Saturday
Sep012007
Saturday's Old Photo
Saturday, September 1, 2007 at 10:01PM 
Darlene is begging for an old photo so she doesn’t have to look at my jars of peaches anymore, and since she says she’d send me some heat from her place if she could (I’ve moved my tomato plants in tonight because it may frost here, so you know I need it.), I guess I’ll oblige her. This is a photo of my husband when he was in the U.S. Army. This picture is taken in Germany, but he was also in Viet Nam.
Whenever anyone in the family would ask him about Viet Nam, he’d say there was really nothing to tell. He was just a company clerk, he’s say, and there was nothing very exciting about that.
After he passed away, the subject of Long Range Reconnaissance Patrols came up in youngest son’s social studies class, and the teacher mentioned that youngest son’s dad had been a LLRP. It was news to us, and frankly, I didn’t know whether to believe it or not. Mr. Sullivan, youngest son’s teacher, was my husband’s friend, and he’d grown up as a U.S. military brat, so they had talked about the military a lot, and there was a possibility Keith had told him more than he’d ever told us. But then again, I figured Mr. Sullivan could have mixed him up with someone else, since Keith had never hinted of it to me or anyone else in the family.
When oldest daughter moved home this summer, we went through a few of her dad’s things. In his trunk we found his tiny brown metal military can opener, and she put it on a chain and began wearing it around her neck. One day at work, a couple of old Alaskan military men stopped in for lunch.
“Hey,” one of them said, “is that a military can opener you’re wearing?” She explained that it had belonged to her dad, who’d served in Viet Nam.
“Was he a Lurp?” he asked. Something about the can opener made him think her dad might have been a LLRP. Lurps would wear the can openers around their neck with their dog tags, all three things taped together, he said, so nothing jingled as they reconnoitered.
So perhaps it’s true: Keith was a LLRP and he chose to keep it to himself.
Reader Comments (11)
Oh, wow! How mysterious. It sounds a lot more exciting than being a clerk.
Thank you Rebecca - and today it is 112! Hope your tomato plants are okay! We need rain!
My father-in-law did three tours in Viet Nam with the US Army. He was a road engineer, but when asked for more details he says much the same thing as your husband did - there's not much to talk about.
It was an interesting experience watching A Thin Red Line with him. He always has a running commentary during movies and in this one he was able to anticipate the consiquences for the soldiers actions and was yelling commands at them. This was the most insight we've had into his experience.
Thanks for sharing about your husband.
My mother was a cryptographer post WWII. She was stationed in Germany in 1949. She talked about her stint in the Army a bit, but she was fond of tall tales at times. After her death last year, I found out that much of what she told me was true. She relayed top secret messages that had to do with Russia and America and the beginning of the Cold War. She had to be escorted everywhere she went. Cryptographers pledged to go to their death beds with their knowledge of numerous governmental secrets. I was kind of amazed at the information I discovered. I hope you can research and find out some really cool things too. Thank goodness for Google!
Becky, Thanks for the article on Keith. What you wrote was news to me as he did not talk much about his stint in Nam.Clerk-no.
Was 107 yesterday here in Monrovia-your tomatoes would love it here. Today was a degree cooler. My a/c has been on low since last Thursday. We are promised cooler weather soon. Lots of fires in the state-the one in Acton is the closest (50 miles).
Ever sing "Let There Be Peace On Earth"---that is my favorite hymn.
Cryptographers pledged to go to their death beds with their knowledge of numerous governmental secrets.
Oh wow!
I hope it gets cooler for you, Karen. I'd be melting at 107. I can't stand heat.
I get most of the hymns from the Cyber Hymnal. That way I know they're not copyrighted. At the Cyber Hymnal it says Let There Be Peace on Earth is still copyrighted.
Well he looks very dashing in that photo - for some reason it reminds me of British war movies I've seen. I didn't now about LLRP's before. I was going to ask what the big thing on his desk is and just clicked that it's a typewriter. Remember those? :-)
It is a typewriter isn't it?
Yep, it's a typewriter. The photo is actually from Germany, so maybe it reminds you of WWII movies. :)
Yes - it did remind me of WWII movies. And also my Dad is really into books on WWII so I grew up with a lot around me about the Batte of Britain, Monty, this and that battle - and I have always been into the Battle of Britain stuff truth be told - I still think the Spitfires were the best planes ever made. :-) I don't know as much about Vietnam but have talked to some vets who were there. We had Kiwis over there too.
I did feel a bit olden "remembering" typewriters.