Topeka Army Air Base
Sort of a Salesman
February 12 and 16, 1944: Dad writes two letters home from Topeka Army Air Base while stationed at the HQ Squadron of the 21st Bomb Wing. Dad is looking forward to going home on his furlough and is dealing with it being delayed and its conditions being changed on him. He also writes to explain … 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
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
I Caught up With Stanley
January 12 and 17, 1944. Dad writes two letters home from Topeka Army Air Base. He is back in Topeka after a few days on the road on Army business. Dad acknowledges receiving Ann’s letters dated January 4 and 6, 1944 and eventually gets her letter of January 10th but not before sharing his own … Continue reading
They Asked for It
January 4 and 7, 1944. Dad writes a couple of letters home. The letter of the 4th is from Topeka Army Air Base while in the letter of the 7th he notes that he is “temporarily away from Topeka” where he’s “been quite busy”. He is serving in the Headquarters Squadron of the 21st Bomb … Continue reading
I Want to do a Good Job
December 31, 1943 and January 1, 1944. Dad writes a few letters home from Topeka. He spends New Year’s Eve staying in camp and enjoying the peace and quiet in the barracks. New Year’s Day sees him working in the office. He recounts a few stories from around camp, reflects on his service, comments on … Continue reading
On the Go
December 9, 10, 12, 17 and 20, 1943. Dad writes several letters home. For the most part they are fairly short. The first and last letters of the batch were written from Topeka Army Air Base while the others were written from locations throughout Nebraska as Dad and others were traveling on official duty. As … Continue reading
Not Even a Consolation Prize
December 2, 5, and 8, 1943. Dad writes several letters home to Albany from Topeka Army Air Base. Most of them are fairly short one page letters just to keep in touch. One of them runs a full four pages. All are handwritten. We get another little glimpse into his work, we learn how he … Continue reading
I Sure Made Up For All of You
November 20 and 25, 1943. Two letters home from Dad. He relays a story about one of the guys who had to ditch a girl in town who was taking advantage of him. He also writes a little about his work and gives a rundown on what was served on base for Thanksgiving. Finally, Dad … Continue reading
A Far Cry from Camp Upton
November 8, 1943. A handwritten letter home from Dad. He mentions getting Anna’s November 4th letter the day before. So if you were wondering, it takes about three days for letter to get from Albany to Topeka. He spends a good bit of his letter writing about the local weather, compares his experience in Topeka to other … Continue reading