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In this episode of Dearest Suzie, we reach the final stretch of Popi’s tour. August 1965 was a month of counting days, packing bags, and fighting nerves. Stationed in Da Nang, Popi spent most of the month in limbo, flying only a handful of missions while waiting on official word of his return home. His letters are full of restlessness, doubt, and fatigue, but also humor, tenderness, and hope. He checks on Suzie, gives instructions for back pay and savings bonds, and dreams aloud about being a husband and father again.
Popi's voice shifts this month. His tone softens. The war becomes more memory than menace, and his words begin to reach not just across the Pacific, but into the future. At one point, he tells Suzie he’ll probably never be able to explain what it was like in Vietnam. In a way, that’s what the letters have done for him, and for all of us. This episode marks the final entry in his year of writing from Vietnam. Additionally, I write my own letters, reflecting on my time working on this project and my visit to see Popi, at the Florida National Cemetery. I end the show with my own letter to Suzie, better known as Mema.
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