Tell Me When You Get Your Garden Plowed

SP4 Marvin Dale Miller to his mother — undated, written in pencil, and placed by internal evidence to circa late April 1971 (best guess ~26–28 April, and in any case before the 3–4 May Vung Tau stand-down). He is behind on his letters after a busy stretch, asks after the garden back home, mentions an upcoming trip to Vung Tau, and notes the Pirates are doing well. The displayed date (27 Apr) is an estimate; see the dating note below.

Dear Mom,

It's been a good while since the last time I've written. I've been pretty busy though. I hope you haven't been worry too much. Everything's going pretty good for me. Hope everyone's OK back home.

I've really gotten behind in my letter writing. I must owe everyone a letter or two. I owe Pat from away back.

I'm glad to hear that the weather hasn't been too bad lately. I guess everyone's pretty glad of that. Tell me when you get your garden plowed.

I know you asked some questions but I can't remember what they were. I got a letter from you the other day. You said you had sent a package so maybe I'll get that pretty soon. We are supposed to go to Vung Tau again May 3rd. Vung Tau is an in-country R&R place for the 1st Cav. I think I'll take a regular R&R to Hong Kong or Taipei pretty soon. Probably when the rainy season starts.

I made SP/4 March 1. I haven't gotten my back pay for SP/4 yet though.

I hope Dan's getting along OK at his job. I wonder if Buss is still working steady?

Well it's still hot and sticky over here. I don't think the rainy season can't be too much farther away though.

The Pirates seem to be doing pretty well. Hope they keep up the good work.

Well, May 7th and I'll have 5 months in country. I guess time is going pretty fast. Well I guess I'll close now.

Bye bye Love Marv

P.S. I have to get an ink pen some place.

Transcription Notes

• Written in pencil — the only pencil letter in the collection — which the closing P.S. explains: "I have to get an ink pen some place." His usual pen was simply not at hand when he sat down to write.
• "you haven't been worry too much" — written as such (for "worrying"); transcribed as written.
• "I don't think the rainy season can't be too much farther away" — a double negative as written; his meaning is that the rainy season is not far off.
• "SP/4" — his own rendering of Specialist 4.
• Undated by Marvin; the date is established by content (see below).

Dating This Letter

Marvin did not date this letter. The following internal evidence places it in late April 1971 — best guess 26–28 April — and certainly before the 3–4 May Vung Tau stand-down:

1. After the 3 April letter (the Pat-letter thread). The debt to Pat can be tracked across the letters. On 3 Apr 71, writing from Relay Mountain, Marvin notes he owes Pat "a letter from a week or so back" — he had received her letter around late March but was up on the mountain, without it to answer. He then came down to a unit under a new commander (Capt. Neal) and a sharply higher tempo ("They're keeping us a lot busier over here now," 18 Apr), and the 20 April contact and 24 April crash followed. By this letter the debt has aged to "I owe Pat from away back" — by now roughly a month since he received her letter, and perhaps six weeks since she wrote it. That progression points to the last week of April.
2. A gap after 18 April, plus a "busy" stretch. The 18 Apr 71 letter closed, "I'll try and write another letter tomorrow," so this is not the next day. Here he opens, "It's been a good while since the last time I've written. I've been pretty busy though." The intervening 20 April contact north of FSB Fanning (three KIA) and 24 April Huey crash at FSB Fontaine account for both the gap and the busyness — "I've been pretty busy" reading as characteristic understatement for that stretch. By this point he had cleared the aftermath of both events but was still on the firebase, his pen not at hand (hence the pencil). In keeping with his unwavering habit of shielding his mother, he says nothing of either event.
3. Vung Tau is still ahead of him. "We are supposed to go to Vung Tau again May 3rd." Howard McGrew's calendar records the company "Vung Tau Bound" on 4 May and "Returned to Fanning" on 7 May — so this letter was written while that stand-down was a future plan. ("Again" refers back to the 17–20 March Vung Tau stand-down.)
4. Garden plowing. "Tell me when you get your garden plowed" — garden plowing in Western Pennsylvania falls in late April / early May, and he writes as though it has not yet happened.
5. "5 months by May 7." "May 7th and I'll have 5 months in country." Counted from his 4 December 1970 arrival this is correct, and it is the corrected figure: on 22 Mar 71 he had written, against the same 7 May date, that he'd have "four months" — an undercount he here puts right, which also places this letter after 22 March.
6. The Pirates. "The Pirates seem to be doing pretty well." Pittsburgh stood three games over .500 around 13 April and 22 April 1971 (en route to a 97–65, World-Series-winning season). Allowing roughly a week of trans-Pacific mail lag for the standings he was reading, this best fits a late-April writing date.

Representative date used: 27 April 1971 (for sorting and display only). The day is not certain; the badge marks the date as estimated. The window is firm on the late side (a real gap after 18 April) and firmly capped before ~3 May.

Implication for the 22 May 71 letter: that letter was previously described as the first letter Marvin wrote home following the April 20 contact and April 24 crash. This pencil letter, placed in the last week of April, is the first surviving letter after those events; the 22 May letter is the next. The 22 May note has been revised to reflect this.

Archivist Notes

Continuous threads (March–May 1971):

• Owing Pat a letter: 3 Apr ("a week or so back") → here ("away back"). The aging debt is the single best ordering clue.
• Promotion and pay: "I made SP/4 March 1. I haven't gotten my back pay for SP/4 yet." His March 1 promotion (also noted in the timeline) with the back pay still outstanding weeks later. The 18 Apr letter separately tells his mother she'll soon receive $842 to clear his loan.
• R&R planning: here he leans toward "a regular R&R to Hong Kong or Taipei… when the rainy season starts." He took R&R in Hong Kong, returning about 19 June 1971 — so this planning sits well before then. (On 3 Apr he had instead floated a two-week leave home around the end of June.)
• Family employment: "I hope Dan's getting along OK at his job. I wonder if Buss is still working steady?" The same inquiry continues into the 22 May 71 letter ("Are Buss and Dan working steady? I hope I can find a good job when I get back.") — Dan's "new job" first appears on 18 Apr.
• The garden / home front: "Tell me when you get your garden plowed" here; by 22 May, "Your garden should be well on the way." The garden's progress tracks the season across the two letters.

Cross-references:

• 18 Apr 71 — previous surviving letter; the "write another tomorrow" close that this letter does not immediately follow
• 22 May 71 — next surviving letter; the employment and garden threads continue (and the "first letter after the April events" note to revisit)
• 22 Mar 71 — the "four months by May 7" miscount corrected here to "5 months"
• McGrew calendar (primary source) — Vung Tau stand-down 4–7 May 1971
• Timeline: 20 Apr contact; 24 Apr Huey crash — the likely cause of the writing gap