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Edwin Trawczynski leaning against a jeep, Charlie Aid Station, Vietnam [3/1969]

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: Vietnam War, 1961-1975
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Unit of Service: Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division; 13th Field Hospital
  • Location of Service: Hue, Vietnam; Boc Hoa, Vietnam; A Shau Valley, Vietnam; Fire Base Roy, Vietnam; Camp Ra, Vietnam; Bien Hoa, Vietnam; Camp Eagle, Vietnam; Fire Base Rifle, Vietnam; Fort Sam Houston, Texas; Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri; Fort Belvoir, Virginia
  • Highest Rank: Specialist Five
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/76819

View full service history

"Whenever something happens to me today and I worry about what will happen, I just remember a Sunday afternoon on a Fire Base in Vietnam." (Memoir, page 3)

Arriving in Vietnam in late May 1969, Army medic Edwin Mark "Butch" Trawczynski was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division. Just a month earlier, the 101st had been involved in the infamous Battle of Hamburger Hill, and was now stationed in the A Shau Valley, nicknamed the Valley of Death. As he describes in his short memoir, he was forced to adjust quickly to the rigors of being a combat medic. His extensive photographic documentation of his time in the service illustrates daily scenes of life in Vietnam, while his correspondence with his family narrates his experience from his second day in country until a month before his departure.

[ Photo Album ]

More Resources

[ Memoir: Seek and You Will Find ]
[ Letter to Folks [5/31/1969] ]
[ Letter to Folks [06/04/1969] ]
[ Letter to Folks [06/06/1969] ]
[ Letter to Folks [06/09/1969] ]
[ Letter to Folks [06/20/1969] ]

Show more resources (58)

[ Letter to Folks [06/22/1969] ]
[ Letter to Dave (veteran's brother) [06/25/1969] ]
[ Letter to Folks [06/29/1969] ]
[ Letter to Folks [06/30/1969] ]
[ Letter to Mark [07/01/1969] ]
[ Letter to Ma [07/02/1969] ]
[ Letter to Mark [07/07/1969] ]
[ Letter to Folks [07/07/1969] ]
[ Letter to Folks [07/09/1969] ]
[ Letter to Dave and Mark [07/09/1969] ]
[ Letter to Ma [07/13/1969] ]
[ Letter to Ma [07/19/1969] ]
[ Letter to Ma, Dad, Dave, and Mark [07/19/1969] ]
[ Letter to Dad [07/25/1969] ]
[ Letter to Folks [07/31/1969] ]
[ Letter to Ma [08/01/1969] ]
[ Letter to Folks [08/02/1969] ]
[ Letter to Ma, Pa, Dave, and Mark [08/12/1969] ]
[ Letter to Ma [08/17/1969] ]
[ Letter to Ma, Dad, Dave, and Mark [08/19/1969] ]
[ Letter to Folks [08/28/1969] ]
[ Letter to Folks [08/30/1969] ]
[ Letter to Folks [09/04/1969] ]
[ Letter to Folks [09/06/1969] ]
[ Letter to Folks [09/20/1969] ]
[ Letter to Folks [09/21/1969] ]
[ Letter to Folks [09/26/1969] ]
[ Letter to Dave [09/27/1969] ]
[ Letter to Folks [10/07/1969] ]
[ Letter to Folks [10/08/1969] ]
[ Letter to Folks [10/9/1969] ]
[ Letter to Folks [10/13/1969] ]
[ Letter to Folks [10/14/1969] ]
[ Letter to Folks [10/17/1969] ]
[ Letter to Folks [10/25/1969] ]
[ Letter to Folks [10/30/1969] ]
[ Letter to Ma [11/7/1969] ]
[ Letter to Folks [11/11/1969] ]
[ Letter to Mark [11/12/1969] ]
[ Letter to Dave [11/16/1969] ]
[ Letter to Folks [11/17/1969] ]
[ Letter to Folks [11/17/1969] ]
[ Christmas Card and letter to Folks [11/26/1969] ]
[ Letter to Folks [11/29/1969] ]
[ Letter to Folks [12/01/1969] ]
[ Letter to Folks [12/02/1969] ]
[ Letter to Folks [12/04/1969] ]
[ Letter to Dad [12/04/1969] ]
[ Letter to Folks [12/07/1969] ]
[ Letter to Folks [12/26/1969] ]
[ Letter to Folks [01/11/1970] ]
[ Letter to Folks [02/01/1970] ]
[ Letter to Folks [unknown/1969] ]
[ Two poems, hand copied from the Pacific Edition of Stars and Stripes ]
[ Letter from Dave to the veteran [12/14/1969] ]
[ Christmas card from Larry Gallagher to veteran [12/1969] ]
[ Letter from David Thomas to veteran [1/13/1970] ]
[ Letter from Tom R. LaPisto [1/15/1970] ]

About this Item

Title

  • Edwin Mark Trawczynski Collection

Names

  • Trawczynski, Edwin Mark
  • Lauren, Romana

Home State

  • Illinois

Headings

  • -  Trawczynski, Edwin Mark
  • -  Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.

Repository

  • Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Gender

  • Male

Race

  • White

Status

  • veteran

Service History

  • Vietnam War, 1961-1975

    • Branch of Service: Army
    • Unit of Service: Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division; 13th Field Hospital
    • Location of Service: Hue, Vietnam; Boc Hoa, Vietnam; A Shau Valley, Vietnam; Fire Base Roy, Vietnam; Camp Ra, Vietnam; Bien Hoa, Vietnam; Camp Eagle, Vietnam; Fire Base Rifle, Vietnam; Fort Sam Houston, Texas; Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri; Fort Belvoir, Virginia
    • Highest Rank: Specialist Five
    • Dates of Service: 1968-1970
    • Entrance into Service: Drafted
    • Military Status: veteran
    • Service History Note: The veteran served as a medic.

Materials

  • Manuscript: Correspondence [56 items] -- Handwritten document (collected 1969-1970)
  • Manuscript: Correspondence [4 items] -- Handwritten document (collected 1969-1970)
  • Manuscript: Memoirs [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected unknown)
  • Manuscript: Military papers (orders, personnel/201 files, etc) [36 items] -- Typewritten document (collected 1968-1985)
  • Photograph: Original photographic print [190 items] -- Photograph (collected 1968-1970)
  • Manuscript: Creative works [2 items] -- Handwritten document (collected 1969-1970)
  • Photograph: Copy photographic print [23 items] -- Photograph (collected 1968-1970)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/76819

Cite as

  • Edwin Mark Trawczynski Collection (AFC/2001/001/76819), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

Using VHP Material in Publication or Exhibition

The Veterans History Project (VHP) at the Library of Congress collects, preserves and makes accessible the firsthand recollections of U.S. military veterans who served from World War I through more recent conflicts and peacekeeping missions, so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand what they saw, did and felt during their service. The Veterans History Project Collection includes oral histories along with documentary materials such as original letters, diaries, photographs, and memoirs.

Veterans and interviewers contribute these materials to the Library for scholarly and educational purposes, retaining any copyright they may hold. Therefore, permission must be obtained before using the interview or other materials in exhibition or publication. Researchers or others who would like to make further use of these materials should contact the Veterans History Project for assistance.

As a publicly supported institution, the Library generally does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot give or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute material in its collections. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item from the Library’s collections and for securing any necessary permissions rests with persons desiring to use the item.

Please contact us with questions.

Obtaining Copies of VHP Materials

In order for VHP materials to be duplicated, we must receive written permission from the interviewee for you to obtain a copy of the recording unless the proposed use is limited to personal use, research, or other uses permissible by copyright law. If the interviewee is deceased, their next-of-kin may grant written permission.

Please contact VHP for assistance if you need to contact a veteran for permission to use their materials in exhibition or publication, or if you have received permission from the veteran and need access to high-resolution copies of VHP collection materials.

Citing VHP Materials

Please use the following formats when citing Veterans History Project materials (substituting the appropriate name and collection ID number).

Materials as a whole:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Manuscript material:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Memoirs (MS02), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Transcript (MS04), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Correspondence (MS01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Recording:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Audio recording (SR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Video recording (MV01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Photograph:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Photographs (PH01), photographer unknown, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Photographs (PH03-PH14), Ralph Williams photographer, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Computer file:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Computer file (CF01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Artifact:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Artifact (AR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Trawczynski, Edwin Mark, and Romana Lauren. Edwin Mark Trawczynski Collection. 1968. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.76819/.

APA citation style:

Trawczynski, E. M. & Lauren, R. (1968) Edwin Mark Trawczynski Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.76819/.

MLA citation style:

Trawczynski, Edwin Mark, and Romana Lauren. Edwin Mark Trawczynski Collection. 1968. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.76819/>.