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Vietnam War audio correspondence

Object Details

Description
This plastic casing protects a reel of film on which U.S. Army Private Frank A. Kowalczyk recorded an audio message to his family during the Vietnam War. On the 45-minute message recorded over a number of days in March 1969, Kowalczyk talks about his experiences in the military and in Vietnam, friends he has made and his plans for the future. He also enquires after various family members and friends back in Illinois and makes references to letters received from them.
Frank Kowalczyk was with HQ 46th Engineers Battalion, 20th Brigade in Long Bihn Vietnam and at the time of this recording, was being transferred to B Co. in Saigon. He was in Vietnam for a total of 11 months and 20 days and left Vietnam and the U.S. Army at rank of Spec/4 (or E4).
Personal tape recordings were encouraged during the Vietnam War. The American Red Cross ran a ‘Voices from Home’ program to assist families to record messages at small recording studios, and set up facilities in Vietnam and the Pacific for the use of service members. The relative simplicity and affordability of the equipment also meant that some families and servicemen had their own recording equipment, as was the case for Frank Kowalczyk. It was widely believed that the tapes helped boost morale, as separated families and servicemen often remarked that hearing a loved one’s voice was the closest thing to being reunited.
Free mail allowances included sound recorded communication sent by military personnel in combat zones (referred to in this “letter” between minutes 39 and 40); and, the Post Office Department included “personal tape recording” parcels under the “space available military” (SAM) transportation program to airlift mail on U.S. commercial airlines to military personnel overseas.
The logistics of the Vietnam War required special procedures to be put in place to ensure that mail reached the serving units. All outgoing mail was initially processed through San Francisco, California though Seattle, Washington was added as the volume of mail increased. From there it was transported by chartered commercial airlines to military Post Offices in Vietnam.
Data Source
National Postal Museum
Date
March 1969
Object number
2011.2020.1
Type
Mail Processing Equipment
Medium
plastic; film
Dimensions
Height x Width: 5 x 1/2 in. (12.7 x 1.27 cm)
Place of Destination
Illinois
Place of Origin
Vietnam (southern republic)
See more items in
National Postal Museum Collection
Record ID
npm_2011.2020.1
Usage
CC0
GUID
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/hm8bfefb856-408f-48fd-9899-9d092d569010

Related Object Groups

  • 1969: A Year in the Collections
  • Freedom of the Press
This image is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Open Access page.
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IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.
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HomeSmithsonian National Postal Museum

Visit »

Open daily 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Admission is always free!

2 Massachusetts Ave., N.E.
Washington, DC 20002

The museum's main entrance is located on the corner of First Street and Massachusetts Avenue NE. Other entrances have variable hours.

street map of Postal museum

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