Aug. 11, 1970

Dear mom and Dad,
There is a whole lot of things for me to write to you about, so I probably will forget some things, or jump around a little.

Thanks a lot or your letters and also for the things forwarded.  Could you also forward anything from my bank, especially deposit slips.  I've sent three checks to them so far, but I'm never sure if they reached them alright until I have a deposit receipt.

The last letter I sent you was on the first or second day I was here, so now in the middle of the 3rd week I have a better idea of how things are run.  To tell the truth, things so far are going very well, at least compared to summer camp. This first four weeks, as I think I told you before, is all general military subjects most of which I've had before, but it is meant to be a review, and a so-called period of adjustment back into military life.  Many of the lieutenants in my class have been out of ROTC for a year or more to get advanced degrees and several have been to law school or other types of graduate schools.  This is, I suppose the main reason for this type of training for the first four weeks.  Like I said, it hasn't been bad so far, a lot better than summer camp, even though we're doing many of the same things we did in summer camp.  There are two main reasons why things are going better here:  One, and most important, we are treated with 100% more respect than at summer camp, with absolutely no harassment from anyone.  Second, after duty hours our time is more free, and our living environment is much more pleasant.  These two thing combine to give one a a better mental attitude and also relieves a lot of the tension that was ever present at summer camp.  This helps one put out a lot more, when he has to and you can do whatever it is a lot better.

Dad asked about my daily schedule, so I will now try to give you some idea of what I do every day, even though it changes, every day.  Most of our time is spent in class, listening to lectures on general military subjects.  Each day we also have an hour of PT or an hour of "Dismounted Drill"  (marching) or both.  Some days we also have an early morning inspection.  Also we have to instruct dismounted drill and PT and of course we also have daily leadership positions.  All this is more or less like summer camp, except with a little more time in the classroom.  To give you a better idea I will tell you a blow by blow description of what happen yesterday for example:

Mon. 10 Aug

0800-0950 - dismounted drill with arms
1010-1100 - shots (ouch!)
1110-1200 "Personal affairs"  (a one hour class on that subject)
1300-1600  Mechanical Training- M-14 Rifle
1610-1700 Physical Training (PT)
 Another example:

Tues. 11 Aug
0715 -0750 - Inspection
0800-09850 Preliminary rifle instruction
1010-1100 - "Message Preparation"
1110-1200 - "Signal Orders"
1300-1450 -"Radio Telephone Procedures"
1510-1600- Conditioning Drills (PT)
1600-1700 - Open time

These are examples of just two days, but they are fairly representative of what I have been doing.  The normal day runs from 8:00 to 5:00 with an one hour lunch break.  At the end of next week we will be done with this phase of the training and will start studying about what Quartermasters do, so they say.  Next week will be the hardest.  That is when we will have to leave Ft. Lee and go to a Fort that is part of Ft. Lee but about 70 miles north, called Camp A.P. Hill This is when we will have the hardest field training including crawling under machine gun fire (don't worry though, nobody's ever been hurt) etc.  After that, the hardest part is over, and my only problem will be staying awake in class.

Now as far as what I've done on the two weekend I've had off.  The first weekend: On Saturday I went into Petersburg, which is a town about the size of Longview, I would say.  It's amazing that in Petersburg every building looks like a historical monument and most of them are just rooming houses or public buildings.  Every place you go through , there are historical monuments and other interesting things to see.  Also that day I went through the Petersburg National Battle Field which is only 2 miles from Ft. Lee.  I don't have time to tell everything that was there, but it was most interesting.  I really had the wander-lust that weekend so I rented a car on Sunday and drove through Richmond and all the way up to Wash DC.  I really had great time, even though it cost me a mint, and I doubt if I will do it again, but it was a great way to get oriented to the area I am in.  Mainly I took country roads, and it took me a long time to get there, but it's hard to tell you how enjoyable it was.  When I did get to D.C. I didn't have much time since I had to get back by 5:00 but I did manage to see the capital.  After I left the capital I got fantastically lost, but I just took my time and finally found my way out of that maze called Wash DC  I am going to have to go back and spend a day or two if I can, to see everything.  Last weekend I went with a friend to Williamsburg.  It is unbelievable the work they've done in reconstructing that city.  We spent most of a day there and still didn't see everything they have to see.  On the way there we stooped at a place called Shirley Plantation.  The same family live there now as did nine generations ago.  Robert E. Lee's mother lived there also.  It was very interesting.

I better stop now,I have to get up early tomorrow.
love Marty