February 2, 1969

Rudy,

How the fuck are ya? Goddamn I feel like an asshole for not writing you. Be sure to kick me in the ass when you get home. The fuckin’ draft is going to hang my ass in March. I haven’t heard from Thomas in two months.

Everything in A-town is alright. You know that beer warehouse on Columbus and 19th, it burnt down last week. Goddamn, what a mess. I’m working at Delco now, Plant 8, nights. I got a ’65 Mustang, what a pile of shit. Did you know Mountain Mac got married? The fucker was 15 minutes late because he had to shine the brass on his Marine uniform. Bill King is getting married, March 4.

Mad Dog, Dennis Connor and Herko are going to throw you a fuck of a party. We’ll have so much beer, even Rudy will say “no more.” I’ve had enough (bullshit), write me and let me know when the hell you expect to be home.

Herko Lunivitch

P.S. One up and over.

January 30, 1969
9:30 P.M.

Dear Larry:

Well, another month almost gone, and I am glad of that because it makes it that much sooner you will be getting home.

We went to a game which Karl played tonight. St. Mary’s beat St. Ambrose 32-12. They only have two more games to play yet and their [season] will be over. They play Madison Heights Wednesday and Alexandria on Thursday. Dad, Tresa and I went to about every game Karl played and really enjoyed them whether they won or not.

Dad and the kids went to bed and Carol is taking a bath so I thought I would write a few lines even though there is not much to write about.

The weather here is still damp and rainy. The way it looks, we may have an early spring, but we may get fooled and have a snowy February. Is the weather still hot where you are at? I think about you all the time and wonder how you are doing. Are you still surveying? Larry, when you got moved, did any of the boys you were with before get moved too? I imagine that by the time you get acquainted with some guys, they move you, and then you have to make new friends.

Joanna called this morning. She is having a week’s vacation next week. I guess her and Carol [her roommate] are both going to be on vacation. She said that they are not going anywhere. Myself, I don’t think they could afford it because most of their money goes for paying for the apartment and her car. She said that her car is being worked on now and she probably wont get it for a couple of weeks.

Uncle Deda was asking me the other day if you ever got called to Guide Lamp as they are calling a lot of them back to work. I told them that they never have yet, unless they know that you are in the service. I sure hope you don’t have any trouble getting a job when you get home.

I noticed that Mike Cockman is around Orbicks a lot. He started [going] to college last fall and Carol said that he must have flunked out and isn’t going anymore. I suppose him and Robin will be getting married one of these days. He practically lives over there. He looks like a beatnik, he has a goatee on his chin. Myself, I don’t care for it. Remember how Dad and I used to get after you when you didn’t shave. Ha. I suppose all the guys are raising beards and mustaches in Vietnam. Some of the guys I see on T.V. have beards.

Well, Larry, it’s getting late so I had better stop for tonight and will write more later. So please take care of yourself.

Love Mom

Dear Larry:

It’s kind of late to be writing a letter, but I thought I would write anyway. I came home from Bingo and Carol was watching The Miracle Worker on TV, so I watched it also and it was very good. I won $7.50 at Bingo tonight. At least I got my money back.

Larry, we finally got a letter from you today, and as you know, we were all very glad to hear from you. I was really surprised to hear you got transferred to an Infantry Unit. Are you still in the Artillery part of that division? What kind of job are you supposed to be doing now that they changed you?

We read a lot about the 9th Infantry Division and the Mekong Delta. Larry, I sure hope that you are careful in everything you do.

Steve Rudolf is in the 9th Infantry Division. I talked to Aunt Kay on the phone today and she said that Stevie is supposed to be coming home in Feb. She said that he is supposed to leave Vietnam the 6th of February and should be home by the 12th of Feb. Aunt Kay said that he went to [Sydney], Australia on his R+R. Maybe you might run into him because he is around the same area that you are at.

What kind of a place is Dong Tam? Aunt Kay said that it is supposed to be a big base.

I sure hope that time flies by quick for you. At least you’re over the hump like Dad said. We are all hoping that the time flies by and you will be home again.

We are having a thunderstorm here tonight. I can’t believe it, having a storm in January. We had quite a bit of rain today and it looks more like spring weather. The weatherman said it wasn’t going to be very cold the next few days.

Dad was off today, so he picked up Carol from Madison Heights after school and they got Carol her beginner’s license for driving. She is taking driver’s training at school, so I imagine she will be driving by the time you get home.

Just had a call from Joanna and she said she is having her car worked on and won’t have a car for 2 weeks.

Dad got his (new 69) license plates today. He went bowling tonight. He said he sees a lot of your friends at the club and they ask about you.

I hope you have been getting my mail that I have been sending you at the other address. I know you probably didn’t like me saying things about you not writing, but I was concerned about you, and if I would have known you were being moved around, I wouldn’t have worried so much. You’re mom is still a worry wart and you can’t change her.

Well, Larry, I must close for tonight as I have to get to bed. I am enclosing clippings from last night’s paper. So please take care of yourself. Be sure and send us mail when you are on R+R.

Love,
Mom

I am getting some stuff ready to send you a box which I will try and get out to you by the end of this week.

I am anxious to get the film of the pictures you took so we can have them developed.

(Everyone said hi.)

Dear Larry:

Well, here I am again and I don’t know if I should even be writing to you as I don’t even know if you are getting my mail or not. I just cannot believe that we haven’t heard from you in so long. The last letter you wrote to us was dated the 29th of December. I don’t want you to think that I am giving you the devil, because I am only a concerned parent, and I sure would be a heck of a parent if I didn’t care. I know that you probably get tired of writing everyday, but heavens, I think that at least we could hear from you more often than we do. I have a lot of people ask about you and I don’t know what to tell them since we don’t get mail. I can’t even get Dad to write. He said that he doesn’t hear from you, so why should he write. I just can’t be that way. I feel like I want to write to you whether you write or not. Like I said, I would be a heck of a mother if I didn’t care, and I will keep on writing to you and just hope that we get a letter soon. Everyday I keep hoping. I know that you probably think that I am giving you the devil, but I don’t want you to think that because all I ever look forward to is to see you get home and away from Vietnam.

Well, today is a very cold day in Anderson. The sun is shining, but I could feel the cold air coming in through the front door and the windows have frost on them. We still haven’t had much snow this winter. Maybe it will come in February when we have our basketball tournaments.

Tonight, Madison Heights plays Anderson, at the Anderson gym, but it’s a home game for Madison Heights. Dad is taking Tresa and Karl, as well as Carol, to the game. Dad thought that the game was supposed to be last night (Friday), so tonight we are going to an association dance at St. Ambrose Hall after he gets home from the game. So that means I will have to wait at home until he gets here before we go to the dance.

Carol is going to go skiing at Mt. Wawasee near Goshen, Indiana tomorrow morning with her physical education class. They were supposed to go last week, but they postponed it because they didn’t have snow last weekend. I guess they have about an inch of snow on the ground there now, and besides that, I guess they make artificial snow for skiing. I imagine they will all have fun.

Dad just came home from work and he went in the refrigerator and got himself a beer.

Well, I am going to sign off for today as I have to get some supper, so until later. Please take care of yourself.

Love,
Mom

P.S. – Dad said that Mike Davis came into the club the other night to celebrate his 21st birthday with his wife of 2 weeks. Dad said he gave Mike your address and he said he would write to you. Wonder why he never went into the service.

Dad also said that John Lang, who used to play football with you, he works at the File Shop, came in to the club and asked about you. Dad said he weighs over 300 pounds.

Jim Crawford also works at the File. Dad said that he works nights and he comes over to the club. He said that they are expecting a baby.

Dad said he would write you a letter himself if he heard from you once in a while.

Sonny Silay is working at the Fire Dept. now and Danny Clark didn’t make the Fire Dept., so  Dad said he is working at a filling station.

Dad also told me to tell you that the Polish Club is [booming] and that when you come home, he will take you over and buy you a drink.

So this is the word from -
Dad

January, 24 1969
Time 9:23 P.M.

Hi Larry,

How are you? I’m not sure how you are this time because you haven’t been writing to us. At the Polish Club, we went because they had chili and hot dogs. Bratski is sitting here watching me, if you know who Bratski is. Schmulick and Karl are on the floor listening to the Elkhart vs. Anderson game. Schmulick wants me and Bratski to yell. Karl had basketball practice tonight. Their next game is with St. Mary’s. St. Mary’s hasn’t lost any games yet. I can’t wait to see that game. I have a feeling we’re going to be the first team to beat St. Mary’s during their basketball season.

GUESS WHAT? Daddy owes me $2.50. I’ll tell you my grades on the back.

A’s 25¢ – B’s 10¢

1. RELIGION – A
2. ORAL READING – A
3. COMPREHENSION – A
4. WRITTEN IDEAS – B
5. CORRECT USAGE – B
6. ARITHMETIC  – C+, last time D
7. HISTORY – B
8. GEOGRAPHY – B
9. MUSIC – B
10. PENMANSHIP – A
11. CONDUCT – A, talk all the time
12. EFFORT – A, try
13. ART – B
14. WRITTEN HOMEWORK – A

Well, what ya think?
Better get going.

Your sister,
Ellie

Dear Larry:

Right now I am sitting in Dr. Neale’s office and waiting to be called in for my checkup. So, while waiting, I thought I would drop you few lines. I had to get here on the bus and will probably have to go home on the bus, but at least the weather isn’t too bad. It is cloudy but the temperature is in the 40′s.

Well, how are you doing? Fine I hope. I have been concerned because we haven’t had a letter from you since before Christmas and I am wondering why. Sure hope I have mail waiting for me when I get home.

Last night I went to bingo at St. Ambrose but as usual I didn’t win anything. Dad went bowling and when he got home he said that he didn’t do too good either.

The kids brought home their report cards yesterday. Tresa got pretty good grades, but as far as Karl, he could do a lot better if he wanted to. Tresa will probably write and tell you all about it.

I think I am the next one to be going in so in case I don’t finish this letter here, I will at home. I have put on some weight during Christmas, so the doctor will probably give me hell. At least it is nice sitting in the waiting room because they have nice music to listen to.

Mike and Ronnie Walser were home on leave but I didn’t see them. Their pictures were in the paper so when I get home I will cut it out and send it to you.

Well, here it is 6:50 P.M. and I am at home now. Joanna got off work at 1:30 so she picked me up from the doctor’s office. Me and Joanna went to Brazier’s and got a hamburger and then she brought me home. We didn’t get any mail from you so I am disappointed. Joanna said she was going to write to you as she hadn’t written in some time.

I suppose you are probably getting ready to go on R&R in February. Are you still going to Singapore?

The doctor gave me a clean bill of health and said that I should probably lose about 10 pounds. It’s easy to say but hard to do. I just don’t have the will power. I have some more diet pills to take so I hope they help me.

Well, I can’t think of much more to write so I will close for today and will write more later. So please take care of yourself and here is hoping we get a letter tomorrow.

Love, Mom.

Dear Larry:

Well, here it is, Sunday evening and we just got through with supper. We had steak which dad just bought at Matthews. Dad said, “Boy, if Larry was here, he sure would like to have one of those steaks.” I fixed the steaks so Dad made me sit down and Tresa and Carol are doing the dishes, so I thought I would write you a few lines.

Well, how are you doing? Fine, I hope. Here everyone is ok. We went to the 8 o’clock  mass this morning because Karl had to serve mass at that time. Carol still goes to their religion class as they have their religion classes at that time.

The weather here is cold today. The snow we had last week finally melted when we had warmer weather and rain a couple of days ago. The weather itself was very cold but as yet, we haven’t had too much snow to speak of.

Dad and Karl went bowling this afternoon while Tresa, Carol and I went shopping. I sure spent quite a bit of money the last few days. I bought me some new drapes for my bedroom. Tresa got a new winter coat and some shoes which she needed. Carol also got some shoes. It seems like there is always something to spend money on.

Joanna and I went shopping to Mounds Mall last friday. I don’t know if anyone wrote you or not, but they have a new J.C. Penny store there now, and it is a very nice store. It even has escalators. It reminds me of the big stores in Indianapolis.

Well, Larry, It looks like they are finally getting started on the peace talks. According to the news, they may be taking the U.S. Troops out of Vietnam. I sure hope so. Did you hear anything about it there? It took them so long to decide on a table, now I wonder how long it will take before they decide on things there.

Well, here it is another day, 1:30 P.M. Dad is off today and Carol didn’t go to school because she said she is sick. I don’t think she is very sick because she just ate two corn dogs. Ha. We are watching T.V. at this time, as you probably know, President Nixon was inaugurated today and Johnson is out now. The Highland band is in Washington D.C. for the parade so they will be on T.V. around 3 this afternoon and then today we are going to watch the Inaugural Ball on T.V.

We watched the Bob Hope show on T.V. last Friday and it was a good show. Where did you go to see the Bob Hope show? It showed different places in Vietnam where Bob Hope was and there were millions of soldiers. We even seen some of them sitting on mountains or hills. We were all thinking that you were probably in one of those places. Must close for now so please take care of yourself and write.

Love, Mom

P.S. No mail again today.

Dear Larry:

Well, here I am again with a few lines and hoping you are ok. As yet, we haven’t been getting any mail from you. What have you been doing? I can’t understand why you can’t write to us more often. Here is hoping again today that the mailman will bring a letter from you.

Dad worked at the club last night, and this morning, he decided that he didn’t want to go to work. He hasn’t been off for some time, so he called in and told them he was sick. He will probably end up sleeping most of the day.

This evening, we are going to one of Karl’s games. They are playing Central. I sure would like to see them win another game.

The mailman just came and we didn’t get a letter from you. Only some bills. I’ll bet you can’t guess who brought our mail. It was Artie Crawford. Dad was telling me the other day that he is working at the Post Office, but I forgot to write you about it.

Uncle Tommy just left. He picked up his washing. He said that he and Deda went down Aunt Mary’s last night and had some of the best fried fish for supper. Uncle Tommy asked about you and said for me to say hello from him. Uncle Deda is off on sick leave again. I guess he isn’t feeling too good.

By the way, Larry, before I forget, we got your December bond yesterday. That makes 10 bonds for you.

Well, it looks like the sun is finally out and melting the snow and slick streets. The weatherman said we are supposed to have rain tonight. Sure will be glad to see spring get here.

How is everything where you are at? Sure would like to know more of what you are doing and how things are over there. How about the pictures that you said you took of the Bob Hope show? As yet, we didn’t get any films from you to get developed.

The Bob Hope Christmas Show is going to be on TV tonight, so we will probably watch it. Only hope we get home from the game early enough to watch it. I imagine it’s probably the same show you [saw].

Is there a town close by where you can go to? Do you live in barracks or do you still sleep in tents? Why don’t you write and tell us how you are living there and what kind of food you eat?

Well, I am going to stop for today, as I haven’t got a thing done around the house, so I will have to get busy. Please take care of yourself and write.

Love
Mom

Dear Larry:

Well, here I am again with a few lines to let you know all is well here and hope you are the same. We haven’t heard from you in some time again, but I keep hoping for a letter soon.

It is still cold as ever in Anderson, with snow on the ground and the streets are still slick. The kids went back to school yesterday, but the buses are slow coming around to pick them up. It’s been slick and cold since the first of the year. The weatherman said today that it is supposed to get a little warmer. I sure hope so, then maybe it will melt some of the slick spots. When we go out now, we have to walk on needles and pins to keep from falling. Ha.

It’s even cold in the house. The blower on our furnace went on the blink this morning, so I called Dad at the post office and he said that it may be the fuse, so I checked and it wasn’t burned out, so Dad called me and said for me to wait until he gets home from work so he can take a look at it. So, until he gets home, I have a sweater on and even put on a pair of Dad’s socks to keep me warm. The temperature in the house in 65°, so I have to drink hot tea to keep me warm.

Last night, we went to Lapel to see Karl play ball, and they lost again, Karl got to play the whole game, but as I wrote you before, the boys on the other teams are giants compared to our boys.

Larry, I think I wrote you about Sara and Ed [last name withheld] getting a divorce. Well, I guess Sara found out that she can’t make it without his help, so she asked him to come back. Boy, some people just can’t talk things over before they make fools of themselves.

I was talking to Vickie Power at bingo last weekend and her and Rick always ask about you. Vickie was telling me that next year at this time, you will be home. Her boyfriend is still at Ft. Bragg. She said she wished that he was only in for two years.

Larry, have you made up your mind about whether or not you are going to extend two months more or not? If you don’t, you will probably be getting out of there in June. It’s up to you to make up your own mind, but I wouldn’t extend my time. At least if you are in the states, I would feel better.

Well, Larry, I am going to sign off for today as I have to get on the ball and get some work done, so until later. Please take care of yourself and write.

Love Mom

P.S. – Dad took your bank book up to get it up to date, so in case you would like to know, you already have $1,003.95 and that is NOT including the bonds you have.

Friday, January 10, 1969
9 A.M.

Dear Larry:

Well, here it is Friday morning. The sun is shining, but it is a very cold day. The temperature is 1 above zero this morning. The kids where not in school yesterday and again today because the roads are covered with ice and it is really slick. We went to one of Karl’s games at North Side Wednesday and it took about 30 minutes to get there because the traffic was so slow. This is Dad’s week off and he said he was glad because he had a few days of rough driving. He said his truck broke down two times yesterday so he had to work overtime and didn’t get home till almost 7 last night. I had hot vegetable soup for supper and then after supper, he went to work at the club.

I don’t know if Joanna wrote you or not but she had the rear end of her car wrecked. It was slick and a fellow’s car skidded and hit hers. She was really mad when she called and told me about it, but this fellow admitted it was his fault and said he couldn’t help it because it was slick. She told me she was going to quit driving because she is always getting into wrecks, but I doubt if she will. She has to have some way of getting around. I told her she should be thankful she didn’t get hurt. Whenever we are out driving in our Dodge, Dad always makes everyone put their seat belts on, and I think its a good idea.

I heard on T.V. the other day that a jet crashed into an American artillery base of the 82nd Airborne Division and it destroyed two barracks. I right away thought about you. Was it anywhere close to where you are at now? Do you know anything about it?

Tresa and Karl are getting ready to go outside with their ice skates on. They don’t have to go to a skating rink because there is plenty of ice for them to skate around the house and driveway. We also have about 2 inches of snow on the ground and its more than that on the drifts.

Karl has a 7th grade tourney game coming up tomorrow (Sat.) at St. Mary’s Gym. They are playing a game in the morning and a game in the afternoon. The winners are playing the winners and the losers are playing the losers of both games. I guess Karl’s team is going to play the first game at 9:30 in the morning. St. Ambrose hasn’t been winning very many of their games. It seems like the boys on the other teams are always so much bigger than our boys, and we just don’t have a chance. But it is good practice for Karl whether they win or lose.

Well, Larry, I am going to sign off for today as I want to wash my hair and get some work done around the house. So until later, please take care of yourself. Please write more often.

Love – Mom

P.S. I am going to get another box ready to send to you as soon as I get to the store. It would help if I knew what you would like. Let me know.