In this episode of Dearest Suzie, a night out turns dangerous after a fight between American troops and a South Vietnamese Marine escalates into violence. Popi wasn’t there, but the fallout is immediate. Bars are shot up, one man is stabbed, another beaten, and town is placed off limits indefinitely. “It is a shame,” he writes, “that we have to go out and get shot at by the V.C., then when we get a chance to go to town we have to worry about being shot by the very people we are over here to support.”

The emotional weight of this letter doesn’t come from combat but from the exhaustion of constant tension. Popi writes about sunbathing on a cot, trying to shake off the weight of it all. He shares a newspaper clipping listing the names of three men they lost. A fourth, Lt. Tucker, is still officially missing. “They will still be hoping, when there is no hope.” That line carries a quiet kind of devastation. The war wasn’t just killing soldiers. It was stretching grief across time.

Accompanied by a photo of the Vinh Long welcome sign in three languages, today’s episode sits with the complicated realities of trust, occupation, and the quiet violence that can erupt when alliances fray.

What’s Covered:

• Popi’s letter from April 11, 1965
• Rising tensions between U.S. soldiers and South Vietnamese forces
• The emotional toll of losing men with no closure
• Cultural misunderstandings and the breakdown of trust in wartime

📷 Featured Photo: A welcome sign for Vinh Long, printed in Vietnamese, English, and French. A reminder that even in shared spaces, welcome is never guaranteed.

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