Dear Brother:

         Hello again. How are you getting along these days? We are all pretty good here in Austin. It is so very hot here, however, that we are all about to melt. We have had 55 days without rain and in all this time the temperature has been above 100 degrees. We have had to keep our air conditioner going all the time night and day.

         I am very sad to say this my Brother but Dwight and I are not going to medical school . We have tried to get accepted for the past two years and have had no luck. I think that being with Dr. Dooley has done much to keep us out for you know that he offended many people while he was in the States. I can't think of anything else it might be for Dwight and I both have adequate grades and all the rest of the qualifications for acceptance.

         The State Dept. has been asking Dwight and I to work for them and last Thursday we both flew to Washington and signed the papers. We will be leaving soon for your native country ...Viet Nam. We will be there the first part of Oct. . We will be working for the Agency for International Development and will be doing community development work. We are all very excited about going back to Asia and can hardly wait to get there.

         The wife and children will go with us this time and I know that they will enjoy life in Viet Nam. I wish that you were going back with us but I know that that is impossible right now. Your education comes first and maybe in the future we can all get together there.

         Old Bob Burns is also going back with us. We were with him and Annie and Hank while we were in Washington. It sure reminded me of the old times in Laos. We all wished for you and then the gang would have been complete. Oh yes, we also saw Tony , he is living with Hank now.

         We hear everyday that the communists are gaining ground at ever turn and we both know that in Viet Nam it is no different. Well Ngoan, Dwight and I, and this whole team, are going to win in Viet Nam. We will work with all our might and with all of our strength to win the battles we will have to fight. After the Vietmen are driven from a village it will be our job to show the people that the Vietnamese government, and the U. S. , will continue to protect them and , more importantly, help them to start a new life. Anything that we can do to help them develope their community to make life better and more meaningful ...this is what we will do.

         I can hardly wait, as I said before, to get back into Asia. I do love the life there even more than here in America. That is a strange thing to say but it is true. I don't mean to say that I don't like life here or that I don't like America , it's just that life seems to have more meaning for me or more purpose when I'm over on the other side of the world.

         I will give you my address just as soon as I am assigned one. I also hope that I can come and see you before we leave. I will be in Washington for a two week briefing so it will probably be possible for us to slip down to New York to see you. I sure hope so.

         I enjoyed the paper that you sent me some time back. I thought that the story and the poems that you wrote were very very good. I think that you have a great deal of talent in this direction and hope that in the future you can , and will , develop this talent to its full extent.

         Well my brother I hope that you will write to me sooner than I have to you. Please write when you have. time. Tell all the Northshields that we all say hello.

         Hope to see you soon.

Your Brother,
Earl