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Tagged With: Rail Travel

Too Darn Fast Back to Camp

August 18 & 21, 1943. Dad writes two relatively brief letters home after his furlough. He is getting back into the swing of things in the office at Topeka Army Air Base after two weeks off and a visit home. The train ride to Topeka from Albany took 25 ½ hours. In Dad’s estimation, it … Continue reading »

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A Flower Without Water

May 19, 1943. A letter from Stanley to Dad. There were two letters from Stanley dated May 19th . The previous post covered one of them.  It looks like this is the first of the two that he wrote while home on furlough. He tells about the train trip from Ephrata to Albany, noting “I … Continue reading »

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America Sure is a Big Place

May 2, 1943. A letter from Dad’s friend Joe Damusis. True to his promise in his previous letter of April 29, Joe details his trip from Savanna, Illinois to Sacramento, California. “I’m still at McClellan Field, but not for long. They’re changing this camp from a replacement center to a basic training center. So it … Continue reading »

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Writing From the Mormon City

April 19, 1943. Dad has finished his training at the Savanna Section Ordnance School in Illinios and has shipped out. He says “I am now writing from the Mormon City, Salt Lake City.” It was only about a month ago that his brother, Stanley we stationed at the same base for five days. It looks like … Continue reading »

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Still Further Away

March 21, 1943. A letter from Stanley to Dad on the first full day of spring,  As it is a new season, Stanley finds himself on a new base – Ephrata Air Base in Washington State. He writes, “Here I am again, but still further away. At Salt Lake City we found out before we … Continue reading »

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It Looks Like I Won’t Get Near Home Anymore

Friday March 12, 1943. Stanley writes a quick note to Dad to let him know where he ended up. “Well here I am at an Army Air Base here at Salt Lake City. This is only a reception center. We may stay here from 2 to 10 days before we are shipped out of here. … Continue reading »

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I Am Shipping

Monday, March 8, 1943. Stanley writes Dad a short letter from Oxford, Mississippi. His school, course has ended and he had his final test in the morning. The test was made up of two parts, a section of true/false questions and a section of multiple choice questions. There were a total of 50 questions in … Continue reading »

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Riding the Rails Again

February 14-17 1943. Dad writes home while en route by train to his new assignment at the Savanna Section Ordnance School in northwestern Illinois. The base is located near the Mississippi River, due west of Chicago and not too far from the Wisconsin border. He chronicles his trip. The first detail to note is that, … Continue reading »

Categories: Basic Training, Dad's Letters Home, Miami Beach, Savanna Ordnance School | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

The First Letter from Stanley

January 24, 1943. The first letter from Dad’s brother Stanley is written. Stanley is writing from the University of Mississippi (AKA Ole Miss) in Oxford, Mississippi. After a few perfunctory niceties, he gets on to describing his trip to Mississippi in great detail. The highlights are: January 12: Up at 7AM. Loaded on trucks for … Continue reading »

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