Answer: He decribed a plant that had a flower which was soft and red and had no thorns on it.
Explanation: Marion Lee Kempner was a Marine lieutenant from Galveston, Texas and he wrote the letter to his great-aunt, Fannie Adoue, on Oct. 20, 1966 where he described a plant he said he saw and made him think of her.
In the letter, he detailed how his platoon was finishing up a three-day patrol, struggling over steep hills in nearly impenetrable jungle, when one of his men turned to him and pointed at a rather distinguished-looking plant with soft red flowers waving in the downpour and said that was the first plant he had seen that day which didn't have thorns on it.
Less than three weeks later, Lieutenant Kempner was killed in a mine explosion near Tien Phu at the age of 24.