From the Rice Paddies to the Jungle

1968 was a year in turmoil in the United States. The war in Vietnam was escalating at an alarming pace. The Tet Offensive by North Vietnam had taken American forces in Vietnam by surprise. The enemy was on the offense. In August, 1968, Ed Dull, an Army, infantry, second lieutenant received orders to join the 199th Infantry Brigade in Long Binh, South Vietnam. As an infantry platoon leader with a combat battalion, Ed participated first hand in fighting America's unpopular war. Upon returning home after his tour, Ed rarely spoke of his year in the midst of combat. After his parents passed away, Ed found a packet of letters he had written to his family as well as to friends in his home town. The friends had given copies of the letters to Ed's parents during that year. This book is a compilation of those letters as well as a chronological recollection of memories of that year Ed spent in the rice paddies and the jungles of South Vietnam.