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U.S. Marine Corps

Roger D. Connell

Private First Class (PFC)
HQTRS III CAG 3-1-1
Village outside Phu Bai, Vietnam; earlier near Phu Bai and Hue City
September 7, 1968
September 21, 1968

His Story

Roger D. Connell of Chicago served in the U.S. Marine Corps and wrote to Barbara Madro of Cicero, Illinois, from Vietnam in September 1968. He found her address in the Sea Tiger newspaper and wrote, he explained, because he did not have many people to write to and saw that she was from Illinois. He knew Cicero: he had been there a couple of times and knew a couple of men from the town. At the time, Roger was nineteen years old and had been in the Marine Corps for thirteen months, with three years still to serve. He had been in Vietnam for eight months. He spent the first four with the "grunts" near Phu Bai and Hue City, and the next four with "CAG" in a village just outside Phu Bai. He liked the village well enough that he was thinking about extending his time in Vietnam. By his second letter, dated September 21, 1968, his unit had left its compound for good and was living in the village itself, running patrols and ambushes from a house or a temple. He described the village as fairly secure, a place where the Marines tried to help the people and the people helped them in return, telling them when the Viet Cong came in for food or to collect taxes. He told Barbara that he had once lived on Chicago's north side, near Armitage and California Avenue, that he had put in for R&R in October, and that it was hot enough to have him "sweating like mad."

Letters

September 7, 1968
Village outside Phu Bai, Vietnam

7 Sept. 68
Sunday

Hi Babbera,

well if your wondering where I got your address. I got it from the sea tiger newspaper and I hope you don’t mind me writing to you I don’t have many people to write myself and I just felt like writing to someone and I saw you were from Illinois so I wrote you.

well I’m from Chicago myself and I know a couple of guys from Cicero I’ve been up there a couple of times myself. I been in Viet Nam for eight months now and four of them I spent with the grunts up near Phu bai and Hue City well the other four with Cag in a Village right out of Phu bai and I like it quite a bit myself. I’m thinking about extending over here because of it

well about myself I nineteen years old and been in the marine corps for thirteen months now I still have three years to go but I heard a little about whats going on in Chicago and I don’t think I want to go back if it keeps up I’d rather stay here where I can protect myself. well I guess I’d better go now so write if you want to. send a picture of yourselve and I’ll write if you do

your friend.

Roger

Two pages on blue-tinted stationery; the second page is numbered "2". Spelling, capitalization, and punctuation follow the original (for example, "your" for "you're," "I been," and "yourselve"). NEEDS VERIFICATION - date: the letter is headed "7 Sept. 68" with "Sunday" written beneath it, but September 7, 1968 was a Saturday; the Sunday was September 8. The letter is filed under the date as written. NEEDS VERIFICATION - greeting: the name in the greeting appears to read "Babbera"; the third letter is unclear. Roger spells the name "Barbera" on both envelopes. NEEDS VERIFICATION - location: no place is written on the letter. "Village outside Phu Bai" is taken from the text, where he says he is "with Cag in a Village right out of Phu bai." NEEDS VERIFICATION - envelope pairing: the red-and-blue air mail envelope carries the archive number "1" and has no legible postmark. It is matched to this letter on that number. In the closing he wrote "friend," struck it out, and wrote it again on the line below.
September 21, 1968
Village outside Phu Bai, Vietnam

21 Sept. 1968

well Barb,

I got your letter today and I was glad.

well theres nothing new with me overhere. we left our compound for good. now we just wonder around the Village and run Patrols and Ambushes from some house or temple. our Village is Pretty secured. about the only time the V.C. come in is to get chow or collect taxes and thats very seldom because the People tell us when they come in. its a nice Village we try to help the People and they do help us.

well I lived on the north side for awhile myself but it wasn’t that far north I lived near armitage and California ave. myself. well I think I might get a rest from all this for awhile. I put in for R&R for Oct. I hope I get it now. it sure is hot here I’m sweating like mad.

well Barb I guess I’d better go for now Thanks for writing and write again.

Rog

Two pages on blue-tinted stationery; the second page is numbered "2". Spelling, capitalization, and punctuation follow the original (for example, "wonder" for "wander," "overhere," and "its"). The envelope carries the archive number "2" and is postmarked 25 Sep 1968, four days after the date on the letter. The APO number in the postmark is only partly legible. The envelope is matched to this letter on the number and the date. NEEDS VERIFICATION - location: no place is written on the letter. "Village outside Phu Bai" is inferred from his first letter and the identical return address (Hq III CAG 3-1-1, FPO San Francisco, Calif. 96602); in this letter he says his unit has left its compound and now works from the village itself. On page 2 there are two small strike-outs: one between "well" and "Barb," and one between "for" and "writing." In the original scan the envelope lies over the blank lower part of page 2, so the page image ends just below the signature.
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