Marine Private First Class Steven Sauber '65 is presently serving in Viet Nam.

While at Maine West he was in Miss June Muckle's homeroom and now corresponds with her regularly. Following are excerpts from his letters.

July 3, 1966

"Perhaps you have been wondering what I've been doing. Well, yesterday I left the fields of Viet Nam. I was out there for two operations ‑ 'Operation Deckhouse I' and 'Operation Nathan Hale.'

"The area we landed in hasn't been used since the French pulled out in 1954. We accidentally landed on the outskirts of a Viet Cong village. The first day there we captured over 83 prisoners and found out later that their husbands and sons were Viet Cong so the Army of the Republic of Viet Nam (ARVN) took them.

"One day I was sitting near my mortar and some sniper tried to shoot me, but he was a poor shot and missed my by 10 inches. I never hit the ground faster than that time. But enough of my war stories. I bet you never thought one of your homeroom students would ever go to war, did you?

"I am aboard the U.S.S. Princeton. It's an old World War II carrier. I finally made P.F.C. and have two ribbons. I remember when I visited school (in January); all I had was a rifle badge. Now I'm getting weighted down. I must clean my rifle and gear."

August 14, 1966

"I'm on a new ship the U.S.S. Iwo Jima, LPH‑2, and we've got a new address and are attached to a new battalion.

"This battalion has been only three weeks out of the States and me being about seven months away from there. . .

" . . .  ask some of your students what they think of the war in Viet Nam? And what do they think of a Marine who fights there like me? You see, I really don't understand these students when they say to get out. If it weren't for us, they would not be going to school."

September 10, 1966

"Here's part of a letter that I started out in a field of Viet Nam but couldn't quite finish.

"Here I go again on my seventh operation in Viet Nam. So far we haven't gotten hit except for last time.

"It's kind of weird hearing bullets whizzing past. I was working in the ammo pit when it happened. I had a shell in my hand when a few tracers went over my head.

"Then all of a sudden about six or seven bullets started whizzing. Then I saw that HE (high explosive) shell in the open ground. So I had to crawl back and put it back into . . .

"I finally did put away that shell and started for cover. It was pretty close.

"Now I'm in the Subic Bay, Phillippines, for some rest . . .

About two days from now we're pulling out again, for Viet Nam ‑ a big operation near Quan Tri."

September 18, 1966

"We're up here again near the seventeenth parallel where 'Operation Hastings' was; lucky it is only a little hairier than before. North Vietnamese are all over the area.

"Yesterday Recon got caught in an ambush and called us for artillery support, so we threw close to 60 shells out there and killed nine and wounded 33.

" . . . tomorrow we're moving closer to the DMZ (demilitarization zone) to help some infantry.

" . . . somebody's got to stop Communism from spreading.

" . . . some of my buddies and I would like to hear what high school students think about what we're doing over here."

Steve would appreciate hearing from Maine students who have particular feelings about the war. His new address is

PFC Steven P. Sauber, USMC 2150080
1st Bn. 26th Marines Mortars
2 Bn 12th Marines
FPO San Francisco, California