I'm Coming Home

Note: Please read the rather long Author's Note at the end for the origin of this story.

Dear Mom and Dad,

Home seems a world away as I write this, and I guess, in a way, it is. While I'm writing these words, though, word is going out that we will be stateside within a few days. We have one last task ahead of us and then our tour here in this country is done.

I can't wait to be back in our home with you both and yet, I hope you'll understand when I say that pulling out right now feels wrong. Our job here is far from done. In fact, it's not wrong to say that our mission here in Vietnam will be a failure. Not because we've done anything wrong, but because we've been ordered by our President to evacuate. Why? Because Saigon is falling to the North Vietnamese.

I know there are a lot of people back home that say this isn't our war. Maybe they're right, but don't we have a responsibility to help the oppressed? I know that's one of the reasons I signed up. Can we really just sit back and let Communism gain a foothold in another country? That seems to be the inevitable outcome of doing nothing, and it goes against everything I believe in.

I'm so glad the two of you supported my decision to join the ROTC program in high school. I remember the pride in your eyes when I greeted you in Full Dress Uniform at my graduation ceremony. I want you to know that I am just as proud to be your son, and to represent our country, as well as Marshalltown. Although my friends here give me a hard time about it, my Eagle Scout status earns me quite a bit of respect here, too.

I was lucky to come into this country as a Marine officer, instead of one of the thousands who are fighting on the front – not that there's actually a front. Our boys fight the enemy in their jungle. They move in trenches, dig actual tunnels, and hide in the trees. They attack in small groups. I've even heard stories about children being sent into our camps with live grenades, but it's hard to imagine.

Meanwhile, we're bombing the jungle with Napalm and some chemical agent that defoliates the trees. They're saying now that the “Willie Pete” we use in our smoke screen grenades and bombs is sending a lot of our own troops as well as the enemy and villagers to the field hospitals with burns that go clean through bones.

They fight us in skirmishes. We almost always kill more of them than they do of us, but we gain no ground. And they never seem to run out of troops. As if the NVA wasn't enough, the VC are everywhere. They're South Vietnamese, but they actually want the Commie rule we're trying to protect them from. It's hard to know who we're fighting, when we actually get to fight.

We've learned and adopted new jungle tactics with our gunships and troops, but I can't say we're winning.

Serving here at Guard Post One of the DAO compound has kept us very aware of the situation with the occupation of Saigon by the NVA. We're basically right across the road from the airbase and we've heard the air traffic since the evacuations began. We heard about the C5 that crashed with 250 orphans aboard. What a tragedy!

Earlier today, we heard explosions at the airport and shortly after, heard the official announcement that the fixed-wing evacuations had been canceled. Next thing we knew, there were busloads of evacuees unloading in our compound, and US Marine choppers landing to airlift them to US ships anchored offshore. Word is, there's a task force of 25 ships, with plenty of room and firepower to get the job done. They're calling it "Operation Frequent Wind", which I have to admit, caused me to stifle a chuckle. I guess there's still a bit of kid under the fatigues and helmet.

I don't know how many are being evacuated. From what we've seen, I think it must be thousands. I know that the 13 of us in the Marine Security Guard stationed here (They call us the MSG) will be among the last, but we'll perform our duty and hold his post for as long as it takes. We are the The Few and The Proud. I know I don't have to explain to you that I take my oath seriously.

Enough of all that, though! I'll be stateside soon. I still have time to serve and I know my unit will deploy again, to another post that needs us. We might even end up coming back here, if our leaders come to their senses and let us finish the job we were sent here to do.

I'll relish every moment with you until it's time to ship out again. I can't wait to touch the Iowa soil and breathe the fresh air again. Most importantly, I want to tell you both in person how much I love you. I haven't said that nearly enough. Thinking about the families that have lost loved ones in this war only makes me more anxious to be with mine.

Sorry for all the rambling in this letter. As I'm sure you've figured out, I am trying to wrap my mind around a lot of things and there just don't seem to be answers for a lot of the questions I have. I know you worry, and maybe that's enough reason to be glad we're shipping out. I don't know what comes next, but I'm young and strong and fit, and I believe I'll be up to the task.

I know I owe all of that to your guidance and I want to say it one more time before I seal and send this: I love you both “to the moon and back,” like Mom has always said. For better or worse where this country is concerned, I'm coming home.

Your Loving Son,

Darwin

***

On April 29, 1975, 19-year old Marine Lance Corporal Darwin Judge became one of the last two US servicemen to be killed on the ground during the Vietnam war. He and Corporal Charles McMahon, 21, were killed by a rocket strike the day before the fall of Saigon to the North Veitnamese Army.

While the US withdrawal from Vietnam was ordered in 1969, there were still troops on the ground for many years.

The letter is simply my idea of what he might have written to his parents, letting them know that the evacuation of Saigon was underway and he would be coming home soon after.

He and CPL McMahon did finally come home in 1976, and in March of that year, Judge was buried with full military honors in his hometown of Marshalltown, Iowa.

He was again honored in a service by USMC Master Sergeant Douglas Portraz, who served with him in Saigon, and his boyhood friend Ken Locke, while having his name added to the Iowa Veteran's Home Vietnam War Memorial.

Disclaimer: While due dilligence has been exercised in in presenting this information, dates vary on almost everything regarding the war in Vietnam and the US involvement.

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