A Quick Letter on a Day of Rest
December 19, 2011 Leave a Comment
Private's stripes; Babe says he's not eligible for officer's candidate school and withdrew his application.
Dear Everybody,
Today is the day of rest, so I am writing you all a letter.
I explained how, in an earlier letter, I wouldn’t have much of a chance to enter O.C.S. and I also told you I withdrew my application and I will apply again when I get to my next camp. But, I took an army specialist test a couple of days ago and I don’t know what it’s for or how I made out. If I don’t hear anything in two weeks, I’ll know I didn’t make out.
I told you I got paid, but I can’t send you any money yet because I have to see my chaplain and get him to make out a money-order for me.
I just wrote you a letter yesterday or the day before, so I haven’t much more to say. Read more of this post
Letters from an Everyman in WWII
The Bullard Company, Where It Appears Babe’s Grandfather Worked
December 19, 2011 Leave a Comment
Using Google Maps, you can chart a route from Mount Kisco, N.Y., to Bridgeport, Conn., by road or by rail. Google says it would take about an hour to drive the 41 miles between the two communities. The first was Babe’s home. The second is the former headquarters for The Bullard Company, which made heavy machine tools such as lathes.
It appears from my records and letters that Babe’s grandfather Vito Mauro worked at Bullard. I’ve reached out to the Fairfield (County) Museum and History Center to see if they have any information that would confirm that.
Honestly, I don’t know enough about Vito, who would have been my great-grandfather. I don’t know where he lived and there’s nobody left who would know. Maybe he lived in Bridgeport. I can’t believe he worked there and drove from Mount Kisco. If it would take an hour to drive to Bridgeport today, it seems like it would have taken longer than that in 1943, but maybe that wasn’t a problem during World War II, when it was all hands on deck to support the war effort. Read more of this post
Filed under Commentary Tagged with Bridgeport, Bullard, Fairfield Museum, Frank Mauro, Mount Kisco