Preston LeRoy (Lee) Mabe was born October 5, 1942 in Pocatello, Idaho. He graduated from the University of Idaho in 1966 with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. Two months after graduating he received a draft notice and was sent to Fort Lewis, Washington for training. He entered the U.S. Army infantry, graduating from the U.S. Army Special Warfare School in Fort Bragg, North Carolina in October 1967.
In 1968, Mabe was sent to Vietnam, where he served with the 10th Psychological Operations Battalion. While there he worked with the Propoganda Development Center (PDC). The PDC developed leaflets and tapes used to try and persuade members of the Viet Cong to return to the Vietnam government. Mabe was honorably discharged from the army in July 1967.
The primary material in this collection includes a scrapbook from Mabe's time serving in Vietnam between 1966-1967. Also in the collection is a guide book and media guide for the 10th Pyschological Operations Battalion. This includes propaganda leaflets with translations and guidelines for creating such materials.
Other materials include a poster in Vietnamese, some mailers, a Psyops form, and a couple of items in Vietnamese (one with a drafted translation).
Note that the scrapbook has unrelated photographs interspersed throughout.
This collection is open for research.
Materials transferred from College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences in 2017. (MA 2017-20 and MA 2017-23)
[DESCRIPTION OF ITEM], Preston L. Mabe papers, MG 476, Special Collections and Archives, University of Idaho Library, Moscow, ID