Beyond the call of duty

25th February 1963

Hey sis,
All’s well over in Vietnam. I’ve been helping my comrades, Mick and Frankie out in Vung Tau.
You wouldn’t believe how many men have died here. Thousands of bodies litter the ground as I write this letter to you. I can’t say what we’re doing, least this falls into the wrong hands, but I can assure you that I’m safe and sound.
I know that you all miss me back home, but I want you to know that you’ll all benefit from what I’m doing over here.
I hope that all is well and that you are all safe and well.
Love your brother, Kevin Harrison.

Well, it all started with letters. The above letter was from my brother, Kevin. He was sent over to Vietnam to go and fight. He’s met a lot of interesting people, like Frankie and Mick for an example. I already knew Mick from high school, but I’d never met Frankie.
“Hey, Fran, come and help me!” came a voice from the other side of my bedroom.
I sighed and walked over to my sister’s half of the room, for that was where the noise was coming from. When I got there, I saw my sister with one arm in the leg of her jeans and a leg in the other leg of her jeans. I choked back my laughter as I remembered rather foolishly that she was half-blind. “Here, let me help you with that Katherine.” I said kindly as I took her arm out of the leg hole.
Katherine looked back at me sadly. “I’m a nuisance, aren’t I Fran?”
I shook my head and put an arm on her shoulder. “No, you’re not a nuisance Katherine. Hey, guess what, I got another letter from Kevin this morning!” I answered, changing the subject.
She nodded. I could tell she understood. “Hey, could I read the letter?” She asked with that look that you just couldn’t say no to.
I looked back at her and as our eyes met, I saw, possibly for the first time, a look that suggested that she was just as worried about Kevin as I was. I nodded. “Sure, here it is.” And I held the letter out for her to read.
She took the letter and started reading. I could swear I saw a tear run down her face as she read. After a minute, she handed it back to me and I knew there was something wrong. “This is the wrong date.” She said as she handed it back to me.
I took it and looked at the date. The 25th of February. I crossed over to my side of the room to check the calendar. The 25th of April. I frowned as I walked back over to Katherine’s side of the room. “You’re right Katherine, it is the wrong date. How could’ve Kevin got the date wrong though?”
Katherine frowned. I could tell she was thinking hard about the question. After a few minutes, her face lit up into what I thought was an explanatory smile. “It might just be the fact that it was human error. He probably got the date wrong. Don’t worry ‘bout it Fran, I’m sure that our brave, brave brother is perfectly fine over there. He’s strong, he’ll survive.”
I nodded as another voice called up to us from down in the kitchen, “Fran, Katherine, come down here please! Your father has something important to tell you!”
I recognised that voice at once. It was my mother calling out to us. I ran downstairs as fast as my long legs would carry me. Katherine insisted that I carry her downstairs so she wouldn’t have to walk on her bad foot, so I had to take it slowly going down the stairs.
Once I got down into the lounge room however, I saw dad sitting down at the coffee table with a letter in his hand. I looked at mum who was looking at me holding Katherine. “Yes mum, what did you want to tell me?” I asked as I dropped Katherine onto the lounge next to dad. She gave him a very affectionate hug as he ruffled her hair playfully.
Mum sighed and looked at dad. “Greg, could you please give me the letter?” She asked, holding out her hand.
Dad sighed and gave her the letter, giving her a quick kiss as he did so. “There you are honey. Make sure she reads it all.”
Mum handed me the letter. I took it, but she held onto the end of it. “This is from your cousin who’s in America. Would you like to read it out to the family please?”
I nodded as she let go of the other end. I tore the letter open and started reading:

Dear Fran and family,
Things aren’t too bad over here.
I guess that I could say that we STARTED the war (whatever happened to just plain old warfare), but that’s not the point. Our men are dying for a war that we’ll never win. Several of my mates have already gone home in a coffin. I don’t plan to go that way though. I plan to fight my way out of this horrible jungle.
Half of my company hope to get wounded so they can be safely at home and not have to face the horrors of all this. All it takes is a shot to the leg or arm and you’re back at home and you don’t have to come back if you don’t wish to.
To dream is one thing, but to hope is it another thing? President Nixon’s in a bit of trouble. According to what I’ve heard back home from my girlfriend, a rumour’s been going around that he’s abused his power and so on. I don’t know the full story, so I can’t really take sides here, but apparently this all happened at the Watergate Complex in Washington. I personally think that he’ll end up being forced to resign because of these rumours that are causing this scandal to tarnish his reputation. Sorry if you disagree with me on the subject, but I WAS one of the few people who DID vote for him. Our voting and government system is probably different to yours, after all, we are republics and all you back in Australia are democrats.
Well, I hope that all is well in Australia and I hope to see you all at Christmas time.
Love always,
Frank Harrison xxoo

I just handed the letter back to dad, confusion shown on every line of my face. “Er, I never knew that I had a cousin.” I commented.
Katherine gave me an incredulous look. “You didn’t know that Frank was our cousin! You must be stupid if you didn’t know that!”
Mum slapped her on the leg. “Be nice Katherine! She was just asking a simple question!” She then turned back to me and answered. “Yes, Frank is your cousin. Second cousin if I remember rightly.”
I sighed. “Sounds horrible where he is.” I muttered.
Katherine nodded. “It is. My boyfriend wrote to me about it. He said that bodies aren’t removed and they have to dig graves to keep the area hygienic and crap. Most of the time, the soldiers don’t have hot meals and hot drinks. It’s rather degrading and sad if you ask me.”
I nodded as I grabbed a sandwich and wrapped it in cling wrap. That sounded horrible. I then walked to the front door and put a hand on the handle to go outside. I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around. It was dad. “Where are you off to?” He asked.
I shrugged. “I’m off to the park to eat this in peace. I was then thinking of hanging around the park for a bit. Why’d you ask?”
He shrugged. “I was wondering if I could drive you there or did you wanna go by yourself?”
I sighed. “I wanna walk dad. You can come if you want.”
He nodded. “I’ll be there in a bit, just let me get my shoes and socks on. Wait for me outside.” He then left to go upstairs and get his shoes and socks on.
I shrugged. “Oh, what the hell, I just can’t win for fighting.” I said to myself. I then realised how very true that statement was as I waited for my father outside.
A few minutes later, I saw him come out of the house. I took that moment to take in his appearance. He was about 37 years old with brunette hair and light blue eyes. His built was very powerful and the typical Aussie “full of muscle and strapping.” He didn’t wear glasses when he was younger, but due to an eye condition that he’d experienced during his military time, he was prescribed with them after the Second World War. He also had three real bad scars on his face. Whenever I asked him about them, he’d ignore me. He was good at that. He only listened to what he wanted to. He used his deaf-in-one-ear condition to his advantage there.
He then walked up to me and we started walking. After a bit, he spoke, “Do you mind if we go to the florists just down the road? There’s something I wanna buy there.”
I shook my head. “Not at all, we can do that.” I answered.
So we walked to the florists. Once we were inside, dad knocked on the counter and waited. After a bit, a lady with blonde hair and blue eyes strode in from the back of the shop. I could swear that I heard dad mutter something that sounded like, “Arian, look at her. She’d be a good daughter for Hitler.”
I choked back my laughter as the lady looked at dad. “Vat may I do you for sir?” She asked in a Romanian accent, flashing a very professional smile.
I saw dad smile warmly back at her. “Do you happen to have a bouquet of roses available for me to take?” He asked.
The blonde lady smiled once more. “Yes, ve do. These vay please sir.” And she walked around the front of the counter to where ten buckets of different coloured roses were. “Vat colour is you after?” She asked.
Dad frowned. “What colours are available?”
The blonde sighed as she pointed to various roses. “Vell, ve have red, pink, vite, salmon, yellow, and purple, a few black roses and blue ones.”
She then looked back at me and smiled. I returned the gesture as she lowered her voice. “Do you know vat the flovers are for?” She asked me.
I shook my head. “Nope, sorry, can’t say I do know.” I answered.
She then straightened up and strode back behind the counter. Dad looked back at me. “What colour should I get?” He asked.
I shrugged. “What are they for?” I asked.
He ignored me and picked a bouquet of red and white ones. “You’ll see.” He answered.
He then strode up to the counter and handed the roses to the lady. The blonde took them and put them through the register. “Ten dollars und eighty tree cents.” She then held out a long-fingered hand for the cash.
Dad handed her a twenty dollar bill. “Here you go.”
She took the money and bagged the flowers. “Nine dollars and seventeen cents change. Thank you. Have a nice day sir.” And she handed dad the cash as we walked out of the shop.
Once we were outside, dad looked at me again. “I need to do something, something – important, okay. Do you mind if we take a little detour now? Change scenery Fran, eh, that sounds good to you?” He asked, giving me a nervous smile.
I nodded. “Sure, where are we going?” I asked.
Dad’s only reply was, “You’ll see.”