June 16 & 17th 1943. Dad writes two letters home. In one he acknowledges receipt of the letter from home dated June 11, 1943 and thanks his family for the birthday cards. Although Dad’s 20th birthday is not until the 28th, he is appreciative for the wishes and knows “that you tried to pick out the best suited words with a meaning behind them.” He mentions that the roses on one of the cards remind him “of the rose bush that Stanley had by …the fence. …it was very beautiful.” He also writes that, “The card with the planes is very appropriate and is of the heavy model like the ones the 2nd Air Force deals with and Stanley and I are both in the 2nd Air Force.” He will be holding on to the cards for a few more weeks before sending them home so he can enjoy them through his birthday. Below are scans of the cards. You can click on the images to see a larger version.
Cover of the birthday card sent to Dad from his sister for his 2oth birthday. It is interesting to note on the back that the card is an “Official War Stamp Greeting Card” and its publication has been approved by the US Treasury Department. The cover image is a wonderful wartime illustration of Uncle Sam “stamping out” the dictators of the axis powers.
Inside of the card sent by Anna. Note the B-17s and what would today be considered “politically incorrect” language in reference to the Japanese leader.
The birthday card from Dad’s parents with the image of the rose that reminded him of a rose bush in the backyard of the house in Albany. Note the patriotic red, white and blue references in the greeting.
He tells of a power outage that struck the base due to a storm. The outage happened as he was at the GI Theater to see “cartoons and all other pictures.” He mentions that the main feature was Cowboy in Manhattan but no details about the other movies that were shown. He writes, “They just finished flashing the names of actors and directors and were about to show the picture when the lights went out.” He says that they waited about an hour before everyone left and that the outage was due to a storm in the area. The base was affected with “hail and some winds,” In a related comment he also notes that he bought a ticket book for the movies that contains dozen tickets for $1.20 rather than paying fifteen cents for each individual admission.
He also covers a few other topics in short one paragraph sentences:
- He will wait until after his expected furlough before applying to go to “another school” as “at present it seems like I will never see the other side of the Atlantic pond.” All the same he writes, “I can hardly wait to go to ASTP as some of my friends are leaving already and it is a 9 month course.”
- He is happy to hear the baby Theresa-Marie “enjoys our yard and riding around the city… as long as the diapers last from getting wet.”
- He urges his family to continue to write to Joe Miller, who was recently called up to serve in the Navy and notes that, “After he gets used to the Navy…he probably won’t write but at present I’m sure he will enjoy hearing from you and writing to you.”
- He still hasn’t sown his stripe on his shirt, but will do it before coming home on furlough.
- He is glad to hear that Anna husband Eddie has had his deferment extended as “he has you and Theresa-Marie to support.”
In the final paragraph of his letter of the 16th he tells his sister that he is glad to hear that their mother is feeling better and that “mama [has picked] up on her health and peace of mind and relaxation from nervousness.” He also offers the following advice “If ma gets lonesome because nobody wants to argue, maybe you can do your part but watch yourself so you don’t get mama angry. Argue with sense not with tempers. Arguments solve problems which ma might have on her mind even if you have to agree with her to end it. I loved to talk (argue) with mama as most of the time we wound up joking and laughing as it did help in the dull moments.”
He signs off, “Wishing you the best of luck and God bless you all always.”