Author Archives: John
He Was at Pearl Harbor
February 7, 10 & 11, 1943. A few letters to the boys from back home. Everybody is in a celebratory mood, with Eddie having just turned twenty-five, and Eddie’s Uncle Leo home from an extended tour with the Navy. Although Dad has not been away as long as Uncle Leo, Anna writes that they are looking … Continue reading
A Chow Line a Mile Long
February 4 and 9, 1944: Two V-mails to Dad from Stanley in Deenethorpe. Aside from work, Stanley’s days are filled with routine chores like laundry and diversions from the routine including USO shows and the ever present radio broadcasts. Aide from that, it is the dead of winter and Stanley writes about what it is like to … Continue reading
The Pleasant Experience of Army Life
February 5, 6 & 9, 1944: Three relatively short letters home from Dad while he is stationed with the HQ Squadron of the 21st Bomb Wing at Topeka Army Air Base. He is working out the final details of his upcoming furlough and describes some of the routine daily things that happen on base. As … Continue reading
She Completely Owns Him
February 1 and 4, 1944: two letters from home. For the most part the first letter of February 1944 is all about the baby. Aside from that, Anna expresses some concern that the letters from Dad seem to be coming less often. She also fills her brothers in on some news about a few of … Continue reading
A Military Crease
January 21, 26, 28 & 30, 1944: four V-mails from Stanley to Dad. Stanley is in Deenethorpe, England with the 613th Bombardment Squadron of the 401st Bomb Group while dad is in Topeka with the 21st Bomb Wing. Stanley reports that “life is going on as usual.” He mentions that he is enjoying some music on … Continue reading
Another Crate of Oranges
January 24 and 27, 1944: two letters from home. The month is winding down in on Orange Street in Albany. The baby has just hit the fifteen month mark, and there is much to report on her growing up. Aside from that, life goes on with outings to the movies, gifts from one of Eddie’s … Continue reading
Pin Them Stripes on Mama and Daddy
January 24 and 30, 1944: two letters home from Dad while he is stationed with the 2nd Bomb Wing in Topeka. Dad has a few more things to say about his promotion to Staff Sergeant. He is keeping up with the war news, is planning for an upcoming furlough, and provides some color as to … Continue reading
The Dampness Gets Me
January 12, 13 and 17: Three V-Mails to Dad in Topeka from his brother Stanley in Deenethorpe. Given the space limitations of the V-Mail format, the self-censorship, and the active military censorship (each V-Mail passes through and is signed off by a censor) substantive information is often hard to come across. However, the V-mails are … Continue reading
I Wish I Could Do More
Mid-January, 1944. Dad receives several letters from friends and cousins back home in Albany, NY. With letters from three different people, the news is pretty disjointed. That said; two of the writers are members of the St. Cecilia’s Choir, so dad gets a good update on the latest from them. Please excuse the seemingly random … Continue reading
Kuka
January 17 & 20, 1944. Anna writes two letters to her brothers. She gets them caught up on news about some of their friends and family from Albany who are in the service, as well as the latest “gossip” about what is happening on Orange Street. As always, Anna writes about the latest antics of … Continue reading