IreneH

Dear Father

I have been thinking of you, Mom, and all my friends back home every single hour of the day ever since I left home. There is no words that can describe my longing for the beautiful Norwegian mountains back home, the water falls, even the rain! But deep inside I know I have done the right thing. Every little brick in the puzzle of my journey, and after I came here have fallen in the right place. It's like the world was like my new bought farm, was calling for me, and everything I had to do to get here, was to follow my heart. How is she by the way? I really hope she is doing better now, as you know, she was very sick when I left. Wish I could have stayed at home, until she got better, but I had the strangest feeling I had to leave exactly when I did. And now I see that it was the wisest thing I ever did! Even though I panicked on my journey over the Atlantic ocean, I thought that it was God's way of telling me that I had done something incredibly stupid! That's the worst thing I have ever experienced. It was more then a week, with nothing but storm! Everyone got sick, and you can't believe that smell!! There were vomit all around, cause ether we couldn't go outside to puke, because of the weather, or we did not have time. My god, I'll never ever do anything like that again, believe me! After we went ashore, in the in the isle of tears, I had ha bit of difficulties with communicating in English, but I learned some on the ship, so I managed to get on the right train, and I started looking for land. I tried to get to Minnesota, p out of the train when I came to a place south-east in Minnesotbecause I had heard that many of my new mates form the ship was going there. Unfortunately, I have haven't seen any of them after we left the ship. But anyway, I got to Minnesota state after one and a half week logs train-journey, I was very happy to step out of the train,when it stopped in a place called Dakota, in the souht-east og Minnesota. The first thing I did, was to by myself a paper, to have a look if there were land for sale anywhere. And it was. I still had almost all my savings, and the money I got from you and Mom before I left home, so farm I had spent almost nothing. So I still have the money to by myself a piece of land. And there It was, a little ad on the last page. Almost two hundred acres, for a very reasonable price! I decided at once, that this land were going to be my new home. The only problem, is that I've got no house on those acres so now I'm working for a locale farmer (or should I call him cowboy?) called Wayne. He owns the land next to mine, and we made deal, that if his cattle can walk on my land in a couple of years, I get my payment, one fourth of his cattle, and the horse I am riding. But then I have to work here for at least two years. I'm very happy with this, and I like working for him! I miss you all very mush, and I hope you write back as soon as you get my letter.

Love Ola Nordman

LETTER FORM A SOLDIER

March 4, 1968
Dear Isabelle

I’m really sorry that it took me so long to write to you. The life here has really changed my way of thinking. It’s a miracle that I’m not even wounded yet! I’m in the battlefield almost all the time now. It’s really horrible, I tell you! We are told what to do all the time. We can’t shoot before we are told to, and when we are told to, we have to do it. And believe me, it’s not easy going to sleep at night, hearing shoots from every direction, knowing that your own people, including you’re self, are killing a bunch of Vietnamese men, and boys. And to know, that if I had just been a half a second quicker on the trigger, a couple of my army friends would still be alive! It’s kill or get killed, or in other words kill or be responsible for another American soldiers death! Even though I know that I’m fighting for our country, it’s hard to figure out why the hell humans can be this horrible! Don’t think that the army was such a good idea for me after all. Seeing so many people get killed every day isn’t good for anyone! It scares me, that there are so few others around here that is as shaken as I am! It doesn’t seem to affect them at all. If there is a God, how come he made the humans this evil? We are killing more that just soldiers, civilians are killed every day. Life’s not fair. But enough about me! How are you back home? I miss you more that you can ever imagine. It hurts thinking about how wonderful it would be, to get out of here, and sped a day with you by the lake, to see the green grass, without having to think about getting shot! When I get home, I promise that I’ll be the best husband you can ever imagine! We’ll build the house we talked about, and we can have as much kids as you’d like. (Yes, I’m still the same man, I’ve just learned to appreciate life, and what life gives me a lot more than I used to) Deep inside all I want is to get out of this living hell.

Truly yours Ben

By the way, I just want to say that it’s impossible for us to pretend that we’re an American solider sending a letter home! I think I’m going to write a little quote form my good (American) friend Stephanie that she said to me when I was in Ungdomsskulen, and got the exact same task: “If you’re going to think like an American solider, you’ve got to put you’re fingers in your ears while you sing a song. Then put you’re head in a bucket, fill it with sand and bang it with a stick.”