LETTER #54 - 15 DEC 1944 TO HIS BROTHER TOMMY AND A CHRISTMAS CARD FROM CPL. R. WARD

Christmas Card from Cpl Richard Ward who is also at Boca Raton Field in Florida with Uncle Louie.

MY LITTLE NOTES:   Not much to add.  Posting this about the same time frame as the letter in December, some 69 years later!  Sounds like Uncle Louie is ready for Christmas.   Uncle Louie mentions that he would like some sunglasses for about $10.  Seems a bit pricey to me!  Also, he mentions about the shutters being added to the house.  When they moved to the house in 1938 there were no shutters.  Below is a before and after pics of the house:  

The house as it originally looked in 1938.

Same house in 1963.  Note shutters and detached garage.

Grandpa Thomsen holding a huge mushroom!  He was known to take walks in the nearby forest preserves and bring home his finds!  You can see the shutters in the background.

LETTER #52 - 1 DEC 1944

Love the little corporal stripes drawing!

My Little Notes:  Sounds like he is just steps away from being a corporal.  It has been about a year now in his training and schooling.  He sounds ready for Christmas and looking forward to his furlough in January. 

He mentions Billy Becker which I assume is a neighbor or family friend.  I don't have any information on him. Also, he mentions that his mom is trying to fix him up with Lorraine.  I have a picture of Lorraine and I believe they did go out briefly, but sounded more like friends.  Perhaps we will hear more about her later. He is smart I think not to get involved with a girlfriend at this time being in the Army Air Corps!  He writes on both sides of the paper and the paper is thin, so I hope you can read the letter.

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress history:  Link to the history of the B-17 Flying Fortress

B-17 plane

Army Corporal Stipes

Picture taken about 1945.  Left to right:  My Dad (boy), friend of Lorraine's, Lorraine, and my grandmother.  Note the picture on the back says "ex" for Lorraine! 

LETTER #51 - 26 NOV 1944

Tom-tom drum toy 40s-50s style

My Little Notes:  This is a letter addressed to my Dad.  Not much to add.  The brochure was with the letter and explains the tour that Uncle Louie and Al took.  Not bad....a 3-hour tour for $1!  At least it does not end up like on Gilligan's Island and their 3-hour tour!  

I always knew my Dad liked Native American artifacts and their culture.  I did not realize it was even when he was a boy.  The picture below is part of his collection of arrowheads that he had found years ago.  He framed and made this and I have it proudly displayed in my living room.  Many of these arrowheads came from all over like Texas, California, Missouri.  He also found quite a few in Illinois and near where we lived. He learned from a friend how to find them.  He said you had to have the feel or sense to find them.  Also, a few years ago we had some looked at by a local archaeologist group.  Surprised to find out they were over 5,000 years old and some even older!   I thought maybe from the 1800s.  That was quite the shock! 

A collection of my Dad's arrowheads that he found.  Also, the frame is handmade by my Dad.

LETTER #50 - 23 NOV 1944

Newspaper article on Alvin's brother, Robert Harold Lloyd wounded in action - Greeneveille Sun Newspaper - 10/24/1944.  The paper says Germany, but Uncle Louie wrote Al said France.  (There was another article on this page of another service man in France, mix up maybe).  Also, crazy seeing where Al is at because that is exactly what the letters are saying and we are at the moment with the letters, at Baco Raton, Florida.

MY LITTLE NOTES:

I got to thinking of that song, "I've Got A Lovely Bunch of Coconuts"!   According to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia online, it was composed in 1944, same time as this letter.  Thought it was appropriate with Uncle Louie sending coconuts to everyone~! 

"I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts" is a novelty song composed in 1944 (as "I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Cocoanuts") by Fred Heatherton, an English songwriter and published by Box & Cox Publications (ASCAP). In 1949, it was a top-ten hit in the U.S. for Freddy Martin And His Orchestra with vocalist Merv Griffin and sold over three million copies.^[1] The following year, it was a number-25 hit for Danny Kaye. It celebrates the coconut shy (coconut toss) at funfairs."

Great rendition of the song by Merv Griffin (maybe 1949). Gotta love the hand and eye movements!

Sounds like he is shipping out after his schooling there.  Looking ahead in the letters, looks like he will ship to Pope Field, Fort Bragg in North Carolina in February, 1945.  Looks like I better get cracking on those letters so we can get there!  

LETTER 49 - 19 NOV 1944

"Sack Time" by LHT (Louis Herman Thomsen)

My Little Notes:  Well I am impressed with his sketch he did of his buddy napping!  I knew my Dad could draw so it had to run in the family, well mainly on the male side.  

Too bad about Al not passing his course.  Not sure if they stay together any more during training.  I know we won't hear from Alvin Lloyd again until May 1945.  That is next letter he sent to my grandparents.

LETTER #48 - 17 NOV. 1944

                                                               

This is my Dad in a school patrol.  Picture is dated March 14, 1944, age 12, same year as the letter.  He is in the 2nd row towards the middle.

This picture is probably about 1945 and my Dad is around 13 or 14 here.  This is probably a pet crow as they had many unusual pets.

My Little Notes:  Not much to add.  Uncle Louie is still doing his schooling and just some updates on neighbors.  He sure takes the Big Brother thing very seriously telling my Grandmother to make him go to Confirmation Classes and he is to "too darn lazy"!  I personally would not think that of my Father.  First picture here he is participating in school patrol and the other picture he is just a typical kid! 

LETTER #47 - 13 NOV 1944

My Little Notes:   Not much to add.  I personally don't remember seeing that feather picture on the wall that he bought for his mother, however, I do remember the coconut head!  As a kid it scared me as it hung on their kitchen wall along with a black cat clock with the eyes and tail moving.  I never liked going in the kitchen!  I could not find an exact photo of it, but it was a man's face with a cigar.  These pics below are runners up!

The type of clock they had in the kitchen with the moving eyes and tail.  These were popular in the 1930s.

LETTER #46 - 10 NOV 1944

My Little Notes:   Hard to believe that he has been in the Army now for over 11 months!  He is right, the paper he used to write the letter was very thin.  Also, sounds like he really enjoyed the package from home and of course the fudge!  I think he is smart for not "playing craps".  I would imagine a female instructor in the Army during this time period would be rough to get the respect. 

Also, sounds like he misses "good old Chicago"!

WWII Army soldiers playing craps.

1944 Guide to the Chicago L system and subway.

Lake Shore Drive ~ Chicago ~ 1944

CHICAGO - CHICAGO THEATER - UNDER MARQUEE - CROWD BUYING AND SELLING WAR BONDS - 1944

Chicago ~ Belmont Harbor -boats-with-skyline-1944