In this special episode of Dearest Suzie, we look back on the March 1965 letters from Bill Lowie—a month that marked a profound shift in both his role in Vietnam and the risks he faced. After months of flying troop transports and medevac missions, March was the month Popi officially joined the Cobras, placing him directly in the fight against the Viet Cong for the first time. His letters recount the near-misses of combat operations—from bullets tearing through his helicopter to crash-landing behind enemy lines—all told with the same steady, understated voice he's used since the day he arrived.

Even as the war pressed closer, Bill’s mind stayed tethered to home—sending gifts, making plans for matching jackets with his sons, and imagining the life he would build when he returned. His long-awaited trip to Bangkok offered a rare reprieve from the daily grind of war, a brief window to indulge in beauty and escape, only to return to the uncertainty of what each mission might bring.

March is a month where two versions of Bill Lowie seem to exist at once—the soldier hunting the enemy from the air, and the husband and father carefully folding silk paintings to send home. It’s a testament to the quiet, unseen work of holding on to your humanity in the middle of a war.

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