Gil woke up and blinked a few times, letting his eyes adjust to the light. For a moment, he did not remember where he was, but then he realized he was in his tent. They had finally arrived in Vietnam, and everything was starting to terrify him. He had been scared to go to war in the first place, but being in the war was nothing like he had imagined. He had to be careful when he went out, for anybody could be an enemy. It was a major contrast from the small town he was born in, where everyone was friendly to everyone else; it was almost unheard of to be rude or snippy. He sighs as he hears the trumpet telling all the soldiers to wake. After shimmying out of his sleeping bag, he clumsily pulled on his shirt, pants, and jacket. The letter he had started to write to Sara last night lay unfinished on his pile of clothes. They had been exchanging letters for a month or two now, and just seeing her name on the return address made him forget all about the war for a few minutes, and just focus on her. He was thinking about how to end it, and he knew exactly what he wanted to finish it with. The problem is, he did not know how she would react to it. She might be offended or scared, but on the other hand, she could be overjoyed by it. He sighed and sat down to think for a while. He read through what he had already written.
Sara,
Things are getting really horrible over here. I have seen so many soldiers killed and it pains me. These are men who had their whole lives ahead of them and just like that, it is over. I would give anything to know for sure that I'll get out of this war alive. When it gets really rough over here, I think of that day sitting down at the pier. I close my eyes and I can see your pretty smile. Don't worry, but I won't be able to write for a while.
He decided to leave the ending for his next letter and to leave this one as it was. He wrote a salutation and signed it, sealing it securely in an envelope. He wrote her address on it and stuck it in his back pocket to send off when the mail carrier came around at breakfast.