This cover is a familiar lettersheet with an "M3 type" pre-printed stamp that allowed it to be sent via the Vietnamese military postal system without additional postage. In this case, the cover was dispatched from KBC 4820 from a soldier to his wife. There is nothing special about the contents.
The interesting aspect is the Bao Dam (registered) marking. The military free-frank privilege did not cover additional services like express mail or registration. What is going on here? My guess is that the sender worked at the military post office (or had a friend who did) and took advantage of access to the Bao Dam handstamp to upgrade his mail. It looks like it worked, as no postage due was visibly assessed on arrival.
Andrew,
ReplyDeleteI do not believe this one ever entered the mail stream. The cover has appropriate unit level origination marks but no tranist, transfer or arrival markings. No doubt the Bao Dam and KBC are genuine but I still see no indication it was mailed. I think the clerk gave it back to the sender for anyone of many reasons. The lack of a Bao Dam registry or control number also tells me that this cover "stayed in the rear with the gear. But, then again, as my wife, children, grandchildren, students and dog fondly remind me, "You have been wrong before!"
Best of luck with this great blogsite. Bob M