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Emil Kyek
Professor Lark
HIST 153: Contemporary America – US History
July 14, 2022

M4 Assignment: Historical Fiction - “A Day in the Life”

Letter from an American soldier in the trenches

December of 1967

Dear Mother,
It is me, John, I know it has been long since you last heard from me but fear
not for I am still standing and doing well. As of right now, I am standing in one of
the east trenches and the day seems gloomy as not a single ray of sunshine can be
seen, and an enormous heat wave seems to be coming. Mother I hope you can
forgive me for the things I have done in the battlefield because at this moment I
cannot find peace in the middle of this war.
Life in the war is difficult. At first for seven weeks our battalion saw no
action after arriving on a Convair C-131 Samaritan. We started living outside with
barely enough shelter over our heads, and this has been the case for weeks, we are
expected to stand in the humid hot weather no matter how rainy or windy, the heat
of the hot sun burns our skin every second that passes whenever we are not under
the trees. Other soldiers in my squadron and me have been briefly trained to use
these new M16s which are different to our usual M14s, we were given training
time and some Vietnamese lessons, this war is like no other in some ways. The
only flying vehicles you can spot are helicopters, no fighter aircrafts to heavy
cargo planes just Huey helicopters because they are light and can be easily loaded
with all kinds of weaponry for different types of missions.
Everything totally changed after arriving at the jungle, we didn’t even have a
moment to touch ground before being under attack. It really was “Out of the frying
pan into the fire” into the open gun fire, our activity was located in an area where
all three boarders of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia meet. The lack of leadership
was not the only issue even though the US was far superior in every category of
firepower and logistics compared to the NVA or that is what we thought. The
enemy had AK47s, the AK47 is a far superior weapon to the M16 rifle because an
AK4 won’t jam, and you can hold it under water, and it will still fire. The enemy is
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Emil Kyek
Professor Lark
HIST 153: Contemporary America – US History
July 14, 2022

not only better equipped, but we are often outnumbered 9 enemy to 1 soldier. We
are on our own, and we have to fight our way in and fight our way out.
Something that doesn’t cease to amaze me is seeing 18-year-old kids running with
rifles in hand, I am 22 and this feels so surreal, I cannot imagine what must be
going through their minds! In my head at night I dream about working with Dad
making shoes like we used to, Those! Those were simpler times!
Being around other soldiers is not that bad, it is pleasant to get to know each other
and make some friends that might save your life tomorrow even though each and
every one of us goes through a bad day every now and then, it’s part of the job and
we must try to enjoy the time we have together because any of us might die today
or maybe tomorrow.
Infantry is resupplied every six days if conditions permit, and we only received one
hot meal throughout the whole tour on Thanksgiving. Everyone got sick because
no one was used to eating hot food, we were so used to C-rations.
Look at the time! I have to leave soon for melee fight training, one must stay sharp
out there, you know what they say mom “Here today, Gone Tomorrow”, but not
for me!
Cannot wait another day to see you mother, please give my regards to Father,
Alyse, little Jimmy, and our dog Ace.
Sincerely Yours,
John Rogers
Camp Enari
4th division in Pleiku, Vietnam