Waiting: One Wife's Year of the Vietnam War

Chapter 26

{Chapter 26} I collapsed on the king-sized bed when I reached my room at the Colony Surf, thankful to have negotiated the arrival, baggage claim, and cab ride without incident other than perspiring profusely and swelling voluminously . The ride from the airport had taken less than half an hour, and the driver, wise to the whys and wherefores of passengers, had pegged my purpose here immediately and pointed out the R&R Center at Fort DeRussey as we drove past. “You’ll want to be there early,” he warned. “Never can be sure when those military planes will land.” Then, as we continued the drive along the palm-lined streets, he told stories about how some men didn’t show up on the planes they were supposed to, how some couples had spent their entire week trying to find each other, how some women came just to tell the men they were divorcing or breaking up with them. Now propping myself up on my elbows, I surveyed the room with satisfaction . The “suite” was really only one large space with a couch and sitting area several steps from the bed and a kitchen sectioned off to the left. Decorated with cool colors and air conditioned, it was a haven from the sticky humidity. I caught sight of my enlarged ankles and sighed. I had not been bothered when I could no longer see my toes; I didn’t begrudge the necessity of an extended abdomen; but I hated the fat ankles. I took a diuretic. Next I called the R&R Center, knowing only that Lee had written that he would arrive in Honolulu three hours before he left Long Binh on the same day—which did me no good because he hadn’t known his departure time. I asked the soldier who answered when they were expecting planes in from Vietnam the next day. October 1969 [179] “The first one is due into Honolulu International around noon and those passengers should be here at Fort DeRussey by twelve-thirty or one o’clock,”themalevoiceanswered.Verypatientlyheasked,“Now,ma’am, did he send you a flight number?” “No. He didn’t know.” “Okay, ma’am, sometimes they don’t. Okay, ma’am,” the soldier continued in what was an obviously well-rehearsed and often delivered speech, “now you need to come here to the Center in the morning about half an hour before he’s due in. Don’t, I repeat, do not go to the civilian airport because all arriving men are put on buses and brought directly here. If you go to the airport, you will not be able to see him. Do you understand?” I was back to the military. “Yes, I understand.” “Good. Now if he’s not on that flight, then we’ve got another one coming in later in the day, and you just keep meeting the buses till he gets here, okay? Sometimes things get messed up on the other end.” Although the soldier was trying to brace me for potential delays or disappointments , he did not dampen my spirits. Everything in my being told me that Lee was already on his way. With a surge of energy, I drew open the drapes to find a balcony that offered a sweeping vista of the beach and ocean. I inhaled the salty breeze. By this time tomorrow, Lee would be standing there beside me. I was delirious at the prospect. I unpacked, ironed my clothes, and arranged my cosmetics. I fluffed thepillows.I tapped mytoes. I looked at theclock. 3:15.I glanced through the hotel’s information. So the balcony was a lanai, huh? 3:22. I examined the kitchen. I rearranged my clothes. 3:27. I paced. 3:31. I turned the clock around. By dusk, I was exhausted by the sheer anticipation. Shortly thereafter, the pill kicked in and I spent the rest of the night in the bathroom, or so it seemed. Each return trip reinforced my decision, no matter what, to take no more of these capsules. In between, I tossed and turned. What if Lee wasn’t on the plane? What if something had happened to him and the Army didn’t know where to find me? What if. . . . I finally fell into a fitful sleep counting dire “what ifs” as though they were sheep that kept jumping the fences in my mind. [180] chapter 26 Up before seven and...