Two veterans not featured in the radio broadcast
David Terry Smith (aka: Snuffy), 1949 - 1974
Terry was born in Madison, WI, and raised in Boscobel. He studied at the Madison campus of the University of Wisconsin before enlisting in the army in June 1969.
Sergeant Smith served as a mortar squad leader (E Co., 1-46 Inf., 196th Inf. Bde. [Light], 23rd Inf. Div. [Americal]) near Chu Lai from June, 1970 to May 1971, when he was discharged. He returned to Madison and worked for a cable television company. Smith died on May 3, 1974.
Most of the tapes are sent from LZ Mary Ann, Vietnam.
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Merlyn Snyder
During World War II the Pepsi-Cola Company operated three canteens or centers around the country: one in New York City’s Times Square, one in Washington, DC and one in San Francisco, CA. The centers provided shaves, showers, checking, a lounge, and reading and writing facilities, all at no cost to service men and women. They also offered a low cost sandwich bar with free Pepsi and a central place to leave and receive messages.
Millions of service men and women and their families recorded 78 r.p.m. audio letters during the war years courtesy of Pepsi-Cola. Merlyn Snyder of Metamora, Ohio was one of them. In 1945 he was stationed in San Diego, California, but had been sent to Washington, DC on business where he made a record and sent it home to his parents. His son Ed Snyder sent us a DAT dub of the recording.
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