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Research Center, and the holder of the copyright, if not Swem Library.
Conditions Governing Access:
Collection is open to all researchers. Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or
confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, such as the Virginia
Public Records Act (Code of Virginia. § 42.1-76-91); and the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (Code of Virginia § 2.2-3705.5).
Confidential material may include, but is not limited to, educational, medical, and personnel records. If sensitive material
is found in this collection, please contact a staff member immediately. The disclosure of personally identifiable information
pertaining to a living individual may have legal consequences for which the College of William and Mary assumes no responsibility.
Preferred Citation:
Stan Skalski Papers, Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library, College of William and Mary.
Acquisition Information:
Purchase.
Processing Information:
Accessioned and minimally processed December 2009. Further arranged by Nathaniel Baako, SCRC Staff, in December 2009. Further
described by Peter Klicker, SCRC Staff, in March 2010.
This collection consists of letters, 1966-1968, written by Stan Skalski to his fiancee Caren Brereton in Philadelphia. The
majority of the letters concern Skalski's basic training as a Private First Class for the U.S. Army at Fort Jackson, Georgia
and Fort Gordon, Georgia, and later his airborne training at Fort Benning, Georgia and Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Skalski
describes various training exercises and his overall acclimation to army life, but also writes at length about personal matters.
He frequently mentions family members and mutual acquaintances in Philadelphia, as well as wedding plans. The nine months
worth of letters written during Skalski's tour in Vietnam describe the activities of his patrol near the Phan Rang Air Base,
located in then South Vietnam. Skalski discusses guard duty on base and encounters with the Viet Cong in the surrounding
area. He received two promotions between April and June of 1968, eventually making the rank of sergeant. In addition to these
written correspondences, the collection includes a newspaper clipping from the Screaming Eagle, a publication of the 101st
Airborne Division, which mentions the activity of Skalski's patrol; two postcards without writing from Saigon; and a boarding
pass for the 8346th Air Division, tactical airlift to Phan Rang. A scrapbook maintained by Skalski contains photographs of
his military training, including what appears to be a mock Vietnamese village, as well as service related ephemera and artifacts.
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