Betty and I arrived at the Kahler Grand Hotel this evening. Rochester is choked in a heat wave we hope will break tomorrow. Across the street, the portals to the Mayo Clinic. The Clinic is a major force in this corner of Minnesota, and in medicine, a force in many other places. An interesting anecdote to the Mayo is that both Betty and I have relatives who were founding partners here. For Betty: Augustus Stinchfield, for me: Melvin Millet. The world may be populated by billions of folks, but in some regards the tentacles of the past and the present mingle in our lives in interesting and mysterious ways. Friday morning we show the latest cut of Bravo, Common Men, Uncommon Valor, to the interviewees and guests and donors, and in the afternoon, to other invited Khe Sanh Veterans. Both of us are apprehensive and excited and relieved, all at the same time.

Had dinner with old warrior mates this evening at Victoria’s Ristorante and Wine Bar. A lot of funny yarns about boot camp and early experiences at Khe Sanh.

Tomorrow the weather is supposed to break in a good way. Other mates will show up. The memories good and bad will erupt and things I had forgotten will flash inside my recall. Things I thought I saw will be proven false. Things I thought I saw and then rejected will prove to have happened. Oh, memory. You are a fickle faculty.