We may be an island unto ourselves in this war. AFVN Radio and the Pacific Edition of the Stars and Stripes assure us that fighting and dying are still going on strong north of us.

We are still working on air field security with one company up at Can Tho. And, another company is working on building a barracks at the division headquarters in Bac Lieu. Our third company sends demolition teams out in support of the Ba Xuyen Province's 67th Infantry Battalion and the 21st Infantry Division's 33rd Regiment from Soc Trang. It also is doing some bridge debris cleanup and construction near Soc Trang. The battalion commander and I fly in and out of Bac Lieu and Can Tho, a couple times a week, just to see what is going on. I keep touching base with the division senior advisor and the S-4 advisor in Bac Lieu, and there is nothing new, except those guys, and they think I am doing nothing, and they are right! There is not a damn thing to do!

No mail today, and no one here to wish me a Happy Anniversary, our 9th, and the second in four years I am spending away from my family. And, you wonder why I am down in the dumps!

Reminds me of four years ago when I was in Korea. I had been there two weeks, and was recovering from the flu, or some damn bug. I hadn't eaten for two days, and that evening I oozed myself over to the civilian club we had on our compound for a light dinner.

There, I was joined by the I Corps (Group) Transportation Officer, a civilian, named Bob Heil. He and I became pretty good friends. His date was a Korean WAC Major, commander of the Korean WAC Company in Seoul. She remarked that I looked sad, and I said I was recovering from being sick, and was missing my wife because it was our anniversary, and I was away!

She said she had 200 Korean WACs in her company, and all I had to do was to let her know and she would get one of her troops to "cheer me up!" Ah, the mysterious, sexy Orient! I even think she was upset when I turned down her offer.

All the guys and dolls here at Soc Trang I have been friends with over the past ten months have left, except Joel. And, we aren't really friends; just hooch mates. We are going on R&R together to Sydney next month. But, my mind really isn't with it. Liliane and Germany are still a long way's from here.