In early September, 1968, I registered for college courses at Fresno State. That fall I would be taking five 3-unit classes: Business Communications, Economic Geography, State and County Government, History of Home Furnishings and Latin American Governments. I needed a total of 15 units to complete my Bachelor of Arts Degree in Social Science. It was good I had this goal to work towards because that took my mind off our separation and the terror of the war.
Later in the month I rented another furnished 1-bedroom apartment in Fresno. It was in the same complex where I had lived during the Spring semester. As I was familiar with the area and both apartments were almost exactly the same, I felt comfortable in this unit while finishing my last semester of college.
I enjoyed watching some of the new TV shows on a weekly basis, especially “Laugh-In” and “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.” Since our country was getting ready for the upcoming Presidential election in November, there was always lots of political news on TV. Additionally, there was plenty of reporting about the anti-war movement in the United States and around the world at this time.
Steve and I had been living separately for approximately 8 months (except for one week in Hawaii during R&R in May). So we had now been apart as long as we had lived together before he left for Vietnam. And even though we wrote to each other constantly, it was not the same as being able to communicate face-to-face every day. At this point we had a little more than four months to go, and I think we both were getting “antsy.” It was remarkable how long this tour of duty lasted, and our separation had become truly overwhelming!
My Vietnam Experience 