March 1967

A soldier stands in front of a helicopter

Lt. Rasmussen, in front of one of the UH-1 Iroquois “Huey” helicopters that provided him one means of transportation. The “Huey” became an icon of the Vietnam War.

1 March 1967:

“… I do my traveling by helicopter so I won’t be stepping on any mines. The brigade travels by helicopter & foot, but I don’t go out with the companies—however my men do...."

“I want you to send me several (2 or 3) boxes of ammunition for my pistol [38 caliber shorts].… My rifle is my primary weapon, of course, but we do a lot of target shooting & I enjoy the pistol….“

"Not much around here to tell. We just finished pulling shrapnel out of a guy’s neck from one of our grenade launchers—a minor wound actually.”

5 March 1967:

“…Nothing much happening here.”

A group of military helicopters stations on the ground with mountains in the distance

A company of the 3rd brigade utilizing “Huey” helicopters to launch a combat patrol.

9 March 1967:

“…. We are now operating in this area with a Korean division, which is far superior to the publicized 1st cavalry division, which was sloppy as hell, leaving all kinds of ammunition & equipment around for ‘Charlie’ to pick up. In fact I would say that the Koreans do a better job over here than we do. I guess since they have a motive for revenge. But it still amazes me that in 15 years they’ve become superior rather than inferior troops…. ‘Charlie’ is terrorized of the Koreans as they don’t take too many prisoners & are karate experts. I went to Qui Nhon by jeep for medical supplies several days ago & we picked up a few Koreans on the way, who really impressed me. If we could do the same job here as we did in Korea, it would all be worthwhile. But the Koreans have always been much more industrious than the South Vietnamese. By the way, I’ve also cut most of my hair off, as it’s just too hot under a helmet.”

A map of Vietnam on an envelope with a San Francisco address

Envelope from one of Lt. Rasmussen’s letters home that provides a map of Vietnam with major cities identified. Rasmussen marked Pleiku and Qui Nhon, where he served and which anchor the west and east of the central highlands and coastal region.

12 March 1967:

“… It’s true what they say about this being the only country where you can stand up to your knees in mud & have the wind blow dust in your face.“

"You are right about the [Mekong] delta area [far southwest] probably being the worst—at least the most uncomfortable. At most we’ll probably have [only] the 9th division down there, which is going to be too small a force to accomplish anything & from what I’ve read our strength in Vietnam is not to be really increased throughout this year. At this rate the war may last over 6 more years. [It lasted 6 more years, until 1973.] None of us expect to get out of here before our year is up. This idea of a truce getting us home is ridiculous. The worst possible thing we could do is sign a truce & then pull our troops out of here. This would destroy everything we have accomplished & we would probably have to start all over again. But this seems to be [President Lyndon] Johnson’s goal. We didn’t do it in Germany or Korea, but it’s desired here. I would really feel like I had been sold out. There are only 2 solutions: destroy North V[ietnam] or keep our troops here either at war or at peace.“

"We will be in the Qui Nhon area for a very long time I believe. I read that this area is one of the 4 major zones for this year. Here we have the 3rd bde. [brigade], the entire 1st cavalry division, and a Korean division. This suits me because the country is better than most areas & we’re engaged in clearing, & securing….”

18 March 1967 [letter to brother William Rasmussen to spare his mother its content—mention of a threat that the command post would be overrun—possibly making this letter his last letter]:

“It’s 11 o’clock & all’s well. We captured a North V. officer today, who claimed the CP was going to be attacked so we’re on 50% alert. I’ll probably be up most of the night making sure my men on guard stay awake. We can’t really say whether this guy was captured or surrendered, because he was walking around out in the open when we got him. If he gave himself up, then there might be a point in taking him seriously. Anyhow, he’s from the North V. regiment we’ve been chasing around here for 2 months. We’ve had only small local action lately. We’ve had 155 rounds coming over our heads all night & hitting down in the valley & our own 105’s [howitzers] have been firing into the hills. I think we’ll have a piece of Charley’s ass if he tries it.“

"A few days ago they brought in a VC with half of his wrist shot off for us to treat, so he could be taken back for interrogation. He was the sorriest looking VC I have yet to see. He was emaciated as hell, with rotting feet, & covered with flies. It makes you wonder what we’re fighting. We gave him some morphine which didn’t seem to help as he was typically ‘doped up.’ I believe if I hadn’t been around, my people would have killed him—especially the guys who have been over here a while. He certainly thought we were. I didn’t make any friends with the chopper pilots, by calling a ‘medevac’ helicopter for him.“

"Well, here come some jets. Usually they don’t fly at night.“

"We’re in one of the priority zones (the Qui Nhon area) for this year, so I think we’ll be here for a while. The others are the delta, Saigon area, & the DMZ. We’re attached to the 1st cav. div. now & also have a Korean division working with us. The Koreans are excellent—I guess they have a motive for revenge. They’re different in appearance from the Vietnamese—much taller & stocky. And they’re karate experts; Charlie is terrorized of them. Perhaps we can rehabilitate this country like we did [with] South Korea, but the South Vietnamese have always been much more lazy than the Koreans….“

"P.S. Nothing ever happened last night.”

19 March 1967:

“… [I] haven’t been overworked, due to our light casualties for the past several months. I’m fortunate in having some real fine medics & the battalion surgeon is excellent—he’s taught me a lot already. In fact, one of my boys is in for the silver star for dragging two men out of a cave under fire & saving the life of one. This battalion has the highest kill ratio of any unit over here (except the Koreans) & in my opinion is as good as any we have….”

20 March 1967:

“… Most people here carry a pistol because our rifles are not as reliable as the old ones, but are superior overall—for this type of war. You can ship anything [pistol ammunition] if you pack it right. No one is supposed to have a personal weapon over here, but everyone does. I suggest you ship some of the shells with each shipment of food you send me….“

"I made 1st L[ieutenan]t last week—they got it for me a week early. The col[onel] gave me a new set of bars.”

27 March 1967:

“… As you can see from the pictures, 'Damnit' has grown a good bit. He’s a most unusual dog. He won’t eat dog food (they feed the scout dogs Gaines meal etc.). He prefers the chicken & turkey 'C' rations to the beef & likes it slightly heated. When he wants water, he either paws a water can or picks up a cup & tosses it in the air or brings it to me (he’s not quite 3 months old yet). He’s a pretty typical Vietnamese dog.“

"We’ve finally got some VC cornered a good way off down in the valley. They didn’t run this time probably because South V. troops spotted them & attacked. At the moment, most of our btn. & some of the last cav. div. are down there with the South V. now. They’re well fortified & have already killed a lot of South V. (including their U.S. advisor) so we may have us something. It just dawned on me that since I’ve been here, the btn. has killed over 160 VC & I don’t believe we’ve lost 5 men, which is why we’ve got the highest kill ratio. I consider myself fortunate to be with this btn."

"P.S. A 6 foot cobra snake crawled into a bunker this evening & got himself immediately shot. I’m glad I’m sleeping on a cot & ‘Damnit’ sleeps in my tent.”

The coastal region, as viewed from a forward command post in the central highlands.

31 March 1967:

“… You remember a few days ago I told you that we had a lot of VC surrounded. Well they escaped during the night & completely disappeared. The blame is to be put on the South V. troops, who couldn’t pin them down long enough for us to surround them in a small area."

“It’s been hot as hell for the last several weeks, with the temperature over 105 degrees. It’s most uncomfortable to say the least.”