N0EFD - Red Phone
Thanks to Bob Runyon
| Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Tele-Digest August 14, 1968 |
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12 April 1968
Dear Sir
First of all sir let me introduce myself; I am Cpl Robert Runyon now serving with the Marine Corps in the DaNang area of Vietnam. The unit with which I am now serving is fast approaching a problem with which I believe your company may be able to help me.
I am an operator with the First Marine Division MARS Station and due to the sudden growth of this service we find ourselves striving to improve the quality of our work. We are presently making it possible for any serviceman in the area of our responsibility to call home while he is on active duty in the Combat Zone. This basically is, as I believe you know already, the job of the Navy MARS System. At present we are constructing a Phone Booth thru which people may enjoy as much privacy as is possible in this type of service. We feel that the quality of the service would be improved if we had a “Civilian Type” phone to replace the TA312 presently in use.
Thank you for any and all assistance you may be able to offer in this matter.
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April 23, 1968
Dear Corporal Runyon,
We were pleased to receive your correspondence regarding your need for a telephone set (civilian style) so that you fellows can make your calls back home. We will be most happy to make the arrangements to get you whatever type of a telephone set you need, wall set, combine, etc.; and, I might add, in any color that would match the “décor” of your booth. We have some 118 girls in this office and they want you to know that they are all taking credit for having a small part in making the necessary arrangements to provide you with this equipment. You can rest assured that we in the Company are extremely proud of the job you are all doing in Vietnam.
I do have a couple of questions, however – could you tell me why you chose our office in Santa Ana, are you a local man; tell us a little about yourself and your outfit.
Please let us hear from you in regard to the type of set that you desire and we will make immediate arrangements to air mail it to you.
Best Regards, J. L. McMahon, Jr.
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29 April 1968
Dear Mr. McMahon and your 118 girls
I received your letter today and I must say that I was very happy to receive such swift attention and to note also that I received and enjoyed a letter quite different from the usual “form letter”.
In answer to your question as to my home and choice as to your station as a point to make a request, the reason for choosing your office was fairly simple. Around January of this year I was working “temporarily” at a MARS Radio station in the Red Beach area of “I Corps” of South Vietnam. I found that the station was working with the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company in order to complete their calls for the Marines in that station’s area. I noticed that the operators which we came in contact were very courteous and in general a pleasure to work with. Being as now my station works directly out of a military type switchboard we come in little contact with the personnel of any of the phone companies and so I have fallen back on the past experience with your company to request some assistance in this matter.
We are hoping that it would be possible for you to send us a “RED” wall phone for our phone booth. Being as our décor is “scrounge what you can” almost any color would fit. The main reason for our choice of red is simple. We feel that the phone is probably the one link in this country thru which these men can call home and so it becomes a Hot Line of sorts. I am sure that the phone itself will greatly enhance the performance of this station and so we all thank you for your consideration in this matter.
With an office of 118 girls I can imagine that your job could be and is a most pleasant one. I hope you will extend our appreciation for both your letter and your interest in our station. It is greatly appreciated.
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