Letter, 9

I know you,re tired of hearing  about the war... but only you know... not my mom .. not my sister  pat ..  no one knows .. and with you  it,s like  tapping a keg ...  i can,t stop talking ... i was still thinking   of the 4th armored  division .. the  outfit that  my uncle  was in ...  a tank  division under general Patton ... the 101st was  trapped and holding out  under  extreme  conditions... but the 3rd  fought their way  to bastogne  to relieve them.. uncle Russ sad they gought  constantly  on the way  to bastogne  and  when  they broke  thought  they were  in the biggest tank battle  they were ever in ...  and after  the battle moved  on  and  the people raturned  to bastogne and  saw  the  carnage  and  wreckage in  their town they found  an american tank  shot  through  with a big  shell  hole  and many other  holes .. it was right in the middle  of the town  square  ..  and they decided  to leave  it there  just  as it is ...  they made  a memorial  to americans  that fought there... and died  there ... that  wrecked  tank  is still  in the  town square in Bastogne ..  uncle Russ  was in the 3rd army  4th armored  division .. they are called " hell on wheels"  ...their  patch on  their  shoulder  is  a flaming tank ... i know that  101st held  out because they knew  the 4th was  fighting their way to them .. they were freezing .. out  of ammo .. no food ...  but they knew  uncle Russ  shooting  it out to get to  them ...  it became a perfect tank  battle  for us ...  it was in the forest  where the  huge and  slow german,s tanks were  against our  smaller  and faster  tanks  may be the only tank  battle   we ever  won !!!....  and sometimes  i sit  in  that tank koffin with  uncle Russ... it must  have been so  desperate  ..those  poor   assholes in the  101 st would  never  trade  places  with those  4th  armor boys ...  just ask,em ... but every outfit owes  so much  to other  outfits ... have you ever heard of the 1st cav ?? ... the 1st cavalry division ... of course they  don,t use horses  anymore ...  they use  choppers ...  they arrive and leave with choppers .. their  patch  is  a black  wild horse with  a flying mane  and  a diagonal line  over  an orange background ... it,s supposed to represent " the  horse  never ridden and the line never crossed "  . i have no idea what that means ... but when we were in desperate situations  it was  always  the first cav  that came  to our  rescue ...  it was the 1st cav  that snatched us  from  certain  death  and  hung out ladder to me ...  hoss  said "  when  the war is over you should  be  a  house painter cause  you look good  on a ladder" .. and  he used  to kid  me ... " i was drinking  a beer  in the chopper but  i could   hear  that  browning  barking. "what were you doing  down there???" HA ... it,s funny now... !!! but those 1st cav  boys  i owe my life  to .. many times ... we were never in Tailand .. never in Laos ... never in cambodia  and never  never never in  north Vietnam... HA!!! if i  could get  out  a signal  that i needed exraction from  Ho  Chi Min,s bedroom ... the 1st cav  would be there .. i love those  guys ... none of those guys are rangers .. it doesn,t  matter ... i was a ranger ...  but i met  a million  better fighters ...  a zillion ... almost everyone  i have met  in the army is  a better  fighter  than me ... i remember as a Rookie i first  saw  a green beret .. he was 8ft  tall ... it was   like looking at God ... i had  to turn  my  eyes  away ...  from that moment  i had a goal .. most  special  forces  are also ranger..  but not all... brains are more important ... i was especially proud  the abovemy 11th patch  i had  a patch  that simply  said " ranger" .. but i also had  a " pathfinder" badge  on my chest .. it,s  a flaming  torch ... i think  thats how i got  into  the 11th .. i could  do  navigation.. i was  in ranger school .. i had applied for special forces .. then one  night  after  a 25 mile march  with heavy packs though rough terrain ... 2 green  berets brought me  to a basement . i was exhausted ... about half dead ... i had to take a written  test ... and then they pulled out  an old army ... 45 automatic and unloaded the clip and let  the bullets roll around n the floor ... he drew a crude outline of a person on the wall..   he said" you have 10 seconds to  kill the person"... i pulled out my makharov and put one shot  in the middle  of the chest ... HA!! they expected  me to crawl around on the floor looking for bullets !! hey didn,t say i had  to use that stuped .. 45 to kill that thing ... it was funny when i shot  that thing ... everybody,s ears  were ringing... a small basement room .... I showed them i wsn,t afraid  . i didnt think like normal people .. and i wasnt  afraid to pull the trigger.. i ignored that... 45 and those bullets as  i tucked away  my makharov... but every single ranger  has been rejected by the special  forces.. they are apply ... some  finally  get  accepted when  they are 40.. 59 ... yrs old ... an arrowhead with an upturned sword and two lightning bolts  that,s what i wore ....  the eleventh ...