A Marine Called Jason by Peter

A Marine Called Jason
(Revised)
by: Peter

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

Chapter 24
Letters From Vietnam

Life was good, but I was looking middle age in the eyes. I hated the thought of facing old age without the man I loved, but his memory gave me strength.

Then one day I got a letter unlike any ordinary mail I received. It had been forwarded from my parents address with a foreign stamp and return address that I couldn’t make out except that it was from Vietnam. The thought bolted in my head that it was news of Jason! That there had been a huge fuck-up, his plane hadn’t gone down after all, or it had and he had survived and they’d just found him wandering around someplace. But reality hit me just as hard. He was dead. Hell, I’d brought him home. I had seen him in his casket. I had felt his cold, dead hands. Godd, the terrible tricks the mind can play! Then I thought it might be from Toby. Or Adam Randall. Maybe he had gone back after the war; a lot of guys had, to build a life over there where they felt more at home. I opened the letter and began to read. By the second line I knew what it was and I felt a chill go through me.

Dear Mr. Courter;

I am writing this with the help of Sister Marie; she helps me say what I want to say properly. I am not sure when I was born but I am now fifteen years old, according to when my mother brought me here. My mother's name was Ling Dwang. My father, I believe, was Chief Petty Officer Jason Seaborne, a Navy SEAL who was in Vietnam. I understand he was killed in a plane crash. My mother disappeared in the fall of Saigon. I was taken to the orphanage where I still live. Sister Marie gave me a letter that my mother gave to her before she fled, stating that Officer Seaborne was my father. She also showed me a letter from him, acknowledging that he was most likely my father. He writes in the letter that you were his best friend and that if I ever needed anything to contact you. I hope you are still at this address or that my letter will follow you to your present address. I would like very much to come to the United States if you could help me do that. I don't feel like I belong here. Please let me know if you get this, even if you decide you can't or don't want to help me come to the America, which I will understand.

Very kindly yours,

Jason Seaborne, Jr.

"Jase"

There was also a note from Sister Marie.

My Dear Mr. Courter:

When Jason recently began to ask questions about his father, I decided it was time to give him the letters identifying his parentage. I implore you to seriously consider and do all you possibly can to bring the boy to the United States; as his sponsor if at all possible, if that will fit into our life, or if not, at least to initiate the paperwork and see it through the channels of red tape. You see, Jason and those like him, children of American fathers, are not considered to be Vietnamese. He is AmerAsian and looked down upon in this present society. He belongs nowhere; he is not accepted among his peers. He is very lonely and lost, which is bad for this time in his life as a teenager. The place he will be accepted is on the streets, dealing in drugs, or worse, in the booming sex industry that has sprung up here. He is an exceptional boy in every way but I fear that may not long be so. I have included the phone numbers of places you should call to begin this very urgent and worthwhile mission. I beg you, please save this boy's life. I/we at the orphanage have done nearly all we can do. He will soon leave us and then he will be lost to the world.

Most gratefully,

Sister Marie.

To be continued...

Posted: 02/20/15 rp