One of my goals in sharing the Welch family stories in Vietnam is to convey the odd juxtaposition of the extremes of global politics and war with the seemingly mundane events of everyday life.
And nothing strikes me as more mundane than a hobby.
In our early years, it was stamps. I still have my little stamp albums in which I collected myriad images of animals and the outdoors.
For my mother, it must have been a lifesaver. At the end of September, she had written to her parents:
Now - regarding stamps - - the big word in this house - - they even have me doing it! It would be great if you would send the stamps over — this hobby takes care of many hours that would otherwise be spent tearing the joint up.
On October 25, 1974, she wrote that the stamps had arrived and would fill many a rainy afternoon “of which we seem to have many during the rainy season.”
My dad, James E. Welch, had been a fan of collecting from a very young age. He wrote about it in a 1941 high school report, an autobiography of sorts.
Chapter Nine | Hobbies | Since 1933 I have been an active philatelist more or less consistently . . . It may be truly said that one who enjoys and understands philately is awaited by many happy hours of enjoyment.
He kept up his love of stamps for years, going so far as to beseech the director of the CIA, William Colby, to hand over this April 1975 envelope from Borgata Trigoria (Metropolitan City of Rome Capital).
Though I don’t know the whole story behind that envelope, I sure wish I did. Does it indicate a close friendship between the two men? Or perhaps it was in going in the trash and my father rescued it at the last minute? Maybe a secretary knew of my father’s philately passion and routed it to him via inter-office mail.
The desire to know the story behind this particular envelope brought to mind a scene from the 1987 movie Throw Mama from the Train in which student Owen Lift (Danny DeVito) shows his writing teacher Larry Donner (Billy Crystal) his collection of coins.
At first, it’s absurd; the coins are just plain ol’ everyday money.
Then Owen begins to explain: “This one here I got in change when my dad took me to see Peter, Paul, and Mary, and this one I got in change when I bought a hot dog at the circus.”
The simple quarters, nickels, and penny are transformed into poignant keepsakes by the nature of the stories behind them. And so, I began to look more closely at some of the mail archives I have.
These 1955 stamps are from a postcard my father sent home to his parents from Europe.
You can see his wry sense of humor showing through the last line: “Rita is somewhat apprehensive about getting back down [on the cable car] so I thought the card should be mailed here.”
“X” marks the spot where my father was writing the postcard.
This 1958 stamp is from a letter my Aunt Jean Williams wrote to my father congratulating him on his upcoming nuptials.
This 1968 stamp, though plain, is one of my favorites.
It was affixed to a cardboard postcard telling me my daddy was coming home soon.
This May 1975 stamp brought the good news to us in Idaho that my father was safe and sound after his escape from Vietnam on April 30 when the country fell.
And last but not least, this 2005 stamp brought us the letter from my father’s staff member that confirmed that all the family legends were indeed true.
When I returned to Saigon in 2015, I was delighted to find a stamp album in the same blue as my childhood version! I often perseverate over purchases, but this one, I bought immediately.
Find out more about my work and books at Kat-Fitzpatrick.com. My narrative nonfiction story, For the Love of Vietnam: a war, a family, a CIA official, and the best evacuation story never heard is available by request wherever books are sold.
Wonderful! And definitely motivated me to subscribe.
What a treasure you have in these postcards and letters, Kat. So much more than a stamp collection, they are relics of your family history. I can feel your father's relief as he makes his escape,, while at the same time he worries about friends who may be left behind. Thank you for sharing these intimate moments!