Another Month Gone By

A short letter near the end of his tour — "another month gone by," with "just a couple more and I'll be on my way home." He admits he's gotten lazy about writing, notes riots in Biên Hòa and Saigon ahead of the elections, and asks after his sister Mary Ellen's baby, due that month or the next.

3 Oct 71

Dear Mom,

Well here it is, another month gone by. Just a couple more and I'll be on my way home.

I haven't been writing too much lately. I guess I'm getting lazy. Just when I feel like writing one, we have something to do. I know I owe just about everyone a letter.

Well how's everyone back there? I'm getting along pretty good over here. There's not much happening other than some riots in Bien Hoa and Saigon. Probably because the elections are coming up.

I sent some film in but I haven't got any back. I used pre-paid mailers this time. I still got one bill I'll have to send you.

How's Mary Ellen getting along? Isn't her baby due this month or is it next month?

Well I wish there was more to write about but I can't think of anything. Maybe I can think of more later.

Love Marv

Transcription Notes

• The header is written "3 Oct 70," but the year is 1971 — see the Archivist Notes. Transcribed as "3 Oct 71" for clarity.
• "writing too much" is written "to much" in the original; transcribed to standard spelling for readability.
• "pre-paid" hyphenated as Marvin wrote it.
• Blue ballpoint, two pages. The second page is short (a few lines) and the signature "Love / Marv." All text clearly legible.

Archivist Notes

The date — 1971, not 1970: Marvin dated the letter "3 Oct 70," but every internal signal points to 1971. The "riots in Bien Hoa and Saigon … because the elections are coming up" fix it precisely: the South Vietnamese presidential election of 3 October 1971 (Nguyễn Văn Thiệu running unopposed) was preceded by weeks of anti-election protest and unrest in Saigon. The countdown — "just a couple more [months] and I'll be on my way home" — also matches a DEROS of 2 December 1971 (~60 days out), and the letter sits naturally between the 21 Sep 71 and 18 Oct 71 letters. The "70" is a slip of the pen.

A rare glance at the war beyond his own foxhole: Marvin almost never mentions the broader political or military situation; here he names the pre-election unrest in Biên Hòa and Saigon. Coming essentially on election day itself, the letter doubles as a dateline anchor.

Danger downplayed, as usual: "I'm getting along pretty good over here. There's not much happening" — the only "happening" he reports is rear-area rioting, not anything in his own area of operations. The familiar pattern of reassurance to his mother, to be read against the operational record rather than at face value.

The "lazy spell" thread: "I haven't been writing too much lately. I guess I'm getting lazy." The same self-deprecation reappears two weeks later in the 18 Oct 71 letter ("I'm in one of my lazy spells"). A consistent late-tour mood as the days wind down.

Film and bills: "I sent some film in but I haven't got any back. I used pre-paid mailers this time. I still got one bill I'll have to send you." The develop-and-send-home photography routine continues — echoing the wet, undevelopable film of the 21 Sep 71 letter and the film troubles in the 28 Feb 71 letter — along with the recurring back-and-forth over bills (cf. the bill discussed in the 18 Oct 71 letter).

Family — Mary Ellen's baby: "Isn't her baby due this month or is it next month?" Establishes a birth in his sister Mary Ellen's family around October–November 1971. Sits alongside the other new-arrival thread of this period, "little Dean" (Shirley and Buss's child) noted as walking in the 18 Oct 71 letter.

Cross-references:

• 21 Sep 71 — previous letter in the archive
• 18 Oct 71 — next letter; the "lazy spell" and the bill both carry over
• 28 Feb 71 — earlier film-development troubles