Part of a collection of letters from John Steinbeck to Alicia Patterson Guggenheim, written during his travels in Vietnam in 1967. Alicia Patterson Guggenheim was the editor and publisher of Newsday from 1940 until her death in 1963 and Steinbeck addressed his letter "not....to someone who is dead, but rather to a living mind and a huge curiosity" (see MA 2519.39). Steinbeck wrote the letters in this series as a weekly column for Newsday. Letters in the collection have been cataloged individually; see collection-level record for more information.
Place and date of writing from the publication details of this letter in "John Steinbeck and Newsday" by Robert B. Harmon; see publication details below.
This letter was not published in Newsday; according to Robert B. Harmon in his book "John Steinbeck and Newsday" (publication details below), this letter was published in the Salinas Californian on January 13, 1967; the date of publication is used in this record as the date of writing.
Written on yellow legal pad paper; page 1 of the letter is written on a 1/2 sheet that appears to have been cut.
Relating instances of V.C. snipers being found seemingly blown apart by their own weapons; speculating on rumors that somewhere along the supply chain from the Chinese, the ammunition has been switched to a high explosive which would cause this sort of death; questioning "where, by whom and why? Are these little bombs being made in Chinese factories or are they introduced somewhere along the line of supply?" adding that there have been increasing defections among V.C. soldiers who are frightened to fire their own weapons; saying that when he has asked Intelligence personnel about this he has gotten "the fish eye treatment;" ending by saying that he has "seen some of the exploded weapons. And anyone who asks where I have seen them will get the same fish eye that has been turned on me."