letters for whatever reasons.)
Paul O'Connell 1996
Letter #10 3 Nov 68 Hi everybody, Well today is a pretty peaceful Sunday as we are resting up for another operation. I've got a feeling that we should be going out pretty soon. I've enclosed a picture that my squad leader took for me. In the background is the bunker I run for every time the mortar rounds come screaming in. Plus ya can probably notice the watch I bought while I was in Mexico. It keeps perfect time and tells the number of the day. The mail hasn't been coming in lately, but I hope it does soon. Do you think you could send me a package of goodies as I really starve over here. I like some oreos, vanilla wafers, some fritos, malted milk balls, reading materials, and an old pair of drumsticks, plus anything else ya think I might like, OK? And one more thing--Funny books. I'm serious. In about two more months I'll be eligible for R&R. I'm probably gonna wait until March or April, though. I'll probably go to Bangkok or Australia. Well, can't think of much more to say for now. Take care, and please send a package. OK? Love, Paul *********************************************************************
Looking back: An old pair of drumsticks... Back at home, I was some sort of a rock n roll drummer. I missed my drumsticks. R&R... Another way of keeping from focusing on what was going on around me. Live in the past, live in the future; but don't live in the now--in the reality. This way of living is what I believe PTSD is built on.
Paul O'Connell 1996
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