26 To The Americal

This I took to send home. I remember what we were told when processing in to the 25th: no matter what you tell them, your loved ones at home are thinking that you're in hand-to-hand combat situations every single day. So, while processing into the 1/46th Infantry with the Americal up in Chu Lai, I took a walk down to the South China Sea with a new buddy (Rick who was coming in from the 4th) who took this picture. As you can see, I wrote 'Hi Mom' in the sand - which I thought was a great idea, at the time anyway - and sent it on home to her.