From:  Bob Morecook

   Dated:  March 1, 2017

Subject:  Anyone Recall Meeting Any Playboy Playmates in Vietnam?

Thanks, Nancy!


    From:  Jim Anderson

   Dated:  March 2, 2017

Subject:  Anyone Recall Meeting Any Playboy Playmates in Vietnam?

In honor of the visit of Jo Collins, the club of the 120th Aviation Company at Tan Son Nhut was named the Playboy Lounge.


    From:  Brian Wickham

   Dated:  March 1, 2017

Subject:  Anyone Recall Meeting Any Playboy Playmates in Vietnam?

Playmates were everywhere in the Army.  Most guys had a foldout in the door of their personal locker at HQ Co Ft. Gordon.  My roommate in Saigon at the Walling Hotel BEQ had the attached picture taped to the wall over his bed.  This was late 1968 to early 1969. 
Brian 


Playboy Magazine and the Playmates

Playboy Magazine played a big part in the lives of those of the Vietnam Generation.

March 2017

    From:  Mike McNally

   Dated:  March 1, 2017

Subject:  Anyone Recall Meeting Any Playboy Playmates in Vietnam?

During the height of the Vietnam War, Playmate of the Year 1965 Jo Collins flew across the world to comfort U.S. soldiers stationed in the country.  From visiting wounded soldiers to signing autographs, here’s a look back at a piece of Playboy’s history with Jo Collins.


    From:  Ann Kelsey

   Dated:  March 1, 2017

Subject:  Anyone Recall Meeting Any Playboy Playmates in Vietnam?

Playboy was a very popular magazine in my libraries.  I even have a picture of a soldier in the Cam Ranh Library happily reading an issue.  Playboy was also included in the book kits shipped out to company day rooms and field units by the Library Service Center in Saigon, along with Stars and Stripes and paperback books.


    From:  Jim Anderson

   Dated:  March 1, 2017

Subject:   How Playboy Explains Vietnam

Click Here


    From:  Ken Kalish

   Dated:  March 2, 2017

Subject:   How Playboy Explains Vietnam

Steve, we had a name for the mailroom folks who did such things (including opening goodie packages and helping themselves).  We called them wharf rats. 
Ken Kalish


    From:  Steve Pennington

   Dated:  March 2, 2017

Subject:   How Playboy Explains Vietnam

HA!  Thanks, Ken.


AFVN Group Conversations

    From:  Nancy Smoyer

   Dated:  March 1, 2017

Subject:  Anyone Recall Meeting Any Playboy Playmates in Vietnam?

My connection to Playboy in Vietnam was in one of the games I made up to bring to the guys in my role as a Donut Dollie.   Here's what I wrote about in a piece I wrote called "Playing Games." 
"My favorite game was based on Concentration.  We cut out the faces of the Playmates of the Month, put them on a big board covered over, then had teams try to match the pairs of faces.  The reaction when the first card was turned over and they realized what they were seeing was great.  We girls eventually learned which month each of the playmates was from.  The best part was the "wild card."  Do you remember the picture of the grizzly old man with no teeth?  Well, he was behind one of the cards and when the guys saw him, the hoots that greeted the playmates was nothing compared to what he got!" 
I appreciate this part of the article--the most important aspect to me, i.e., support the troops.  "Their stance may have been critical of the president, the administration, the military leaders and the strategy, but they made sure the contributors made every effort to stay supportive of the soldiers." 
Nancy


    From:  Steve Pennington

   Dated:  March 2, 2017

Subject:  Anyone Recall Meeting Any Playboy Playmates in Vietnam?

When I left for Vietnam my wife of 6 months decided to subscribe to Playboy for me.  For the entire year the magazine came to me with pages missing, centerfold gone from most copies and even one month having the cover gone and name, box and APO number written on the first page in pencil.  It got frustrating to start a story and find the last page missing.

SLP