WW2 Letters

[ww2vault]

Hi,

 

I really enjoy WW2 letters and photos for they tell a lot about how the war was, and each photo/letter has a whole different story associated with it. Some of my favorite letters includes a group of letters from a POW and another group from a USMC Marine who was first stationed at Cherry Point, NC.

 

Another interesting letter I own that I found to be neat was a letter from a lady who's fiancee was overseas during the war. At the bottom of the letter she kissed the paper and her lipstick is still embedded on it, below it she wrote, (stupid) for she must of thought it was a stupid thing to do. (It's kind of hard to see in the photo but it is a lot easier to see when you are actually holding it.)

 

Feel free to post some of you favorite or interesting letters in your collection, I would love to see and hear about them.

 

- Jeff

[siege1863]

I have many letters as well. However, it will require a lot of digging to locate the ones with interesting content. Here is one that I have framed and on the wall. It is a single letter found among a bunch of unrelated stuff. It certainly rates at the top of my list of favorites.

 

[KASTAUFFER]

I collect POW letters, but also have a number of non-POW related corresponence groups as well.

 

This is from one of my favorites. The sender was a PFC with the 306th Infantry Regiment , 77th Division. He was with the unit through all of the campaigns the 306th fought during the war. He wrote this letter during the battle of Leyte in the Philippines on 12/26/44 after a Bonzai attack . His letters are unique because they are written to his father who was a WWI vet and he wrote as one vet would write to another. The censor of his unit also did " litttle censoring" and many of the letters have fantastic content . Some of the letters are written on Japanese postcards and paper because he couldnt find any other writing material.

 

 

Kurt

 

 

[KASTAUFFER]

Here is a POW postcard I bought 2 weeks ago on Ebay. It is from a S/Sgt who was shot down on the famous Ploesti raid August 1, 1943. His plane was called " WING DINGER ". POW mail from Americans held in Romania is extremelly scarce. You will have an easier time finding a D-bail M-1 . There are currently only about 10 of these cards in collector's hands right now that have been cataloged .

 

The quote below is from www.44thbombgroup.com

 

"The last of the 66th aircraft lost on 1 August was that flown by Lt. George W. Winger, and whose position in the formation was on the right of Lt. Gentry. Lt. Winger was flying a B-24 that was mistakenly reported to be bright orange in color. As this formation was on their bomb run, Winger’s ship was knocked aside by an explosion, and crossed directly below Hughes’ ship. On the other side of the target, Winger was still in the air but his aircraft was now an orange color because its Tokyo fuel tanks were aflame in the bomb bay. The pilots evidently knew that the end was near. Lt. Hunn said, “Winger climbed steeply to about five hundred feet. It must have taken him and his co-pilot (Barnett) enormous effort to get her high enough for people to bail out.” And two men did jump out of the waist ports, and their parachutes opened as the ship crashed and exploded. Winger and his men had completed 27 missions and were legally “retired” but chose to go on one more mission as it was so important to the war effort. The chutists, who had received the gift of life from their pilots, were gunners Michael J. Cicon and Bernard G. Traudt. Traudt was a seventeen year-old with a perpetual grin. He landed unhurt, concealed his chute, and crawled under some bushes and went to sleep. He had gotten no sleep the night before. Later he stated, “The other waist gunner, Michael Cicon, and I bailed out at approximately 500 feet, due to the fact that the plane was on fire and the bail out alarm rang. The plane hit the ground before we did, and we did not see any one else get out.” Lt. John Harmonoski reported that he saw Lt. Winger salute him just before he pulled his airplane upwards!"

 

 

[KASTAUFFER]

Here is a Japanese postcard mailed from the Philippines by the 77th Div soldier whose letter I posted earlier.

 

Kurt

 

[KASTAUFFER]

Hi,

 

I really enjoy WW2 letters and photos for they tell a lot about how the war was, and each photo/letter has a whole different story associated with it. Some of my favorite letters includes a group of letters from a POW and another group from a USMC Marine who was first stationed at Cherry Point, NC.

 

Another interesting letter I own that I found to be neat was a letter from a lady who's fiancee was overseas during the war. At the bottom of the letter she kissed the paper and her lipstick is still embedded on it, below it she wrote, (stupid) for she must of thought it was a stupid thing to do. (It's kind of hard to see in the photo but it is a lot easier to see when you are actually holding it.)

 

Feel free to post some of you favorite or interesting letters in your collection, I would love to see and hear about them.

 

- Jeff

 

Jeff

 

Post some of the POW letters you have

 

Kurt

[siege1863]

Here are a couple of POW items, but with a twist! In the course of writing a history of the German POW camp located at Clinton, Mississippi, I have acquired more than two dozen original letters and postcards sent by the prisoners. This first one is just a sample. Note the blue streaks on the paper. This was caused by a chemical agent randomly applied to the letter to check for invisible writing. Unfortunately, the second piece is the cover only and contains no letter. However, it is an exceptional find, being from a letter sent to one of the German generals held at the camp. The accompanying photo was taken while the general, Erwin Rauch, was in captivity.

 

 

[cpatrick]

Here are three binders worth of correspondence between WWII Marine Theodore Dzubia, and his soon to be wife, May Gleason. In all, there are over 120 letters, detailing life as a member of the Marine Aviation Wing. I am in the process of deciphering all of the letters, and I will post these in more detail when this mammoth task is completed. At one point, in 1944, May announces to Ted that she wants to joins the Marines. He spends an enitre letter letting her know how ROTTEN the military is, and if she ever joined, he would probably be forced to break up with her. He has a sense of humor - many of his letters are sarcastic in light of the military. His basic training letter, at Parris Island is quite entertaining! (Will post later) Below is one of several poems that May evidently had a talent in writing:

 

Enjoy!!

 

"You can have your army khaki,

You can have a navy blue,

But there is still another fighter

I'll introduce to you.

 

The uniform is different, the best

You've ever seen, the huns call him

a devil dog, but his real name is Marine.

 

He is trained at Parris Island,

the land that God forgot,

Where the sand is 14 inches deep,

and the sun is scorching hot.

 

He has sat at a navy table,

and a navy dish he's tried.

He also learned to make a bed,

and a broom he sure can guide.

 

Now girls just take a tip,

I'm handing it to you,

Just get yourself a nice Marine,

There's nothing he can't do.

 

And when he goes to heaven,

to St. Peter he will tell

Another Marine reporting, sir

I've served my turn in hell.

[cpatrick]

..

[Jeeper704]

Interesting.

I noticed the use of the old Romanian language (for example "Rumania" instead of "Romania").

 

Erwin

 

Here is a POW postcard I bought 2 weeks ago on Ebay. It is from a S/Sgt who was shot down on the famous Ploesti raid August 1, 1943. His plane was called " WING DINGER ". POW mail from Americans held in Romania is extremelly scarce. You will have an easier time finding a D-bail M-1 . There are currently only about 10 of these cards in collector's hands right now that have been cataloged .

[BEAST]

Here are three binders worth of correspondence between WWII Marine Theodore Dzubia, and his soon to be wife, May Gleason. In all, there are over 120 letters, detailing life as a member of the Marine Aviation Wing. I am in the process of deciphering all of the letters, and I will post these in more detail when this mammoth task is completed. At one point, in 1944, May announces to Ted that she wants to joins the Marines. He spends an enitre letter letting her know how ROTTEN the military is, and if she ever joined, he would probably be forced to break up with her. He has a sense of humor - many of his letters are sarcastic in light of the military. His basic training letter, at Parris Island is quite entertaining! (Will post later) Below is one of several poems that May evidently had a talent in writing:

 

Enjoy!!

 

"You can have your army khaki,

You can have a navy blue,

But there is still another fighter

I'll introduce to you.

 

The uniform is different, the best

You've ever seen, the huns call him

a devil dog, but his real name is Marine.

 

He is trained at Parris Island,

the land that God forgot,

Where the sand is 14 inches deep,

and the sun is scorching hot.

 

He has sat at a navy table,

and a navy dish he's tried.

He also learned to make a bed,

and a broom he sure can guide.

 

Now girls just take a tip,

I'm handing it to you,

Just get yourself a nice Marine,

There's nothing he can't do.

 

And when he goes to heaven,

to St. Peter he will tell

Another Marine reporting, sir

I've served my turn in hell.

 

Interesting. We learned almost the exact same jody when I was in the Army in the 1980s.

 

You can keep your Navy Khakis

You can have your Marine blues,

A different kind of fighting man,

I'll introduce to you

Airborne

Ranger

 

His uniform is different

the best you've ever seen

jungle boots and black beret,

his face is painted green

Airborne

Ranger

 

etc.

[cpatrick]

Hi Beast,

 

That's intriguing! I wonder if perhaps May borrowed the poem out of say... Life Magazine?? I can post some other poems that she wrote, that are military oriented.

 

Chris

[cpatrick]

Jeeper704,

 

As a student of German, Romania is spelled pretty much the same way, or at least very similar. Though the lingual dialect has changed over the years, quite a bit of the old German is still in use.

 

Chris

[ww2vault]

Hey Patrick, I noticed the picture you posted of the Cherry Point USMC letter. What is the name of the soldier who the letter was from?

 

- Jeff

[Jeeper704]

My girlfriend is Romanian, so I know what I am talking about here.

Believe me, there is a lot of difference between the Romanian language used in 1944 and now.

 

As a student of German, you should know that German and Romanian don't belong to the same language group.

 

Erwin

 

Jeeper704,

As a student of German, Romania is spelled pretty much the same way, or at least very similar. Though the lingual dialect has changed over the years, quite a bit of the old German is still in use.

Chris

[Ricardo]

Hi,

 

One WW2 lettler of my collection:

 

 

 

 

Best regards,

 

Ricardo.

[cpatrick]

Jeeper,

 

Wie Gehts! Wo ist die toilette???

 

So sorry, I misread your post. I thought you were referring to German, not Romanian.

 

 

 

Chris

[Jeeper704]

Chris,

 

Immer gerade aus.

 

Macht nichts. Sie müssen Sie nicht Entschuldigen.

No problem and you need not to aplogize.

 

I was indeed referring to the Romanian language.

As a matter of fact, I have a 1944-dated language guide "Rumanian" which has a big stamp on it stating "Rescinded - For historical use only".

And when I used some phrases out of it when talking to my girlfriend, she immediately told me I spoke "very old Romanian".

 

Erwin

 

Jeeper,

Wie Gehts! Wo ist die toilette???

So sorry, I misread your post. I thought you were referring to German, not Romanian.

Chris

[mgkusmc]

I dont have a scan of the letter but its one of my favorites, it was written by my grandfather while he was in the navy and I think its a well written neat letter. Here it is:

 

Dearest Mother & Dad:

 

Hello, my dearest ones. Is everything alright at home tonight? I do hope so, so very much mother, I'm sorry you cried so hard the other night. That isnt good you know? But I cant really say I blame you. I'm very glad that Chuck was enthusiastic about going. The experiance is truly something and being in a cheerful frame of mind surely helps out. I dont wonder that you and Dad will be lonesome with just the dog. By the way, how is Smookie getting along? Does she miss Chuck too? I'll bet she does! Now you two do the things you have always wanted to do. Have a wonderful time, dont get discouraged, and dont work hard nor grieve for us. We'll always get along believe me, because we've had the best homelife any two boys ever did have.

 

I lay awake the other night, pretending I was home. You know, I was wondering just what it was that made us love each other so much. I've met a lot of really swell guys but, although they have their homes and all, somehow they just dont feel like I do about mine. I think our love is the only great and true thing in the world. I wonder if it is because you and dad were always so real to talk to, so understanding? I wonder if Dads sickness drew us all so close together that we could never be split apart? I wonder if those trips we took, (Canada, Lake Erie, Michigan etc.) didnt help a heck of a lot. I believe they all played an important factor.

 

Anyway, we are like that, arent we? We are Weisers through and through and we're damned proud of it. Chuck and I will come bouncing home one of these days (for good) and we'll spend the rest of our lives telling tales, laughing and just plain old honest to goodness American living. I dont know whether you can understand me or not. It is hard thinking with a pen, but I'm trying.

 

Now no more worries or lonesomeness, do you promise, as close as we all are how could we ever be lonesome? We just cant thats all. God blessed us all and I pray he continues. Especially you, dad and Chuck.

 

All my love---your Phil

 

 

Chuck (my great uncle) had just left for the navy thats what my grandfather was referring to when he wrote of him leaving. Also an interesting note when he talks of his dads sickness (my great grandfather) he is referring to his respiratory problems he recieved and would eventually succumb to in the 60s from when he was gassed in World War One while serving with the 42nd ID.

 

Well thats my favorite letter in my collection.

 

Mike Kirby

[siege1863]

Here is the text of another favorite letter. Written by a private in the 85th Signal Company, serving in Italy.

 

 

 

June 4, 1944

Italy

 

 

Dear Mary,

 

I don’t believe that I have gotten a better satisfaction of reading a letter than one which I recently received from a friend of mine. He happens to be a 4F and works in an office of a large factory. He told me that the females disturb him so greatly that he can’t do his work (since he can’t keep his mind on it) and he is on the verge of quitting his job ‘again.’ What distracts his attention from work is the whistling and blinks of eyes he receives from the girls every time he passes a different department. Furthermore, he adds, they seem to be quite carefree since they expose their legs a little more than ladies should in public.

 

The girls don’t seem to believe him or either they don’t give a damn when he tells them that he has a ‘steady.’ He has found himself repeatedly involved in a few embarrassing circumstances, due to none of his fault, where he has had to make explanations to his employer or girl. He has asked his employer to transfer him to a job where there are all male employees, and his employer answered him reluctantly that he doesn’t believe that any such job does exist in the country at the present.

 

If this war doesn’t end soon, he expects to end up with a nervous break-down and be ruined for life. So girls, have pity for the 4Fs, and I promise that America’s Best Male Population will soon be coming home. Anyway, according to statistics from the Capitol, there are more males born than females, so no matter how many of us are bumped off by this war, there won’t be any great shortage of men...

[ww2vault]

Cool letters you have there Siege. I really wish I had a relative who served in WWII....

 

- Jeff

[KASTAUFFER]

Here is a cool one ( even if it is burned ).

 

This is a envelope and letter that was on a US Navy transport plane that crashed. What was left of the mail was salvaged and sent on to its destination with a special " cover envelope " with an insert inside explaining the damage to the letter. This one was mailed by a Sailor with PT Squadron 38 in the Philippines. The burned cover was processed at Guam ( Navy 926 ) so the crash probably occured at Guam. The letter is in the envelope, but is so burned I cant unfold it.

 

Kurt

 

 

[ww2vault]

Now thats what I love, stories like your Sanchez. Thats really quite neat. How did you find out all of that happened?

 

- Jeff

[KASTAUFFER]

Now thats what I love, stories like your Sanchez. Thats really quite neat. How did you find out all of that happened?

 

- Jeff

 

I have a great little book that shows where all the " Navy Numbers " were during WWII. It helps to figure out where mail came from . The USN used " Navy Numbers " , kinda like " APO Numbers " , to disguise the locations of land bases.

 

Kurt

[Jeffrey Magut]

This letter was written by an excited POW on his release. A member of 422nd Inf. he was captured with the 106th Division in the Battle of the Bulge. I have two full binders of his paperwork and photos, but like this letter best: