Jojo the Monkey

Marvin Dale Miller to his mother, 26 February 1971 — two packages arrived a day apart, a sunburn from KP, and the fullest explanation in the collection of how his army pay and savings worked. The letter is written with a tame little monkey, "Jojo," climbing over his tablet and into his mail.

26 Feb. 71

Dear Mom,

It's another hot day. I got a good sunburn the other day when I was on KP. It doesn't take very long to get one over here. I was back at Mace a few days ago and it rained for just a few minutes. It was the first rain I seen in almost 3 months.

I got both the packages you sent just a day apart from each other. I really liked getting them close together like that. I'm glad you sent that pen with the paper and envelopes. I didn't have any that were much good. The other package was in pretty good condition too. I was expecting pre-sweetened Kool-aide but that's all right. The cookies were kind of broken up but good none the less.

It's sounds like you got a pretty good snow. Maybe it'll be the last one, the last big one that is. It sounds like Don likes to tear around on slippery roads like I did when I was home.

If Dan ever gets that plane together, tell him to send me a picture of it.

I seen Fantastic Voyage one time before. It was a pretty good movie.

Little Dean should be around 3 months old now shouldn't he? I imagine he's quite a bit bigger now too.

I don't have my money in a Vietnamese bank. The best way I can describe it is something like a savings account. I can get it anytime I want it but there's a little bit of red-tape to go through to get it. I get $35 a month and the rest goes into the bank. About 99% of the guys over here are doing it the same way.

I just came back from the first aid station with some white cream on my back for my sunburn. "Jojo" a little monkey, keeps coming over and tasting it. He's really a card he was setting on my tablet about five seconds ago. He's eating some grass now. Now he's getting into my letters. The little stinker runs all over the place.

Them pictures didn't turn out very good. It's probably me, I'm not really sure how to use the camera. I wonder if Dan ever figured out what kind of film my camera takes. I'm going to send another roll home so maybe Dan can figure it out from that.

Well I can't think of anything else to write other than that I'm all right and I hope everyone back home is too.

Love Marvin

Transcription Notes

• "Kool-aide," "none the less," "setting" (for "sitting"), "Them pictures," and "I seen" are Marvin's own usages and spellings, preserved as written.
• "$35" written with the dollar sign before the number.
• A word is struck out near the close of page three ("all right and and"), a false start rewritten.
• Blue ballpoint, three pages. Signed "Love / Marvin." All text clearly legible.

Archivist Notes

Jojo the monkey — a scene from the firebase: The letter's centerpiece is unplanned. "'Jojo' a little monkey, keeps coming over and tasting" the sunburn cream on his back, sits on his writing tablet, eats grass, and gets into his mail — "The little stinker runs all over the place." Tame monkeys kept as company mascots were common in Vietnam firebases; here one wanders through the letter in real time, and Marvin narrates it as it happens. One of the warmest, most spontaneous passages in the collection.

How the money worked — the fullest explanation in the archive: Answering an evidently worried question from his mother, Marvin lays out his finances plainly: "I don't have my money in a Vietnamese bank … something like a savings account … I get $35 a month and the rest goes into the bank. About 99% of the guys over here are doing it the same way." This is the Soldiers' Deposit Program (or the standard military savings arrangement) — he drew a small amount of spending money and banked the rest, which is the money his mother managed at home. It clarifies the whole money thread: the savings he means to spend down to clear the Elderton bank loan (22 Feb 71, 13 Apr 71) and the money orders and "greenbacks" of the 24 Aug 71 letter.

The packages: "I got both the packages you sent just a day apart from each other." A good mail week — a pen with paper and envelopes (his were worn out), Kool-Aid (he'd hoped for pre-sweetened), and cookies "kind of broken up but good none the less." The package-and-mail thread that recurs across the letters; here it arrives in abundance.

Heat and the first rain in months: "I got a good sunburn the other day when I was on KP … I was back at Mace a few days ago and it rained for just a few minutes. It was the first rain I seen in almost 3 months." Fixes him briefly back at FSB Mace and marks the depth of the dry season — consistent with the heat of the 22 Feb 71 and 28 Feb 71 letters.

Family and home: "Don likes to tear around on slippery roads like I did" — brother Don ("Buss") and the winter driving back home; "If Dan ever gets that plane together" — brother Dan's model-plane project; and "Little Dean should be around 3 months old now," placing his nephew Dean's birth around late November 1970 (the same Dean who is walking by the 18 Oct 71 letter). The 1966 film Fantastic Voyage gets a passing review ("a pretty good movie").

Photography troubles: "Them pictures didn't turn out very good … I'm not really sure how to use the camera. I wonder if Dan ever figured out what kind of film my camera takes." The recurring camera thread in its early, fumbling stage — leaning on brother Dan to sort out the film — well before the Kodak 124 of April (13 Apr 71, 18 Apr 71).

Cross-references:

• 22 Feb 71 — previous letter in the archive
• 28 Feb 71 — next letter; the same dry-season heat, more film going home
• 13 Apr 71, 24 Aug 71 — the money/banking thread this letter explains
• 18 Oct 71 — nephew Dean, here a newborn, by then walking