Letters Home

In January 1968, two brothers from Decatur, Illinois were serving simultaneously in Vietnam. Mike Ducy served aboard USS Jouett (DLG-29), a guided missile frigate on search and rescue duty in the Tonkin Gulf. His younger brother Bill served as a Marine, on the ground in Da Nang and Hoi An.

They wrote letters home. They recorded tapes. Mike kept a daily logbook and shot Super 8 film. This site follows Mike's story day by day, from the ship's departure on January 16 through the homecoming on July 18 — 184 days of war, mail call, MIG alerts, SAR rescues, and the constant thread of war & life.