Converted to EAD3 : Encoded Archival Description (EAD), Version 3 : Release: 1.1.1 : Release Date: 2019-12-16. Validating against latest version of schema.
Contact information: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.afc/vhp.contact
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/2015655448
In English.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the LC Catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically.
Arranged in two series: Manuscripts, and Photographs.
Manuscripts are arranged alphabetically by type of material. Correspondence is divided into two parts: Letters from the veteran to his immediate family (MS01); correspondence to the veteran from fellow soldiers (MS02).
Accessioned, 2011.
Duplication of collection materials may be restricted.
Collection is open for research; access restrictions apply. To request collection materials, please contact the Veterans History Project at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.afc/vhp.contact
Selected items from the Edwin Mark Trawczynski collection are available on the Library of Congress web site at http://http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.afc/vh016005.76819.
Edwin Mark Trawczynski Collection (AFC/2001/001/76819), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
Edwin Mark Trawczynski was born May 18, 1948, in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Edwin Trawczynski and Lorraine Jaffke. In 1968, he was drafted into the United States Army, and served on active duty from March 8, 1968, until February 28, 1970. Trawczynski trained at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, and at the U.S. Army Medical Training Center, at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. He served as a medical corpsman in the 13th Field Hospital, Fort Belvoir, Virginia, before deploying to Vietnam in May 1969. He was assigned to Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, and completed combat and pacification missions in Hue, Boc Hoa, the A Shau Valley, Fire Base Roy, Camp Ra, Bien Hoa, Camp Eagle, and Fire Base Rifle. Upon his return to the United States, Trawczynski was transferred to the U.S. Army Reserve, and served for an additional 4 years, before being honorably discharged on March 1, 1974. Following his service in Vietnam, Trawczynski married Mary Anne Wake, and the couple had one daughter, Romana. Trawczynski died on September 4, 2007.
The Edwin Mark Trawczynski collection consists of correspondence, creative works, a memoir, military papers and photographs, documenting the veteran's service in the United States Army during the Vietnam War. The bulk of the collection consists of letters written by Trawczynski to his parents and his brothers, Mark and David, while he was serving in Vietnam.
Digital content available
MS01: Correspondence from the veteran to his parents and to his brothers, Mark and David. The veteran signs most of the letters "Butch". The last letter is not dated and includes 2 poems.
Topics covered include: in-country training; finances; assignment to the 101st Airborne Division; asking family not to worry about assignment; enemy demolition men; guard duty; artillery fire; enlisted men's club; mortar attacks; religious services; low casualty rate of the 101st Airborne Division; assigned to work in the dispensary; living conditions; insects; heat exhaustion; near miss when the ammo dump was accidently blown up; advising brother to join the Air Force; jungle rot; seeing actress Chris Noel in person; Father's Day; request for food and sundry items from home; poker games; ghost at family house; brother Mark finishing fourth grade; family getting their first color TV while veteran is overseas; difficulty staying clean; recreation; learning to repel; finding an abandoned enemy base camp; twenty-four hour recon patrol; Vietnamese children; thoughts on fighting and being there for the children of Vietnam; falling on a rail tie at night and having to go to the rear for x-rays; being put in for Combat Medic Badge; description of action in battle; being scared; C-rations; weather affecting resupply; Eagle Beach; sending souvenirs home; looking forward to getting off the line and doing "Med-Caps" (treating children and villagers); plans once home; radio duty; promotion; working at aid station; cutting helicopter landing zones (LZ) in the mountains; reporters visiting; dry fast frozen meal (LRPs); finding an enemy complex; river crossing class; USO show with actress Sheila Kuehl; actor Gary Vinson; sleeping near an abandoned village in a graveyard; amphibious assault; seeing a young tiger; Recon platoon reunion in Chesapeake Bay, Maryland; rice paddies; athletes foot; ring worm; rest and relaxation (R&R) in Bangkok, Thailand; opinions on two different massacre incidents; Thanksgiving dinner; selection of draftees; ex-lieutenant of a North Vietnamese Army Sapper Corps identifying weaknesses at Fire Base Rifle; comparing the Army to the Marine Corps and Air Force; poetry.
Digital content available
MS02: Four letters from other soldiers to the veteran.
Letter 1: Specialist 4 David Thomas writing to the veteran while both are in Vietnam with 72 days until estimated time of separation (ETS). Topics covered include: rest and relaxation; freedom; being civilians again; statement made by soldier "war is hell but hell has a purpose"; wishing the veteran a Merry Christmas (12/14/1969).
Letter 2: Specialist 5 Larry Gallagher writing to the veteran while both are in Vietnam. This is a Christmas card with a hand written note inside. Topics covered include: Larry being selected for school, leaving 12/18/1969 to return home and letting the veteran know in case he tries to write.
Letter 3: Specialist 4 David Thomas writing to the veteran while both are in Vietnam with 42 days until ETS. Topics covered include: meeting the veteran on March 27, possibly at the Washington Monument; resting up during R&R; David writes about only getting a few rockets in his area; R&R in Australia; mentions Gallagher's early out for school (01/13/1970).
Letter 4: Tom R. LaPisto writing to the veteran after Tom has returned to civilian life and the veteran is almost out. Topics covered include: returning home from Fort Belvoir; driving through a snow storm; getting a ticket in Arkansas; other soldiers they both knew; soldiers trying to get out early; hoping to work part time as an orderly in a hospital then use the G.I. Bill; hoping the veteran is doing well (01/15/1970).
Digital content available
MS05: Copy of 2 poems from MS01, letter 56. Poem/Prose on the topic of what it means to be a man and notes "From Pacific Stars & Stripes." Poem titled "Five Stars Fade Away."
Digital content available
MS03: Unpublished memoir, "Seek and You Will Find," about the veteran's memories of serving on a fire base in Vietnam.
MS04: Certificates, awards, service records, service forms, special orders, and related documents.
Digital content available
PH01-PH190: Trawczynski and fellow soldiers on duty and during free time in Vietnam; Trawczynski during training at Fort Leonard Wood; sightseeing in Washington, DC; on R&R in Australia.
Digital content available
PH191-PH213: Color copies of photographs that belonged to a soldier who served with the veteran in Vietnam.