Dear Sam,
By the time you get this letter, I will be back on the front lines. Not exactly what I planned for when we where in school together, huh? I was supposed to be where you are now-- reporting traffic problems and goverment parties. I can't complain, though. The Roughnecks have come to be a family to me. (To bad 'family' and 'warm feelings' can't keep me from being shot.)
Johnny Rico has started training me in the use of my weapons-- they say I'm a bit dangerous to stand beside planet-side right now, and I don't blame them. My last simulaton, and my best one to date, showed two enemy hits and two trooper hits. Rico wasn't happy. I can't blame him, but I wasn't trained to fight!
Right now, Johnny is giving me a few minutes break from the simulator. The rest of the squad is on R and R. I don't know of a time when I've been so exausted! Do you remember that time last year when we ran the marathon? This makes that 'exaustion' seem like a Sunday picnic. I don't know how they do it-- the other Roughnecks, I mean. Dizzy never seems tired. I sometimes wonder if she ever sleeps. Doc, too. They keep him busy, even shipside. Sometimes they come and get him in the middle of the night to go to sickbay, but the next morning, he is always ready to drop with us. And Razak, of course, he has his own sleeping quarters, but I wonder if he has ever even seen the bed. He's always here with us, making sure that we are running top notch.
After spending these past few weeks with the Roughnecks, I've learned a lot about there personalities. They really are just like a family. The Lt. is our father, Sarge is the bully big brother, Carl is like a mother-- you know that sixth sense that mother's have? And Johnny is the all-star perfect son with the good grades, and Dizzy is the party girl that is always in trouble with 'Dad'. Gossard and Doc are kind of like uncles-- you know, always there, always watching, but not in the way. And they are funny like uncles-- and they are the only way the 'children' get away with anything from 'dad'.
As for me, well, I guess that I'm the baby of the family. Everyone seems to think that I can't look out for myself-- not that I've done much to prove them wrong. Wouldn't they be surprised to know that I was on the wrestling team back home? It's kind of embarrassing, how they baby me. I mean, Carl, Dizzy, and Johnny are only about a year older than me, but they act like overprotective parents. One of these days, I'm going to prove to them the stuff I'm made of. Maybe tomorrow-- our next drop. I'm going to show the Roughnecks that I can hold my own in this family.
Johnny is coming to take me back to the simulator. I'll write and tell you how it all goes. Take care, and squash a bug for me.
Your Friend,
Bob Higgins, PFC
By the time you get this letter, I will be back on the front lines. Not exactly what I planned for when we where in school together, huh? I was supposed to be where you are now-- reporting traffic problems and goverment parties. I can't complain, though. The Roughnecks have come to be a family to me. (To bad 'family' and 'warm feelings' can't keep me from being shot.)
Johnny Rico has started training me in the use of my weapons-- they say I'm a bit dangerous to stand beside planet-side right now, and I don't blame them. My last simulaton, and my best one to date, showed two enemy hits and two trooper hits. Rico wasn't happy. I can't blame him, but I wasn't trained to fight!
Right now, Johnny is giving me a few minutes break from the simulator. The rest of the squad is on R and R. I don't know of a time when I've been so exausted! Do you remember that time last year when we ran the marathon? This makes that 'exaustion' seem like a Sunday picnic. I don't know how they do it-- the other Roughnecks, I mean. Dizzy never seems tired. I sometimes wonder if she ever sleeps. Doc, too. They keep him busy, even shipside. Sometimes they come and get him in the middle of the night to go to sickbay, but the next morning, he is always ready to drop with us. And Razak, of course, he has his own sleeping quarters, but I wonder if he has ever even seen the bed. He's always here with us, making sure that we are running top notch.
After spending these past few weeks with the Roughnecks, I've learned a lot about there personalities. They really are just like a family. The Lt. is our father, Sarge is the bully big brother, Carl is like a mother-- you know that sixth sense that mother's have? And Johnny is the all-star perfect son with the good grades, and Dizzy is the party girl that is always in trouble with 'Dad'. Gossard and Doc are kind of like uncles-- you know, always there, always watching, but not in the way. And they are funny like uncles-- and they are the only way the 'children' get away with anything from 'dad'.
As for me, well, I guess that I'm the baby of the family. Everyone seems to think that I can't look out for myself-- not that I've done much to prove them wrong. Wouldn't they be surprised to know that I was on the wrestling team back home? It's kind of embarrassing, how they baby me. I mean, Carl, Dizzy, and Johnny are only about a year older than me, but they act like overprotective parents. One of these days, I'm going to prove to them the stuff I'm made of. Maybe tomorrow-- our next drop. I'm going to show the Roughnecks that I can hold my own in this family.
Johnny is coming to take me back to the simulator. I'll write and tell you how it all goes. Take care, and squash a bug for me.
Your Friend,
Bob Higgins, PFC