LETTER #70 - 22 MAR 1945 TO HIS FATHER

My Little Notes:  I think it was very sweet that he wanted to buy an Easter Corsage for his mother.  I remember Easter was such a big thing for those big orchid corsages for the Mothers and Grandmothers!  He sent this letter on March 22 and Easter that year was on April 1, 1945, so he planned it well.  I sure hope she got one!  And also very thoughtful that if there was enough money left to get a "Big Easter Egg" for his brother!  He also mentions about the radio again and how he built and painted a new cabinet for it.

1940s photo of Ladies and their corsages.

Corsage

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the flower bouquet. For the article of clothing on which the flower was originally worn, see Corsage (bodice).

Prom wrist corsages

Consideration is often given to selecting similar colors for the corsage as in the outfit.

A corsage /kɔrˈsɑːʒ/ is a small bouquet of flowers worn on a woman's dress or worn around her wrist to a formal occasion, traditionally purchased by the woman's date. Corsages are now most commonly seen at Prom or similar events.

Originally named after the French word for the bodice of a dress to which it was attached, they were originally thought to be lucky or ward off evil spirits ^[1] It has become a customary practice and a demonstration of affection from a date. It is thought that originally the gentleman would bring a gift of flowers for the parents of his date, and would select one flower to give to his date which would then be carried or attached to her clothing.^[2]

• In some countries, corsages are worn by the mothers and grandmothers of the bride and groom at a wedding ceremony.^[3]
• The flower(s) worn on a young woman's clothing or wrist for the homecoming celebration or other formal occasions such as prom in some schools around the world.

Portable radio styles in the 1940s.

Zenith Portable Radios, 1940s.

LETTER #69 - 15 MAR 1945

My Little Notes:  I was pretty excited to find this paper article with the letter!  Very interesting to see the pictures and for him to show his parents and brother.  I am assuming this is from the military base newspaper.  Not much else to add.  Sounds like he is enjoying his new radio and riding in Jeeps!  Great that he is still in touch with his Army buddy, Al.  Plus, with Spring approaching soon, warm weather will be there soon enough....with the heat and big bugs!

LETTER #68 - 2 MAR 1945

My Little Notes:  It appears that his mom typed her letter to him.....with mistakes!  He seems to be quite determined to get a bracelet!  He talks about his father's birthday.  This letter was written in March and his father's birthday was actually February 17, so he must be responding to a previous letter to this  Also, he mentions Long Lake.  Long Lake is about 55 miles north of Chicago.  They will eventually buy a summer home there.  This summer home will also be my home and where I will grow up....

My grandparents' typewriter ~ Underwood #5.  This was probably the one she was using to type her letters.

History of Underwood Typewriter #5


VINTAGE LONG LAKE POSTCARDS:  These postcards were my grandparents probably dated around 1930s.

This is in the subdivision that my grandparents bought their summer home (my future home).

Photo taken by my grandparents of Long Lake, Il in the subdivision where their summer home was.  Probably late 1930s/early 1940s.

LETTER #66 - 25 FEB 1945 TO PARENTS & LETTER #67 - 25 FEB 1945 TO BROTHER TOM

Letter to Parents.

Letter to brother, Tom.

My Little Notes:   Well good thing he got the letters yesterday from the family!  A shame that his pictures did not turn out from his recent visit.  Also, I guess he learned a lesson not to drink malted milk before a flight!  The letter to his brother Tom talked about the "cool things" in the Army like driving a jeep around in mud and seeing flighter planes.  Also, telling Tommy to be a good boy and do his chores, so he can get use to KP when he joins the Army.  It will be 6 years later that my Dad will enlist......but it will be in the Navy!

Photo from the book, "Finding Your Father's War" by Jonathan Gawne, from his collection.

Postcard titled US Army Paratrooper training, 1943

WWII Poster for the Air Corps

Typical WWII paratrooper gear

LETTER #64 - 14 FEB 1945 & LETTER #65 - 21 FEB 1945 - Pope Field, N.C.

Letter 1, page 1

Letter 1, page 2

Letter 2, page 1

Letter 2, page 2

My Little Notes:  The first letter here was written one day after the last letter I posted previously, so not much new other than he flew for the first time today.  Sounds like lots of missions and flight training at this point and being like Big Shots for being a radar man!

The second letter is dated a week later.  He talks about how they dropped the paratroopers in the right location and what a sight to see!  He also mentions about my grandmother working at a bakery.  I had no idea she did.  She never worked while they were married to my knowledge, but maybe because of the war efforts?  Something new I learned.  Also, what a devoted son to send back money to pay back for the money he spent while recently visiting them and also hoping to get in one more furlough before going overseas...

WWII Army Air Corps Flight Uniform, probably similar to what Uncle Louie was referring to.

WWII Poster for Paratrooper enlistment.

Not dated.  British paratroopers in a transport plane before landing in Holland.  WWII

Paratrooper 1942

Parachutes open as paratroops land in Holland during operations by the 1st Allied Airborne Army - Sept. 1944.

LETTER #63 - 13 FEB 1945 - Pope Field, N.C.

"Greetings from Fort Bragg, N.C." postcard

My Little Notes:  Well he finally arrived at Pope Field/Fort Bragg, North Carolina.  Interesting that he was was one of the few radar men in the group.  I believe this is his final training phase.  He talks about the German POWs doing the KP duties and how he is worried about his upcoming mission.  Lots of history on Pope Field and Fort Bragg.  Check links below.

---

Pope Field (from http://www.visitfayettevillenc.com)

Home to the 440th Airlift Group and 43rd Airlift Wing, along with Air Force Special Operations and training units.

 

Pope Army Air Field, formerly known as Pope Air Force Base, has played a leading role in the development of U.S. tactics and air-power throughout history. Missions at Pope range from providing airlift for Airborne and Special Operations Units to humanitarian missions flown all over the world.
 

The War Department officially established Pope Field in 1919, and it ranks as one of the oldest installations in the Air Force. It is named after First Lieutenant Harley Halbert Pope who was killed on January 7, 1919, when the JN-4 Jenny he was flying crashed into the Cape Fear River. Original operations included photographing terrain for mapping, carrying the mail and spotting for artillery and forest fires.
 

MORE LINKS BELOW:

Very informative link to POWs in North Carolina.

Link to a letter written from a German POW around the same time my Uncle was there.



More info on Prisoners of War at the Bases here in the States.

Fort Bragg, Date unknown

New recruits at Fort Bragg, circa 1941.

Jeeps at Fort Bragg, WWII

LETTER #62 - 29 JAN 1945 from Private Raymond Kubick Jr.

My Little Notes: 
Not much to add to Ray's letter to my grandparents.  He is still a private and just arrived at Boca Raton, Florida for his continued training.  He sounds so polite and sincere in his letters.  Sorry to say we won't be hearing from Ray for the rest of 1945.  It won't be until 1946 that we will hear from Ray again.  However, Uncle's Louie's other Army buddy, Alvin Lloyd has some letters coming up soon.


Here are some current events that were going on in WWII around the same time as this letter:  

• January 17 – WWII:
  • The Soviet Union occupies Warsaw, Poland.
  • A Soviet patrol arrests Raoul Wallenberg in Hungary.
• January 18 – The Holocaust: The SS begins evacuation of Auschwitz concentration camp. Nearly 60,000 prisoners, mostly Jews, are forced to march to other locations in Germany; as many as 15,000 die. The 7,000 too sick to move are left without supplies being distributed.
• January 20 – Franklin D. Roosevelt is inaugurated to a fourth term as President of the United States, the only President ever to exceed two terms.
• January 23 – WWII
  • Hungary agrees to an armistice with the Allies.
  • German Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz orders the start of Operation Hannibal, the mass evacuation by sea of German troops and civilians from the Courland Pocket, East Prussia and the Polish Corridor.
• January 24 – WWII: AP war correspondent Joseph Morton, nine OSS men, and four SOE agents are executed by the Germans atMauthausen concentration camp under Hitler's Commando Order of 1942 which stipulates the immediate execution of all captured Allied commandos or saboteurs without trial, even those in proper uniforms. Morton is the only Allied correspondent to be executed by the Axis during the war.
• January 26 – WWII: Infantry action at Holtzwihr, France, for which Audie Murphy is awarded the Medal of Honor.^[1]
• January 27 – The Holocaust: The Soviet Red Army liberates the Auschwitz and Birkenau concentration camps.
• January 28 – WWII: Supplies begin to reach China over the newly reopened Burma Road.
• January 30
  • MV Wilhelm Gustloff, with over 10,000 mainly civilian Germans from Gotenhafen (Gdynia) is sunk in Gdańsk Bay by threetorpedoes from the Soviet submarine S-13 in the Baltic Sea; up to 9,400 are thought to have died – the greatest loss of life in a single ship sinking in war action in history.
  • WWII: Raid at Cabanatuan: 121 American soldiers and 800 Filipino guerrillas free 813 American prisoners of war from the Japanese-held camp in the city of Cabanatuan in the Philippines.
  • Adolf Hitler makes his last public speech to be delivered personally, on broadcast radio, expressing the belief that Germany will triumph.
• January 31 – WWII: Eddie Slovik is executed by firing squad near Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines for desertion, the only U.S. soldier since the American Civil War ever executed for this offense.