Rank Is So Hard to Make in the First Cav

Marvin Dale Miller to his mother, 10 January 1971 — written the same day he went before the promotion board for Specialist 4. Family car talk, the military pay raise in the news, and a quiet stretch in the field: warm nights under a full moon, his buddies talking until one or two in the morning, and a ballgame to fill the afternoon.

10 Jan 71

Dear Mom,

Well how's everyone back home? I got a letter from you today and you said Jimmy got a small cut above his eye. I hope it isn't to bad.

So Dan finally decided to get a new transmission for the old Ford. If he could get the suspension fixed up it might not make a bad car. I'd still like to get a new car when I get back if I have enough money. I went in front of a board today to see if I'm going to get promoted to SP4. If I do it will mean a pretty good pay jump. The reason we have to go in front of a board is because rank is so hard to make in the first Cav. I know I'll be lucky if I get promoted so I'm not getting my hopes up.

I wonder if there's any new snow back home. I would think there would be some by now. If you get any big snowfalls make sure you get some pictures of it.

I suppose you've heard about the 7.9% pay raise the military's getting. That ought to help out a little bit. I'm glad to hear Buss got a raise too.

The last few days have been extra hot and it hasn't rained since I got here. I guess the rainy season doesn't start until 3 or 4 months.

There really isn't to much going on around here. The nights have been real pretty because of the full moon. So my buddies and I all get together and talk about things until 1 or 2 in the morning.

Well I guess I'll go play some ball.

Bye bye, Love Marvin

Transcription Notes

• The scans of both pages arrived rotated 90°; transcribed after rotating upright. Blue ballpoint, two pages, clearly legible.
• "isn't to bad" / "isn't to much" — Marvin's habitual "to" for "too," consistent across the letters.
• First paragraph, page one: a single word is struck and rewritten in the line about the car suspension — a minor self-correction; final reading clear.
• "any new snow back home" — at the page-one/page-two break a word is struck and retraced; the sentence resolves clearly on page two ("I would think there would be some by now… any big snowfalls").

Archivist Notes

The promotion board — written the day of: "I went in front of a board today to see if I'm going to get promoted to SP4." This letter is dated 10 January 1971, which directly corroborates the profile timeline's record that Marvin went before a promotion board on 10 January 1971; he was promoted to Specialist 4 on 1 March 1971. His own framing is notably modest — "I know I'll be lucky if I get promoted so I'm not getting my hopes up" — and he explains the process: "The reason we have to go in front of a board is because rank is so hard to make in the first Cav." Read against his enlistment date of 24 March 1970, the promotion came at roughly eleven months of service — a normal first-year progression to E-4 — and his account of a board-controlled system fits a unit that managed promotions deliberately rather than by automatic time-in-grade.

The "old Ford" and the new car: "So Dan finally decided to get a new transmission for the old Ford… I'd still like to get a new car when I get back if I have enough money." The car-and-money thread continues from the 26 Dec 70 letter (the new car he wants, the bank loan he means to clear first); here he adds a target down payment in conversation with his brother Dan's work on the family's old Ford.

The 7.9% pay raise: "I suppose you've heard about the 7.9% pay raise the military's getting." Military and federal pay were rising in this period as the country moved toward the all-volunteer force, and a pay raise was prominent enough in the news to reach the field. Marvin connects it to home — "I'm glad to hear Buss got a raise too" (his brother Don, on the civilian side).

A quiet stretch — daily life before the storm: The standout human detail: "The nights have been real pretty because of the full moon. So my buddies and I all get together and talk about things until 1 or 2 in the morning… I guess I'll go play some ball." A glimpse of ordinary morale in the dry-season lull, more than three months before the late-April combat north of FSB Fanning. The weather note ("extra hot and it hasn't rained since I got here… the rainy season doesn't start until 3 or 4 months") matches the III Corps dry season and echoes the 3 Jan and 28 Feb letters.

Family: "Jimmy got a small cut above his eye" — a younger member of the family circle, relayed from home; Dan (the Ford, the car authority) and Buss (Don, the raise) are his older brothers.

Cross-references:

• 3 Jan 71 — previous letter, one week earlier
• 28 Feb 71 — next letter; film troubles, and written the day before his 1 Mar promotion took effect
• 1 Mar 1971 — the SP4 promotion this board led to (profile timeline)
• 26 Dec 70 — the car and bank-loan thread this letter continues