Greg: My Dad passed away just a few years after he retired, always believing that Del was somehow still alive. I became a lot more convinced as well when several days after his passing, I received another mystery package, this one contained a cassette tape with the following song: No one had shared the attic... Continue Reading →
On My Birthday
Del: My twenties were a blur. I loved the early years at Emerald. Everything seemed fresh and new. We were as far as you could get away from The Man and The Establishment. I loved learning how to garden, and how to build crazy-ass houses. I love being the music guy in the commune, and... Continue Reading →
Emerald
Del: San Francisco had run its course for me. I was sick of squatting in abandoned buildings, watching people come and go, and dealing with the hardcore druggies and the hangers-on. I still wanted to be lost, but I thought I could do it in a less chaotic and healthier way. Joni Mitchell telling us... Continue Reading →
Doin’ My Part
Del: I felt bad about the effect that my deception would have on the people I loved, but I also knew that this was a completely irreversible decision. Once I was gone, I was gone. There was no turning back. Good-bye Wendell Watson, hello Billy Mann. It was like committing suicide, but without the blood.... Continue Reading →
I’m Invisible
Greg: https://videopress.com/v/ClpY6vEe?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true Del: The Plan went like clockwork. 2 hours before leaving Saigon for the airport where I would return to the States and my discharge from the Marines I completed the paperwork that would seal my fate. I put the paperwork in the mail that would inform the US Navy of my untimely demise.... Continue Reading →
Absolutely Nothing
(Attention email subscribers ... did you know that many of the images in your email are clickable as videos with sound? Give it a try!) Del: I wasn't the only one assigned to the personal letters, officially deemed "Condolence Notes, or "CNs", to the next-of-kin for deceased soldiers. Three others-- Homer, Jay, and Rocco-- were... Continue Reading →
Songs from Vietnam
(Attention email subscribers ... did you know that many of the images in your email are clickable as videos with sound? Give it a try!) Del: I got out of the hospital in Saigon and was temporarily assigned to the office of the quartermaster. Our job, collectively to make sure equipment, materials and systems were... Continue Reading →
The 20-foot Snake
(Attention email subscribers ... did you know that many of the images in your email are clickable as videos with sound? Give it a try!) Greg: You watch the news. You hear the body counts. Suddenly, everything took on a new dimension. Reality ... I guess it's called. Del didn't write a lot, but he... Continue Reading →
Welcome to Fayettenam!
(Attention email subscribers ... did you know that many of the images in your email are clickable as videos with sound? Give it a try!) Del: The next three weeks were an advanced course in tedium, interrupted only by letters from Greg and Cassandra and nightly dreams of Pamela. An air of fatalism hovered over... Continue Reading →
Believing Cassandra
(Attention email subscribers ... did you know that many of the images in your email are clickable as videos with sound? Give it a try!) Del: On Saturday night, the Brewsters put on a big, celebratory dinner for me. I was wearing borrowed civvies of Greg's. His two sisters were there, Cassandra, and his mother... Continue Reading →