Volume One - Part One -  (1969)

Going Home

I realize that I have made many mistakes, but I don’t seem to be learning from them. I am leaving Subic Bay soon and will be discharged in San Francisco.  I am going back to a wife who cheated on me -- after I left the United States and who I cheated on her. Was it revenge? Or was it just me?  Either way, I think I should have learned something from my life and the war.

I was once a very innocent and young man. Had a “girlfriend next door.” How did I screw that up and why was I so callous? Well, actually I know the answer to that. I couldn’t wait for a lot of things. Not then or now. I am sure patience is a virtue. I hope I live long enough to learn patience in life and in love.

It will be Christmas when I get home. It is Thanksgiving today. I have been alone here for some time. Christmas will not be easy. Carson McCullers titled his book as “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter.” He was right.

Thanksgiving 1969