The Last to Leave Silver

SP4 Marvin Dale Miller to his mother, 30 January 1971 — the primary-source account of FSB Silver standing down. His platoon was the last unit out, staying behind to make sure everything was torn down, and the Colonel had him draw a scaled model of the new base. He lays out his Army pay and the Elderton-bank payoff, notes Dan has probably got the Ford's transmission by now, asks after Shirley's two boys, and requests pudding and Kool-Aid.

30 Jan 71

Dear Mom,

I'm going to try and get as much of this letter done tonight as I can. As you can see I'm writing on different paper. It's kinda hard to get paper so I'll write on what I can get. I want to get this letter in the mail tomorrow because it's been a few days since the last time I wrote.

Everything is going pretty good with me. We tore down Silver and moved to a different base. I can't remember the name of our new base at the moment. You don't have to worry about a change in my address, it won't effect it. My platoon were the last to leave the old base. We had to stay to make sure everything was tore down and there wasn't anything left behind. After we tore everything down there wasn't any shade so I was really glad to get out of there. I had to draw a scaled down model of the new base for the Colonel.

Well how's Old Man Winter treating people back there. I haven't heard of any big snow storms over the radio lately. You can tell who's from the north over here, they're the ones who are always talking about the snow back home. You sure do miss it after you been away from it awhile.

Dan has probably got that transmission by now. Maybe I'll get a letter from you telling me about it before you get this one.

I sent a $60 dollar money order home a few days ago. Whoever bought that stuff for me can get their money from that. I wish I could have sent more but they messed up and I didn't get paid for Jan. Pretty soon I'll have enough money to pay back Elderton bank. The Army puts all but $35 in a bank for me. I get the $35 a month. That's what I mean when I say I couldn't send any more this time. I don't know if I can get my money from the bank before I leave Viet Nam or not.

How's Jimmy getting along with his little brother. I'll bet Shirley will have her hands full with them two before long.

I haven't gotten a letter from you in about a week so maybe I'll get one today. If you have the time and the money you might send me some pudding like the ones that come in Hunt's Snack Pack. Also you might send some Kool-aid.

Well they're collecting the mail now so I'll close now.

Love Marv

Transcription Notes

• Blue ballpoint, two pages, on mismatched paper — he says so himself: "As you can see I'm writing on different paper. It's kinda hard to get paper so I'll write on what I can get."
• His own usages preserved: "effect" (for "affect"), "My platoon were" (for "was"), "them two," "$60 dollar," "Viet Nam" (two words), "awhile," "Kool-aid," and "Hunt's Snack Pack."
• A struck word in "I haven't gotten a letter from you" is transcribed to his evident meaning.
• The date is clearly written "30 Jan 71."

Archivist Notes

FSB Silver stands down — the primary source, in his own hand. "We tore down Silver and moved to a different base… My platoon were the last to leave the old base. We had to stay to make sure everything was tore down and there wasn't anything left behind." This is Marvin's first-person confirmation of the event the profile timeline carries as "Silver Stands Down — Cat Platoon Last to Leave" (Late Jan 1971): both that Cat Platoon was the last unit out, and that he stayed behind to strip the base. Written 30 January, it dates the teardown to the last days of January — after the 24 Jan 71 letter, in which he was still at Silver for the USO show, and consistent with the late-January move to FSB Fontaine.

"I had to draw a scaled down model of the new base for the Colonel." The primary source for the other half of that timeline entry — the drafting task the Colonel handed him. Marvin had trained as an artist before the war: he completed one semester at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh (fall 1969) before the draft lottery cut his schooling short, and by family account he was a genuinely good artist (see MDM-FAMILY-BACKGROUND). That training is the most likely reason he, and not another soldier, was asked to render the new base to scale. How the Army came to know of it remains an open question — his art schooling does not appear to have been a formally recorded skill, and the family does not know how it surfaced; he reports the request here matter-of-factly, without explanation. The same trained eye stands behind the roughly fifty to sixty photographs he made in Vietnam.

The new base, unnamed — bracketing the faint February letter. "I can't remember the name of our new base at the moment." He does not yet name it here; he first names it — FSB Fontaine — in the 9 Mar 71 letter ("I moved to a new base called Fontaine"). This 30 Jan letter places him at the new, unnamed base already, which helps bracket the undated, content-placed ~Feb 1971 letter ("A Couple of Cowboy Stories") to the weeks just after the move.

Army pay and the Elderton-bank payoff — stated plainly, and early. "The Army puts all but $35 in a bank for me. I get the $35 a month… Pretty soon I'll have enough money to pay back Elderton bank." The clearest early statement of the savings arrangement later detailed in the 26 Feb 71 ("Jojo the Monkey") letter, and the first appearance of the Elderton-bank payoff the 22 Feb 71 letter picks up. He'd sent a "$60 dollar money order" home to reimburse whoever bought supplies for him, apologizing that a payroll error ("they messed up and I didn't get paid for Jan") kept him from sending more — another instance of the family managing his money while he was away.

The Ford's transmission — a dating midpoint. "Dan has probably got that transmission by now." The old Ford's new transmission threads through this stretch: the decision in the 10 Jan 71 letter, "when Dan gets it out" in the faint ~Feb 1971 letter, and "the springs are on" by 22 Feb 71. Marvin's guess here — that Dan has the transmission in by late January — sits squarely between those markers.

Family — Shirley's two boys. "How's Jimmy getting along with his little brother. I'll bet Shirley will have her hands full with them two before long." Jimmy and his baby brother Dean are the sons of Don ("Buss") and Shirley; the same baby Dean whom Marvin fears "surely won't remember me" in the 7 Mar 71 letter and who "she thinks… will be walking before I get home" by the 26 Jul 71 letter.

Homefront and small comforts: Old Man Winter and the northerners who can't stop talking about the snow; paper hard to come by; and a request for "pudding like the ones that come in Hunt's Snack Pack" and some Kool-Aid — the ordinary wants that run through the package letters.

Cross-references:

• 24 Jan 71 — previous letter; still at FSB Silver for the USO show, days before the teardown
• ~Feb 1971 (undated) — next letter; placed just after this move
• 9 Mar 71 — where he first names the new base as FSB Fontaine
• 22 Feb, 26 Feb 71 — the Elderton-bank payoff and the $35/month pay arrangement
• 10 Jan 71 and ~Feb 1971 — the Ford's transmission, of which this is the dating midpoint
• 7 Mar, 26 Jul 71 — baby Dean and Shirley's boys
• Profile timeline: "Silver Stands Down — Cat Platoon Last to Leave" — this letter is its primary source
• MDM-RESEARCH-FONTAINE-DRAWING — research note on the lost scale drawing (which colonel, who saw it, why only once)