Letters from Vietnam [Watty Awards 2012]

Chapter 2

Tuesday, March 11, 1975

            It had been a week since Jason mailed the letter off to the United States. “Hey man, you asleep?” Chris, one of Jason’s friends from home, asked.

            “Nah man, I can’t sleep.” Jason responded laying on his back as the other guys in his bunk somehow managed to get some shut eye.

            “Yea, I know how you feel man.” Chris said in a hushed tone, being careful not to wake up any of the other guys.

            Jason sighed and there was a moment of silence between the two. “I wonder what’s going on back home.” He wondered out loud.

            Chris let out an audible sigh and said, “I don’t know man, I don’t know.” As the two friends lay down, a feeling that was foreign to them overcame their bodies. Sleep.

            “Rise and shine sun shines, it’s time to get up!” Jason heard his commanding officer yell. Jason turned over to see everyone else starting to get up. It had been a long night for him and he wasn’t looking forward to another long day that awaited him.

            “Did you get any sleep last night?” Chris asked groggily.

            Jason yawned and shook his head. “Hardly,”

            All the guys started filing out of the tent and found themselves walking into the morning sunlight. The sun blinded their vision as the commanding officer started talking.

            “Mail call!” He yelled as he began calling out names. Jason sat and watched other guys get letters from home. Jason sat just outside the tent listening as his commanding officer called out more names. “Walker, Evans, Smith, and –” There was a pause before he yelled out, “Woods!”

            Jason took the letter into his hand. “Thank you, sir.”

            Jason held the letter in his hand and merely stared at it. “Finally get some mail, man?” Chris asked holding a few letters of his own.

            “Yea, I actually did.” Jason turned the envelope over and read the return address. He fought back a smile as he saw it was from his hometown. The letter he wrote actually found its way home. Fort Knox, Kentucky.

            “So who’s the letter from?” Chris asked absentmindedly while reading some letters of his own. Jason looked at the name of the person who wrote back. “Is it a girl?”

            Jason coughed. “Yea, it is.”

            “So who’s the lucky lady?” Chris asked interested.

            Jason was about to answer, but he was cut short. “Alright men, we’re moving out.” Jason and Chris both got to their feet and gathered up their gear. Jason knew that today was going to be a long day, but he didn’t know that that it was going to get even longer.

            Gathering his equipment into his pack, Jason slung the bag over his shoulder walking alongside Chris. “How far do you think we’re going this time?” He asked Chris.

            Chris shrugged his shoulders and said, “Hopefully not too far.”

            Jason felt his mood deflate a little bit as he thought about the letter that was nestled in his heavy pack. The only thing keeping him going was that unopened letter.