Tour of duty detailed in memoir
Shreveport native Joe Rhodes spent a year in Vietnam in service to his country.
While he was stationed near Da Nang, Rhodes wrote many letters home to his mother, detailing what he was feeling and experiencing but also intentionally leaving out many of the hardships of war.
These letters became the basis for his new book, “Fly It Home: Letters from Nam.”
“I was going through the box of letters that I had sent home from Vietnam, and it was like I was waking up there right now,” said Rhodes, describing the powerful memories that reading his own letters evoked. “I could read what I had written and know exactly what was going on around me. I also remembered stuff that I wouldn’t say in the letters.
“I could actually smell Vietnam. That’s kind of spooky to me, that I can have that kind of sense memory. I’m reading one of the letters, and I smell this odor and I have to look up and look around, and I realize that it’s just memory.”
Rhodes began sharing these memories with this family as he went through the letters, and they suggested he preserve them in writing.
“I would tell my wife about what was going on at this particular time, and she suggested that I write it as a book. I’m not a writer; I didn’t even like to write book reviews in high school. But my wife and daughter and son encouraged me.”
Rhodes laid out all of the letters and organized them, placing them into piles and sorting them into chronological order.
“Some of the letters were about working with my brother. Some were about working in the hangars. Some were about the South China Sea. Some were about the food. Many were about what I was looking forward to when I got home. And some were about the lonely feeling I had after my brother left.
“When I started reading the letters and put them in chronological order, I could remember the year that passed by.
“I spent about three years writing. It’s not a thick book. It’s plainly written and easy to understand. I started by writing down memories, then put them on the computer, and it started sounding better, and I thought, I can do this.”
When Rhodes finished his manuscript, he shared it with friends who have writing experience, and they enthusiastically encouraged him.
“I think primarily what the book conveys most is family – family ties and going away from home to defend what allows you have family ties, defending freedom. The reason I say that is because the book centers very much around family,” Rhodes said.
For Rhodes, having a family member with him for the first part of his tour helped him through the experience.
“It was truly fortunate for me and my next oldest brother, Tommy, that we got to spend time together 10,000 miles from home,” Rhodes said. “We got to sort of grow up together. It was a blessing because having them there 10,000 miles didn’t really feel so far from home.”
A turning point in Rhodes’ tour came when his brother was sent back home.
“One of my most vivid memories was the day Tommy rotated out and flew back to the United States. We walked to that beautiful Freedom Bird. When Tommy got to his seat, and I walked back to the terminal, they taxied down to the south end of the tarmac and took off. I watched it until I couldn’t see it any longer. I realized, gosh, I’m here by myself now. I think that was the day of growing up, from boy to soldier to man. It was a lonely feeling. It was a humbling experience that I was alone and didn’t have anyone in my family to help me.”
Rhodes believes the men and women serving overseas today will relate to his own experience in Vietnam. “I think they’re similar because they, too, are a long way from the country they know as home and freedom. They, too, have to wear the uniform every day and night. They, too, can get attacked and killed any time day and night. I would say the situations are much more similar than not similar,” he said.
Those interested in reading Rhodes book “Fly It Home: Letters from Nam” can purchase a copy from online retailers such as Amazon in both hardback and ebook formats.
–Kirk Fontenot
