57 years after Chicago soldier recorded 8,600-word letter from Vietnam, Smithsonian preserves his voice and the sound of a passing helicopter

In March 1969, a 21-year-old American soldier stationed in Vietnam decided to do something different from writing a letter home. Frank A. Kowalczyk switched on a reel-to-reel tape recorder and began speaking to his mother in Illinois, sharing updates about his fellow soldiers, life in the Army, family gossip and his plans for the future. During the approximately 43-minute recording, he spoke more than 8,600 words, while the sound of a helicopter passing overhead captured the reality of a war thousands of miles from home. Fifty-seven years later, the recording is preserved by the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum in Washington, DC.Kowalczyk, a US Army private first class from the Chicago area, was serving with Headquarters, 46th Engineers Battalion, 20th Brigade, at Long Binh Post near Saigon. He had bought the recording machine from another soldier and preferred speaking into a microphone to putting his thoughts on paper.“I figured I’d just sit down and instead of writing you a letter just make use of tape,” he said at the beginning of the recording, explaining that it would be easier because he hated writing. The museum’s catalogue describes the message as having been recorded ...