Back from Hong Kong
SP4 Marvin Dale Miller to his mother, 19 June 1971 — written the day he returned from his out-of-country R&R in Hong Kong and rejoined a thinned-out FSB Fanning. The company is due to rotate to Vũng Tàu on the 21st. Hot, sticky, and bug-ridden; he keeps it short.
19 Jun 71
Dear Mom,
I'm back on Fanning now. It's the same as it was when I left it. There isn't too many people here now. I guess a lot of them are on another Fire Base.
I had a pretty good time in Hong Kong. Getting away from Viet Nam for awhile was nice enough in itself.
We're supposed to go to Vung Tau on the 21st. Everyone is looking forward to that.
Well how's everything back home? Hope everyone is getting along O.K. Is the weather pretty hot now? It's been very hot and sticky over here lately. What seems to be the problem on the stairway. Did Dan run into a problem he couldn't solve?
The flies and bugs are pestering me. I'll try to write more when its not so hot.
Love Marvin
Transcription Notes
- "Viet Nam" written as two words, and "awhile" as one word — Marvin's own usages, preserved as written.
- Blue ballpoint, one page. Signed "Love / Marvin." All text clearly legible.
Archivist Notes
Home from Hong Kong — the R&R he counted down to: "I had a pretty good time in Hong Kong. Getting away from Viet Nam for awhile was nice enough in itself." This is the return from the out-of-country R&R he had been anticipating for months — first weighed in the 22 Mar 71 letter and counted down in the 16 May 71 letter ("I'll be glad when my R&R gets here … Most of the guys go to Sydney but I think one place is as good as another. Hong Kong's alot cheaper"). His profile timeline records the return on 19 June 1971 — the date of this very letter. Characteristically, he spends one understated line on a week away: the relief is in "getting away from Viet Nam for awhile," not in any detail of the trip.
Back on FSB Fanning — thinly held: "I'm back on Fanning now … There isn't too many people here now. I guess a lot of them are on another Fire Base." Fixes his location on his R&R return at FSB Fanning, and catches the firebase mid-rotation, with much of the company out on another base — the fluid late-tour pattern of the 2/8 Cavalry's fire-support network.
Vũng Tàu on the 21st: "We're supposed to go to Vung Tau on the 21st. Everyone is looking forward to that." This is the company's June stand-down rotation to the coastal R&R center — the same trip he reports back from in the 27 Jun 71 letter ("I had a good time in Vung Tau"). It is distinct from the March Vũng Tàu stand-down (the 22 Mar 71 letter, dated by McGrew's calendar to 17–20 Mar) and from the Hong Kong R&R: three separate breaks, all in this stretch of the tour.
Home — the stairway: "What seems to be the problem on the stairway. Did Dan run into a problem he couldn't solve?" Part of the rebuilt-house thread back in Kittanning — the stairs, attic floor, and plywood that run through the 16 May 71 letter — with brother Dan again the family's hands-on problem-solver.
Heat and bugs: "It's been very hot and sticky … The flies and bugs are pestering me." The early wet-season discomfort, continued a week later in the 27 Jun 71 letter ("The mosquito's are really bad over here lately. They just hang around in swarms").
Cross-references:
- 22 May 71 — previous letter in the archive
- 27 Jun 71 — next letter; back from the Vũng Tàu trip planned here
- 16 May 71, 22 Mar 71 — the Hong Kong R&R anticipated, and the March Vũng Tàu stand-down
