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Ecton, Harry L. (Vietnam War correspondence and photographs)
2020.136.w.r
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
Center for American War Letters Archives
Title: Harry L. Ecton Vietnam War correspondence and photographs
source:
Nave, Diana née Gatrell
Creator:
Ecton, Harry Leon, Private First Class, 1947-1968
Identifier/Call Number: 2020.136.w.r
Physical Description:
0.2 Linear Feet
(3 folders)
Date (inclusive): 1967 June 9 - 1968 February 25
Abstract: This collection contains correspondence from PFC Harry L. Ecton, USA to Diana Gatrell during the Vietnam War. Also included
are 7 letters from Diana returned due to his death, as well as audio correspondence, condolence letters, photographs, and
one black velvet memento from Vietnam.
Language of Material:
English
.
Container: Vietnam 6
Container: 8-12
Container: 1-5
Container: VW O-F 2
This collection is open for research.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Family and Friends of Harry Leon Ecton, always loved and never forgotten; donated by Diana Nave.
This collection is arranged by material type and chronology.
- Series 1, Correspondence from Harry
- Series 2, Correspondence from Diana and other authors
- Series 3, Photographs, clippings, and other materials
Private First Class Harry Leon Ecton, United States Army (9/28/1947 - 1/31/1968) was born in Oberauerbach, Germany to Brigitte
Heintz and Leon Ecton. He was an only child.
Sergeant First Class Leon Garrett Ecton, United States Army (3/31/1921 - 1/10/2001) was born in Maryland to Norman Lester
and Nina Mae Ecton and enlisted in the US Army in December 1945, shipping overseas for occupation forces with a field artillery
unit and eventually serving with Company A, 3rd MTB, 35th Armor in Germany. In Oberauerbach, he met Brigitte Amalie Heintz
(12/30/1924 - 5/6/2019), daughter of Otto and Amalie Heintz, and together they had their son Harry in 1947. They later married
in May 1955 in Augsberg and moved to the US in January 1956 (according to naturalization petition filed May 1959 in San Antonio,
Texas; via Ancestry.com).
Harry grew up with his parents in Sharpsburg, Maryland and he graduated from Boonsboro High School in 1965 where he met his
girlfriend Diana Gatrell; she turned 16 years old in December 1967. After graduation, he worked for State Farm insurance until
he was drafter into service on June 1, 1967. He trained at Fort Bragg, North Carolina and after a short reassignment to Fort
Knox, Kentucky deployed to Vietnam on October 22, 1967 with the Toop A (originally Troop C for the first week in country),
3rd Squadron, 5th US Cavalry "Black Knights" of the 9th Infantry Division. He served as an armor reconnaissance specialist.
Harry Ecton died as a result of wounds he received from small arms fire during a firefight in the Biên Hòa province of South
Vietnam near Saigon on January 31, 1968, just over three months in country. He was interred at Boonsboro Cemetery in Maryland
and is represented on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC on Panel 36E, Line 7. His parents never had any
other children; according to the donor, his mother Brigitte never recovered from her loss.
Statement of Potentially Harmful Content
This collection may contain materials that are difficult to view, are potentially harmful, or use outdated and culturally
insensitive language. Chapman University preserves and makes these materials accessible to researchers to ensure long-term
accuracy of these historical records. This repository aims to not promote or otherwise celebrate this content, but to use
it for educational and research purposes.
Please see the National Archives and Records Administration's (NARA) "Statement on Potentially Harmful Content" for more information:
https://www.archives.gov/research/reparative-description/harmful-content
[Item title / description; Box "n" / Folder "n"], Harry L. Ecton Vietnam War correspondence and photographs (2020.136.w.r),
Center for American War Letters Archives, Chapman University, CA.
For the benefit of current and future researchers, please cite any additional information about sources consulted in this
collection, including permanent URLs, item or folder descriptions, and box/folder locations.
This collection contains 70 letters and postcards from PFC Harry L. Ecton, USA to his girlfriend Diana Gatrell during the
Vietnam War. Also included are 7 letters from Diana returned due to his death, as well as two 3-inch audio reel to reel tapes,
one containing an audio correspondence, condolence letters from military personnel, photographs, clippings, and one black
velvet memento from Vietnam.
There are no restrictions on the use of this material except where previously copyrighted material is concerned. It is the
responsibility of the researcher to obtain all permissions.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Vietnam War (1961-1975) -- Correspondence
War -- Death notification
Last letters before death
Battle casualties
Nave, Diana née Gatrell