OyvindTN

Third of August, 1860. Dear Brother.

Yesterday I received your letter. How are things at home? I hope father will get better soon. He has been sick for over three months now! Say hello to father and mother for me, I have not yet finished my letter to them. It never seems to stop what I want to tell them.

Over here in the Mid-West things are going great! The plains look great, the children are healthy (except John who has had a bad cough for a few days). I hope it will not get any worse. To get a doctor here would take at least two weeks! But I hope the doctor from the last check was sure about his opinion. He said that it was nothing to worry about.

Susie has begun to learn from her mother too. She helps her out in the kitchen, washes clothes alone, and now she has also learned to write a little! She is such a little treasure.

These last days, I have spent loads of time out in the fields chasing birds and chipmunks! They cause a lot of trouble right before the harvest! But I think I just might have found a way to stop them. I just fill their holes with tobacco-rests and soap-water!

Just the other day a new family moved into house next to us. It will be nice to have someone to talk to, because the Larsons’ moved about a month ago. I think they might be Irish!

Well, hope everything’s fine at home, and I can’t wait for your next letter. Write me soon, and remember to tell me about father’s condition!

Gunnar.

18th October, 1951. Dear Jude.

As I write to you, everything is soaked. All the boys, all the equipment, all the food, everything is just wet, caused by the rain. I hope that this hell soon will be over. All I can see is murdered and wounded men. Charlie from down the street was caught in the crossfire yesterday, and as he fell to the ground, he landed on a mine!

By God, this place is a freaking nightmare! You don’t really sleep; you just wait, with your finger on the trigger! Our leaders back in Seoul say that we are making progress, but I don’t know. Every time we try to flank them, they seem to know! I should like to see the great leaders of our beloved country here in the jungle with the men. They wouldn’t last one day! We are running short on supplies, and yesterday our shipments fell down in enemy areas! So thanks to those great pilots, we have supplied the Koreans with food and guns.

Even though, two weeks ago, we managed to flank the bastards. We must have killed about a hundred of them, before the rest managed to flee through the trees. At first I thought it would be great to fight for my country, but when you have first killed a man, there’s no going back. I have killed many people, and if it had not been for the kill or be killed-situation, I would never do it.

Many times when I fall asleep, I wake up by the screams of those I killed in my head. Please, tell me that the other fights are won, and that it’ll soon be over. I can’t stand thinking that every day I might lose the opportunity to see you all again.

How can I live with myself like this? Sometimes I have wondered about how it would feel to be shot. I sometimes think that it might be a relief to get rid of it all, the killing, Korea, the whole world.

But with Mark by my side, we found out that taking them all down as soon as possible would be the best way. Back-to-back in many battles we have fought, and without eachother we would never survive.

Write me back, please! Still alive, loves and kisses, Dave