-
derivative filename/jpeg
-
363-06313 to 363-06318.pdf
-
Digital Object Identifier
-
363-06313 to 363-06318
-
Title
-
Article about American GIs receiving letters from American citizens
-
Description
-
Originial title: "American Students Shower G.I.s with Letters after Anti-War Protest in U.S", article about American GIs receiving letters from American citizens
-
AI Usage Disclosure
-
Draft transcripts were automatically generated via Google Document AI and are currently under review. Please report significant errors to Archives & Special Collections at archives@unl.edu.
-
Transcript
-
Deepe Letters--page 1 November 12, 1965 SAIGON, SOUTH VIET NAM--The G.I.’s here are receiving thousands of letters from American citizens at home. The Greater Long Island Federation of Labor (AFL-CIO) has also sent a message of support from their 100,000-man organization, according to reliable sources. Other citizens--mostly students--are sending long telegrams of signatures avowing support for the American troops here. More than 1,000 students from Princeton University have sent a cablegram measuring 14½ feet long to General William C. Westmore-land, commander of American Military Command, expressing support for the American servicemen. Students from Marquette University of Milwaukee, Wisc., have sent a cable telegram through commercial channels that measures eighteen feet long. A telegram from Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich., read: “In three days 15,872 MSU students signed a petition to show support for the United States fighting forces in Southeast Asia.” The telegram was signed by the MSU Veterans Association. Students from the University of Cincinnati, Xavier University, Our lady of Cincinnati College have sent a two-inch thick packet of signatures. deepe letters--page 2 november 12, 1965 The student organizations of the University of Illinois at Congress Circle, Chicago, wrote in a letter “we are deeply concerned over the demonstrations against United States involvement in Vietnam and the draft-card burning. We want to do almost anything in our power to counter these activities.” The students requested information [deletion: of] [XXXX indicating deletion] about adopting an American battalion (about 600 men) for Christmas. Many of the other letters also request information about sending candies, [deletion: and] cookies [insertion: and gifts] to the American servicemen [deletion: over] for Christmas. One Oklahoma housewife recently telephoned General Westmoreland directly to ask “how to go about it;” one housewife from Ohio has already sent three boxes of Christmas cards. (More) deepe letters--page 3 november 12, 1965 The employees working for a chain of five department stores in San Antonio, Tex., wrote a letter [XXXX indicating deletion] saying “each store wants to adopt a unit to help with civic action,” the people-to-people programs which are conducted by American servicemen for Vietnamese citizens. From New York City (333 East 14th St.) Pamela Landou wrote [insertion: General Westmoreland] in a series of letters, “There is a growing mound of books in my living room….A few friends and I gathered some books together to send to South Vietnam to brighten the soldiers’ leisure hours. It is a small thing, we know, but we just want you and your men to know that we care.” (More) deepe letters--page 4 Many of the letters, addressed “Any GI G.I. in Vietnam, Headquarters U.S. MAC-V, San Francisco, Calif 96243, have been written by [deletion: grad] grade school children. The first graders the Rosylin Road School in Barrington, Ill., signed mimeographed letters and drew individual pictures to send to the G.I.’s. [insertion: SEE ENCLOSURE] Some of the letters specify “an Arizona Marine,” or a “Massachusetts Soldier.” In the billeting compound in Pleiku, the corps headquarters [deletion: which was] mortared February 7th of this year [deletion: and] which lead to the initial bombing of North Vietnam, [deletion: the following] a letter [insertion: from] Chris Hall of Phoenix, Ariz., was posted on the bulletin board,--next to [deletion: the rotat pilo] a listing of pilot’s assignments for combat missions. The letter read: Dear G.I., I am an eighth grade student in Madison Park School. I am very interested in the war going on now. I wrote this letter to thank you for what you’re doing there. I hope you keep up the good work. All the 7th and 8th graders in our school are all writing to G.I.’s. We all agree it is a very worthwhile cause. The two grades together have written about 300 letters. We hope to write over 2,000 (More) deepe letters--page 5 (letter continued) To change the subject, I am 13 years old. And I have a brother who is attending Arizona State. He is 18. I have two horses, a dog and a parrot. Well, I’d better sign off now. If you have any free time, please write. I would sure enjoy hearing from you. Sincerely yours, Chris Hall 314 West Oregon Phoenix, Arizona 85013 The letters pour into a small two-desk office of the command information center of the Military Assistance Command, where they are stacked on a steel table. [deletion: Pouring] Pointing to several thousand letters, one of the officers explained, “This is just three day’s worth of letters. The post office people are [deletion: going] really working. These letters have doubled the mail volume--and the volume is expected to double again by Christmas. “The real fun in this office begins at 5:30 p.m.,” he lamented. “That’s when the sergeant and I have to look through all those letters for our own. I haven’t heard from my wife for weeks because of all of this.” (More) deepe letters--page 6 Another officer explained, “One of the most remembered letters sent here said something like, ‘I’m [insertion: a] five-foot-two, blonde, 17 years old, and weigh 115 pounds. I would like to marry someone who has fought or is fighting in Vietnam. Can you help me’. “We didn’t answer that letter,” the officer explained. “But we’ll post it at the USO. She’ll have a lot of letters to answer too.” The anti-Vietnam demonstrations in the United States have stiffened the pro-Vietnam attitudes of the American servicemen here, but has in some cases produced some bitterness. [deletion: During] Before the nine-day siege of the famous Plei Me Special forces camp [insertion: last month], “we got the newspapers telling about the anti-Vietnam demonstrations in the United States,” recalled Capt. Harold M. Moore, 24, of Pekin, Ill., the American detachment commander. “That was really bad news. Then [deletion: the next days we got hit] that night we got hit. The next day things were temporarily quiet and we thought the fight was over. We were going to make signs [deletion: and photograph] and take [XXXX indicating deletion] photographs with the napalm burning the background. I was going to say on the signs for them to make a protest march from Pleiku to Plei Me. These demonstrations are really bad news; we don’t appreciate them one bit.” Plei Me lies 25 miles south of Pleiku; Vietnamese government forces [deletion: suff] engaged [deletion: with] in heavy fighting with the Viet Cong [insertion: [illegible]] to relieve the [illegible]
-
Date
-
1965, Nov. 12
-
Subject
-
Vietnam War, 1961-1975; Peace movements; Anti-war demonstrations; Letters; International correspondence; Soldiers; High school students
-
Location
-
Saigon, South Vietnam
-
Coordinates
-
10.8231; 106.6311
-
Size
-
20 x 26 cm
-
Container
-
B187, F6
-
Format
-
dispatches
-
Collection Number
-
MS 363
-
Collection Title
-
Beverly Deepe Keever, Journalism Papers
-
Creator
-
Keever, Beverly Deepe
-
Collector
-
Keever, Beverly Deepe
-
Copyright Information
-
These images are for educational use only. To inquire about usage or publication, please contact Archives & Special Collections.
-
Publisher
-
Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries
-
Language
-
English
