Dad’s Letters Home
What a Beautiful Island
July 11 and 12, 1945. Dad writes two letters home from Guam where he is with the 331st Bomb Group. He sends his best wishes to his family and hopes that everyone is “in the best of health, Anna especially with her expected child.” Mail is taking some time to get to him as he … Continue reading
I Hope to Amount to Something
June 18 and 24, 1945: Dad writes two letters home from Guam. He acknowledges that he received two letters that his mother wrote to him dated May 6 and 13 in reply to a letter that he wrote her on April 17 while he was on the troop ship headed to the islands. He comments, … Continue reading
We Aren’t Here on a Picnic
June 9, 10 and 11, 1945: Dad writes a few short letters home to let his family know that he is “in very good condition.” He comments that “The boat trip sort of wore me down but that is behind me. I’m looking forward to the one which will being me home to you folks … Continue reading
We Must Keep Their Morale Up
June 1 and 5, 1945. Dad writes two letters home from Guam. Every day the camp on the island is getting closer to being comfortably inhabitable. He writes about the preparations that are happening. “We just got electric lights [and] a public address system setup over which we get [the] latest news and music. The … Continue reading
This is Quite the Place Now
May 28, 1945. We have a V-mail from Dad to his family back home in Albany. Also, in a departure from the usual, we have a letter that Dad wrote to his brother Stanley. A far as his note home, he mentions that he is “getting hot meals and they taste pretty good.” He also … Continue reading
I Have to Laugh Now
May 23, 1945. Dad is settling in at Northwest Field on Guam and has a chance to write a letter home to share a few of the details of his trip to the Pacific Theater. He notes that he is “fine and things are improving…by the day. I am now getting a suntan and getting … Continue reading
On Land in the Pacific Somewhere
May 13 and 14, 1945. Having finally arrived at his destination, Dad writes two V-Mails home. It looks like a letter from home dated April 10, 1945 was waiting for him and he received a letter from Stanley which he “read by the campfire”. He reports “I have my two feet on dry land” and … Continue reading
Somewhere in the Pacific
April 17, 1945: Dad has finally left the continental United States and is on his way to his next assignment. He writes a short letter home while aboard a troop transport ship. For the most part, I am transcribing it in its entirety below. At the top of the letter he writes, “Somewhere in the … Continue reading
The Letter You Might Have Been Expecting
April 6 and 11, 1945: Dad writes two letters home. From all indications, it looks like the day of his deployment overseas is at hand. On the 6th he gets right down to the business at hand. “Well, this is the letter which you might have been expecting for quite a while, in which I … Continue reading
The Easter I Remember Back Home
April 1 and 4, 1945. Dad writes a few letters home from McCook, Nebraska. It is Easter on base and there is a “cold wind…which makes you start sniffling. However, when the sun does come out, it warms you up and you can feel the cold going away… Easter around here has been like the … Continue reading