Finding Aid for the Harry L. Ecton Vietnam War correspondence and photographs 2020.136.w.r

Andrew Harman

Center for American War Letters Archives

2/10/2023

Leatherby Libraries

Chapman University

Orange, CA 92866

speccoll@chapman.edu

URL: http://www1.chapman.edu/library/archives/

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

Conditions Governing Access

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.

Arrangement

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

Biographical / Historical

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

Preferred Citation

[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.

Content Description

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.

Conditions Governing Use

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

box Vietnam 6, folder 8-10, folder 1-3

Series 1, Correspondence from Harry 1967 June 9 - 1968 January 30

Physical Description: 0.2 Linear Feet(2 folders)

Scope and Contents

This series contains 70 letters and one audio correspondence tape from PFC Harry L. Ecton, USA to Diana Gatrell during the Vietnam War.

Harry's correspondence begins with a letter from basic combat training at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. During training he wrote frequently and discussed his training, having his head shaved, and general conditions while asking about news from home in Sharpsburg, Maryland with a hope of feeling less homesick. On June 16, he mentioned passing the test to attend officers candidate school (OCS), though he never does, and in his next letter notes that "all we hear here is that we are all going to Vietnam, no one believes them."

His first letter from Fort Knox, Kentucky after basic training was written August 12 and he mentions hoping to get home around October 23 for a two-week furlough before OCS, though he would ultimately leave for Vietnam one day before that date. In his letter dated August 23 he says, referring to an article in the Morning Herald,

"there were about 3 officers schools closing. The on I was supposed to go to on Nov. 6 closed down. The ones left open can only be attended by persons with 4 years of college, they are doing this because there have been so many officers coming out of OCS."

He follows by saying that he would be home on leave earlier because of this, and then expecting to go to Germany, Korea, or Vietnam.

From Fort Knox, most of Harry's discussion is on getting home. He opines in late August about moving from "this rotten place and then I'll be moving on to another dump." He continued, "The Army is a big joke you don't realize how crazy it is until you are in it and then it's too late." NOTE: the letter dated August 5 is actually incorrectly dated and should be September 5. On September 13 he wrote,

"We just came back from a patrol, it gives you a very strange feeling when you are doing something like this and you suddenly realize that in a few months you could be doing the same thing only it will be for real."

In the letter postmarked September 25, he writes Diana a short note to thank her for a wonderful weekend. "It really was great to be home again and see the people you miss so much," he told her.

In October Harry sent a postcard from Oakland, California followed by a letter, saying, "You can't possibly realize how hard it was for me to leave your house yesterday. It was the first time in many years that I cried." On October 25 and 26, he sent postcards as he arrived in Hawaii and the Philippines, respectively, on his way to Vietnam. He arrived shortly after and wrote letter (undated) from Camp Martin Cox, aka Bear Cat, near Biên Hòa. After joining his unit, Troop A, 3/5 Cav, 9th Div. he found out that all "towns, villages and cities are off limits to our division."

Very early in November Harry writes about going out on patrol and seeing Viet Cong but with no action. He tells Diana that he is in good health, "but I am not the happiest person around," though her first letters he received since arriving made him feel much better. As the correspondence continues, he tells a little about his experiences in the jungle and on the roads, including weather and crossing rivers, patrols and guarding bridges or convoys, but not much regarding combat. He mentions that they are moving toward the coast and on December 5 says they are five miles away from the ocean.

We are finding a lot of small villages but by the time we get there everyone has left. The other day we found some ammunition in one of the huts. When they hear us coming they just leave everything behind and take off."

A couple letters later Harry tells her that things are getting "livelier...last night one of the vehicles was shot at with a RPG [rocket propelled grenade] round and when your hit with that you can just about hang it up. But that doesn't happen very often."

On December 13, Harry mentions listening to the radio and President Lyndon Johnson comes on to speak, to which he writes "I'm about ready to turn it off." On the December 16, they move to a place called "Firestone Trail or Mine Alley" after a report that a company of Viet Cong were there. He also mentions hearing a rumor about a cessation of bombing for Christmas and New Year, which he hopes does not happen as "the Viet Cong just use this time to re-supply and build up their strength."

On December 18, he writes Diana that he doesn't see any Viet Cong because their vehicles are too loud to sneak up on them. He then discusses Christmas:

"Yes this Christmas will be different from any other. We had church services...it was a new experience to carry a rifle along and during the sermon the cannons were going off and people had to run out during the sermon to go on a mission."

They then sang songs while "about 2 miles away you could see and hear a air strike going on, it sure is quite a experience." December includes one Christmas card and a birthday card for Diana.

On December 20 Harry wrote "Last night was the first time I have seen action since being over here." His patrol came close to some enemy soldiers who threw a grenade close to them, but nobody was hurt. He goes on to mention identifying civilians but not trusting them; some racial terminology is used. In his next letter, he begins by saying he is still shaky from the night before:

We were attacked last night, it started off with mortars and some small rockets, we had to move out to support a camp with some friendly Vietnamese soldiers, about halfway there our tank hit a mine but it wasn't hurt, we moved on and one of the other vehicles was hit by a RPG round and it caught on fire, we were receiving sniper fire but luck was with us and noone was hit, we moved on again without lights on and another vehicle ran into a hole which had been blown in the road, we finally reached the camp but it was too late, they had overrun the camp and were gone. We were lucky last night..."

He finishes with by saying that will be enough war stories for this time.

On Christmas Eve Harry mentions getting hit again, though nobody was hurt, but he continues using the word "livelier" to describe their situation. He tells Diana that his unit bought a puppy, which was apparently a popular thing for US units to do so they could ride on their vehicles. He also wrote the next day and explains how strange it is that Christmas feels just like any other day over there. Two days later they moved to protect some engineers apparently further in the rear where he was able to shower and hot meals saying, "Everyone was glad to leave that last place because we were being hit almost everyday." NOTE: the January 3 envelope is empty.

On January 3, Harry tells Diana that the two tapes arrived (the same included in this collection) but he has not had a chance to borrow a tape recorder. He later bought a tape recorder and tells her that the first side of the tape will be for her entire family and the second just for her. He recorded that tape, exactly as he intended with one side for them and one for her, on January 9. On the recording, which he says he has a hard time filling, some music can be heard in the background and he tells them he is glad they had a great Christmas, lamenting that he and his fellow soldiers did not. He tells them that guarding engineers at "JOA" is the easiest mission so far but that he is leaving the next day to go back to "jungle busting." He ends by mentioning the puppy, at the time chewing on the cord of his recorder. The other side of the tape is much shorter, but is very reminiscent of his letters with similar questions about school, her pony, and other friends.

On January 12, Harry relays that his unit left Gia Ray (Đồng Nai province) and stayed at Black Horse one night (base camp of the 11th Armored Cavalry), having not been back to their base camp since November 30. He then describes setting up a "blocking force" in the next letter, whereby his unit waits at the end of a patch of jungle while bombing raids attempt to kill or push the enemy toward them.

On January 20, he says that he has another easy mission, allowing men to go into town, Xuân Lộc, but he fears that "they are resting us up for something big." He went into a bar called "Diana's Bar" where everything was expensive; "These people are making a lot of money off the GIs." While at this location, Harry's unit is a "reactionary force, if anything happens around here we will have to go and help."

On January 28, he tells Diana, "We are leaving Xuan Loc tomorrow and the end of the good days." Their new mission is to stop ambushes along a particular road.

In his last letter, dated January 30 one day before he was killed, he writes that he received Diana's audio letter and another letter and was glad to hear her voice, and he would try to fill up a tape soon, but that everyone was sad because their puppy died of an illness. Harry was killed in combat the next day.

box Vietnam 6, folder 11, folder 4

Series 2, Correspondence from Diana and other authors 1968 January - February 25

Physical Description: 0.02 Linear Feet(1 folder)

Scope and Contents

This series contains seven letters from Diana Gatrell to PFC Harry L. Ecton, USA during the Vietnam War. Also included are two letters of condolence from senior military officials regarding Harry's death in 1968.

The last five of the letters in this collection written by Diana were returned and stamped "Verified Deceased, Return to Sender." The first letter was dated January 22 and the first returned letter dated January 24; there is one undated letter. The last letter included was dated January 31, the day Harry was killed in action. In it Diana writes Harry, "With all of this fighting going on I hope you are in a safe spot. I have been fine and I hope you are the same."

Both of the other two letters in this series are typed condolence letters addressed to Harry's parents and dated February 25, 1968. One was sent by Captain Ralph B. Garretson, Jr., USA, commanding officer of Troop A, 3rd Squadron, 5th Cavalry, 9th Infantry Division. The other letter was sent by Major General G.G. O'Connor, USA, commanding officer of the 9th Infantry Division. Both letters include some small details about the incident that took Harry's life and some kind words about him.

box Vietnam 6, folder 12, folder 5, folder VW O-F 2

Series 3, Photographs, clippings, and other materials 1965 June - 1968 February

Physical Description: 0.02 Linear Feet(1 folder, 1 oversized folder)

Scope and Contents

This series contains 14 photographs of various sizes depicting PFC Harry L. Ecton, USA and his family, as well as clippings relating to his death, as well as one funeral program. The photographs include those of Harry as a baby with his parents, his high school graduation, several in uniform, incuding one sent to his parents with a note on the back from basic training, and his grandparents. There is one large photograph of Harry's remains in an open casket at his funeral, wearing his green Army uniform. The clippings include several copies of an obituary note, including one photocopied version, and one newsletter piece about his death from Trinity Congregation.

Also included is one 12.5 inch diameter circle felt with an illustration of of an American soldier. It includes a background scene of Vietnam, three flags (South Vietnam, USA, South Korea) and a banner at the bottom, "I MISS YOU DIANE." The solider is depicted with Ecton's name tag and tears on his face.