Cham Temple, Phu Cat Mountains. 24 x 36.

(In a letter to Hans Ruppel, 15 December 1986.)
In 1968 the New
Mexico Air National Guard was called to active duty by President
Johnson. As a member, I ended up flying a tour in the central
highlands of Vietnam. Northwest of Qui Nhon is an area of karst. On
the very top of one of the large boulders is the ruin of a temple. I
have flown by it very low, and it seemed to be approximately 50 x 50
feet at its base and constructed of dressed stones the size of 1' x 1'
x 6". The only means of transport to the temple is a precarious
footpath that traverses the wall of the rock. The rock itself has to
be 400 feet high. They told me the ruin was about 700 years old. I
did not take a camera to Vietnam because by duty was to conduct air
strikes as a Forward Air Controller. This was painted upon my return
to Albuquerque. It was painted from memory.

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