A Short Letter Is Better Than No Letter

Marvin Dale Miller to his mother, 24 January 1971 — written from FSB Silver, where a USO band was playing the day he wrote. He confirms a package arrived (the Pennsylvania Game News and the pocket knife he wanted), plans a money order to repay his brother Buss, and lays out his philosophy of correspondence: short letters, but as many as he can manage.

24 Jan 71

Dear Mom,

I got that package with the things I ask for. I was kind of surprised because I didn't expect it until around the 28th. I'm glad you sent the Penna Game News too. That pocket knife was the one I wanted.

I heard in the news that the Eastern part of the U.S. got some snow. I wonder if any of it fell back home. It's getting about that time of the year when the heavier snows come.

I'm going to try and send a money order within the next week or two. When you get it you can pay back Buss for the things he bought for me.

Is there anything new happening back home. It's pretty much the same old thing day after day over here. There's a U.S.O. show here now. It's a band and they are really good.

Are all the kids going to pass or is it to early to tell? Is there anyone of them that isn't doing so good?

Well I just can't think of anything more to say right now. It's a short letter but it's better than no letter at all I guess. I'll try to write as many letters as I can even though they might be pretty short.

Love Marv

Transcription Notes

• "ask" for "asked," "Penna" for Pennsylvania, and "to early" for "too early" are Marvin's own usages, preserved as written.
• "Penna Game News" is the Pennsylvania Game News, the monthly magazine of the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
• Blue ballpoint, two pages. Signed "Love / Marv." All text clearly legible.

Archivist Notes

The USO show — matched to a surviving photograph: "There's a U.S.O. show here now. It's a band and they are really good." This dates and places one of the two USO shows Marvin photographed during his tour. His field-photo uso-1.jpg — four female performers in matching yellow dresses on a wooden stage at a fire support base, a guitarist at left — is catalogued to 24 January 1971 at FSB Silver. This letter is the written half of that photograph: the band he calls "really good" is the one he had his camera out for. It also fixes his location on this date at FSB Silver.

The package — home in a box: "I got that package with the things I ask for … That pocket knife was the one I wanted." Confirms a care package arrived a few days ahead of the expected 28th, carrying the Pennsylvania Game News and a specific requested pocket knife — small pieces of Armstrong County, PA delivered to the field. Part of the steady package-and-mail thread that runs through the whole collection.

Money management with his mother: "I'm going to try and send a money order within the next week or two. When you get it you can pay back Buss for the things he bought for me." An early instance of the financial arrangement that recurs across the letters — Marvin routing money home through his mother, here to settle a debt to his brother Don ("Buss") Miller. The same machinery appears in the 13 Apr 71 PS (paying off the Elderton bank) and the 24 Aug 71 letter (money orders and "greenbacks" for film).

Weather as connective tissue: "I heard in the news that the Eastern part of the U.S. got some snow. I wonder if any of it fell back home." Winter weather back home is one of his standard ways of reaching across the distance — a January counterpart to the cherries and garden of the summer letters.

His correspondence philosophy, stated outright: "It's a short letter but it's better than no letter at all I guess. I'll try to write as many letters as I can even though they might be pretty short." This is, in one line, the logic of the entire archive — frequent, brief, reassuring notes home, valued for their steadiness over their length.

Cross-references:

• 10 Jan 71 — previous letter in the archive
• 30 Jan 71 — next letter; FSB Silver torn down days after this, Cat Platoon last out
• 3 Jan 71 — the promotion board for SP4 (his rank was in flux this month)
• Field photo uso-1.jpg — the FSB Silver USO band described here