OCTOBER 1966

9 OCT 1966 APO 96240 (Nha Trang) (letter written on Teletype machine) Well, time sure flies and I find I am overdue in writing to you. I am on standby tonight so thought I would play around with my teletype setup. The machine is acting up tonight and will not print some letters in some spaces (as you can see). That up above is printed by my testing machine I use to key my transmitters. I have set up a complete transmitting and receiving station here in the shop next to my work bench which I can use to substitute components to test them. I have written several notes on picture post cards to…. Hope you enjoy the pictures as they are the only ones I could find in the PX. They have some downtown but I haven't been down there enough to look them over. I don't know very much more, nothing happens around here. I have pulled guard several times and headcount in the mess hall about three times. Standby repairman comes around about once a week. Went to chapel yesterday----volunteered to make posters for the chaplain. Been making signs all day today with the Leroy set. By the way---thank you for the drafting set---it arrived OK along with the other goodies. This machine is getting so bad that I'd better quit for tonight. Just a novelty, hope you can read part of it. 31 OCT 1966 APO 96240 (Nha Trang) Well, I hope you aren't mad at me for not writing sooner, but I have had nothing new to tell you until now. Today was payday, and I found out that they never sent the allottment check last month. It was added to this month's check as "Amount Unpaid Last Month".--- This check will be for about $379. They goofed and gave me jump pay which is only for Airborne personnel. So, next month they will take out $55 to cover this. Been cutting and laying sod around the barracks today. Too much like work for me to like it too much. Well, I have a part time job as projectionist at the Green Beret theater. I guess it pays aboyt $1 an hour, but that is not important. I just wanted something to do. I have completely rewired the sound system in the theater. It was all messed up by someone who evidently didn't know a thing about electronics. Today the photo section took a group picture of all the personnel in the shop. It was the last day for Mr. Meadows, the warrant officer in charge of the shop. His replacement, Mr. Hilgart, arrives sometime in the near future. I will try to get a couple of prints for you. [picture] [I'm the 4th from the left in back row] I am very seriously considering extending over here until I get out. The money is real nice and TAX FREE! Also, almost all SF personnel going back to the states go to Fort Bragg -- an Airborne camp! Too rough for me! Also it would sure be nice to be free when I get to go home again, wouldn't it. Haven't been working too much on transmitters lately, been on other projects too much. Most mail has come through pretty good, but I have only received four newspapers--all different dates--several missing. I am going to get someone to take some pix of me working -- such a novelty! -- Don't know any more for now. Better write at least one more letter tonight. Haven't thought much about what I'll do when I get out, but electronics seem more interesting to me now that I have some more experience at it. Once in a while, the MARS station here has open for phone patches to the states, so I may try to call home that way. Also, we have a rig here in the shop which our NCOIC uses to talk to people all over the world -- Ham bands -- Illegal, but is giving call sign as if in the South China Sea. We are in the middle of an antenna field, so can't be traced too easily. I may also try that too.

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