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"It didn't matter that we were in New Jersey in 1967 and 1968. Vietnam invaded us all."
In this family story, over 70 letters from one homesick soldier tell the truth and trauma of a teenager in combat. When Larry Smith enlisted, he promised to send pennies for his little sister Tracy in his letters, and promised his mother to return home safely. But as Tracy started kindergarten and learned of war from the family television, Larry turned 19, battles intensified and his letters darkened. His promises were harder to keep.
For 12 months as a 1st Cavalry crew chief during the height of the war, Larry wrote home with tales from his latest mission on his Huey helicopter ("I never had a new car, but I do have a '67 UH-1C"). Larry grew from a naive boy ("War is hell but the girls over here sure are nice") into a hardened man. He was silenced by the end of his tour of duty, and letters stopped arriving.
Decades after the war, as her brother lay in a coma, Tracy Smith began to study the old letters and found a boy she didn't recognize. After years of research and finding her brother's Army friends, she honors him in this bittersweet story of love in the middle of war. This book is a parallel memoir, offering a unique dual perspective. In it, Larry speaks for every soldier, and Tracy speaks for those left behind, waiting for answers. The book makes a case for generational trauma: children don't belong in combat, nor should they watch it unfold on television.
List of contents
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Preface
Part
¿1.¿"I Grew a Mushstash"
¿2.¿"Open Up with My M-60"
¿3.¿I SEE YOU
Part
¿4.¿"Things I Don't Want to Talk About"
¿5.¿"War Is Hell, but the Girls Are Nice"
¿6.¿I HEAR YOU
Part Three
¿7.¿"Charlie Don't Play Games"
¿8.¿"Still Here Raising Hell"
¿9.¿I FEEL YOU
Part Four
10.¿"I Get Pills"
11.¿"Have I Really Gone Crazy All the Way?"
12.¿I GOT YOU
Part Five
13.¿"Thought I was a Gonner"
14.¿"Got Shot Down"
15.¿I BEG
Part
16.¿"We Go Where the War Is"
17.¿"Shove the Mini-Gun"
18.¿"I Blew It by Extending"
19.¿I PROMISE YOU
Part Seven
20.¿"Still Have a Long Way to Go"
21.¿In Memory of Charlie
22.¿Love Always, Tracy
Index
About the author
After a career in commercial real estate development, Tracy Smith completed broadcasting school, and became a freelance author. She lives outside Charlotte, North Carolina where she spent 12 years as a newspaper columnist with the Concord/Kannapolis Independent Tribune.Larry Ray Smith is a co-author in memoriam, sharing his private words in over 70 letters.
Summary
In this personal collection of 70+ letters from Vietnam, the raw honesty of one homesick teenage boy speaks for every lonely soldier at war. Huey crew chief Larry Smith grew into a hardened man in his First Cavalry helicopter while his little sister Tracy started kindergarten back in New Jersey and memorized the sounds of combat from television.
