Scope and Contents

The collection consists of letters home and photocopies of photographs documenting Specialist 5 Roy Klinger's U.S. Army service as a finance clerk with the 588th Engineer Battalion - eventually being promoted to Assistant Section Chief of the 588th Engineers Finance Office - from July 1967 to July 1968.

Biographical / Historical

Specialist 5 Roy R. Klinger, Jr. was born 5 October 1946 in Valley City, ND. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in August 1966. He completed basic training at Ft. Lewis, WA in October 1966. He was assigned as a clerk in the S-2 Intelligence Section at Ft. Sill, OK in January 1967. He was sent to Vietnam in July 1967 and assigned as a clerk with the 588th Engineer Battalion stationed first at Long Binh and later at Tay Ninh. He later moved into finance work and was responsible for paying and maintaining financial records for soldiers in the unit. He was involved in Operation Yellowstone, working in the field to ensure soldiers' pay problems were handled quickly and then returning to the rear to complete payroll. He spent R&R time in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Okinawa, Japan. During Operation Yellowstone, his unit was attached to the 25th Infantry Division and he handled financial records for two companies. He was in Tay Ninh during the Tet Offensive of 1968. In June 1968, he was promoted to Assistant Section Chief of the 588th Engineers Finance Office. He returned to the United States in July 1968. After his military service, he attended North Dakota State University in Fargo, ND and received his bachelor's degree in accounting. He worked with his familiy at Klinger & Sons John Deere Implement in McVille, ND. He also worked as a sale representative for Reynolds & Reynolds. He later married Rosella Rausch Windingland and they had 3 children together. After Rosella's death, he married Marge Bernhardt Emerson in 1992. He died 25 August 2025.