<VV> My letter from Vietnam 1969

[Danny Davis]

Thanks for sharing that - you seem wise beyond your years, from what I read!

I bought my first Corsa around the same time.

Dan


On Tue, Aug 6, 2013 at 2:36 PM, <Sethracer at aol.com> wrote:

>
> As part of my retirement efforts, I had to compile all the  documents of my
> married life, my working life and a few pre-working life  documents. Among
> them was my DD214, that is the military separation form, used  to document
> your military service, with dates and other pertinent details. In  the
> throes
> of going through my files to find a copy, I unearthed some letters I  had
> written home to my parents in 1969 from Vietnam, probably a dozen in all.
> Since one of them concerned Corvairs, I thought I would post this one
> letter I
>  wrote to my father in late May, 1969. I had previously owned a 1965 Corsa
> Convertible that I sold to my brother when I was drafted in 1968. There is
> one  paragraph about my brother that I have removed, but the rest is there,
> warts and  all.  Enjoy! (Feel free to laugh at  my 21-year-old self if you
> wish, I did!)
> Dear Dad
> It was nice to hear from you and I got the lemonade all right. It  is very
> good. I am glad to hear you passed your Real Estate exam. I guess you  will
> have to get a 1 or 2 year old Buick or Oldsmobile to drive customers around
> in. (What a horrible thought.) I guess you heard that they stopped building
>  Corvairs. That is too bad, but my experience with them leads me to admire
> them,  rather than to scorn them. I may even regress when I return and buy
> a
> 1966 Corsa  hardtop. The price is right and I will be able to personalize
> the car without  investing a fortune. Also, the styling is still
> contemporary
> and the handling  and gas mileage couldn’t be much better. On the debit
> side, there aren’t too  many around and I will have to bide my time until
> we
> can find one that will suit  me at a good price. Also, I won’t be able to
> count on too high a resale value.  To fight the first one, all I have is
> that I
> am mobile and I will be able to get  around to look at many cars. The
> second
> one poses a problem. I think the only  way to overcome this problem (resale
> value) is to keep the car a long enough  time to spread the loss over
> enough time so it won’t hurt as much. Since the car  is to be used for high
> performance road use only, (Rallies, trips, any racing I  do will be done
> in a
> racing car), I can use it without misusing it. As long as I  keep it in
> good
> shape, it should do me as a car. It is a small sporty economical  good
> looking 4-passenger car. With a few minor modifications, to the tune of
>  about
> $600, I can make it “My” car. (With at least 3 burglar alarms) Another
> Corvair credit they are not too prone to be stolen. I heard about Tony’s
> tape. I
> don’t blame him for not getting another. But for the time I spend in my
> car,
>  which, I agree will be less than before, I still want a player in it, even
> if I  have to build it into the dash and weld it in.
> Back to the present. I hope you had a nice trip. Oklahoma is a  fairly nice
> climate at this time each year (for about 3 weeks). You asked me  about the
> mountain. As of now I am going up there June 7 for a month. It is  called
> Nui Ba den. It means Black Virgin Mountain. It is East of Tay Ninh, about
>  3
> miles from the Cambodian border. It rises some 3000 feet from the valley
> floor  out of nothing. On top there is a special forces camp and about 15
> radio
>  stations. This is what I will be doing up there. I will be in charge of
> one of  the stations for the Artillery in this area. It is fairly
> primitive up
> there, no  showers or electricity.
> Well, I have to go now. I am going to Long Binh and Saigon today. I  will
> try to see Frank if I can. I will write again soon.
> -        Love,  Seth
> I  hope you have enjoyed my blast from the past. I did spend that month on
> top  of the Nui Ba Den. They did have showers, but no alcohol was allowed
> on
> the  mountain. (bummer). And the VC joined us at least one time, the only
> time I have  fired a rifle in anger. When I got home in 1970, I did buy a
> Corvair again,  about 5 months later. I have owned at least one ever
> since.  –
> Seth  Emerson
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-- 
Danny Davis
Seattle
206-643-6718