Dated Sept. 5, 1943; postmarked Sept. 14.

Dear Mom and Pop and Bib and Rosemarie,

I received your letters of Aug. 10 and 20 and July 22 today and I was glad to hear from you all.

I didn’t hear anything from Vince yet, but I suppose I will shortly. I am going to write to him as soon as I finish this letter.

I didn’t receive the Times yet, but I guess I will sooner or later.

I get all of the latest news and music from the U.S. over my radio so I know all about the “Bums.”

I am going to town today to try to get a monkey and a couple of parrots. If I can’t get a parrot for you, I will send a monkey.

That’s all folks.

L&K

Tell Rosemarie I miss her a lot. xxx

PDF: If I can’t get a parrot for you, I will send a monkey

Oran and Sidi Bel-Abbes, Algeria.

Dated Aug. 22, 1943; postmarked Sept. 2.

Dear Mom and Pop,

I’m feeling fine and fit and I hope you all are the same.

I was in Oran and bought a few trinkets awhile ago. When I get enough, I will send them home. I also visited Sidi Bel-Abbes, a little south of Oran.

I was in Canistel, a little town just a few miles east of Oran. When I was at Canistel, I went swimming every day, but it was costly. I had to walk down a 700-foot cliff to go swimming, but the worst part of it was climbing the cliff after I finished swimming.

That’s all for now. So-long.

L&K,

Babe

(NOTE: I cannot find a town in Algeria named “Canistel” or anything close to it. I’d welcome help on that one.)

PDF: Climbing Down Cliffs to Swim, and Back Up to Return

A page from this V-mail letter.

Dated Aug. 19, 1943; postmarked Aug. 28. Presumably, he is still in Oran, Algeria, or was there recently.

Dear Mom and Pop,

Well, I’m fine and fit and having the time of my life. I hope you all are the same.

I was in Oran and went swimming in the Mediterranean Sea quite a few times. I never did get around to seeing Casablanca when I was there. They have nice cold beer in the towns around here and the only reason we drink it is because it tastes like the nice cool water we get back there.

There is one thing I want now and I wish you would send it. I want a five-pound package with a good little mirror that is sure not to break on the way over and a shaving brush and a couple of cakes of soap and the rest full of candy, but not hard candy like charms or anything that is likely to melt like chocolate. Caramels and hard candy bars are what I want. If the mirror has any chances of breaking on the way over, don’t send it.

I forgot all about Bib and Vince’s birthdays because I didn’t even know what month it was until someone told me. I want to wish them both a happy birthday even though I don’t know what birthday is when how old they are. Vince must have left by now, huh? Be sure and let me know if he did.

That’s about all I have to say for now except give my regards to everyone over there and kiss Rosemarie for me.

L&K

Babe

PDF: Seeking a Shaving Brush, a Mirror and Some Candy

Jane and Luca Conte. Note the Fifth Army patch on his left shoulder, above his stripes; Babe had the same patch, which I have in my collection.

I’ve already made several references to Luca Conte, who served in the U.S. army at around the same time as Babe. The first reference was in this post, in which we confirmed that he and Babe left the United States out of Newport News, Va. The second was in the actual letter Babe wrote in which he refers to seeing “Lugi” Conte “on the boat coming over.” The Conte family was friends of my grandmother’s in Mount Kisco.

I remain puzzled about why Babe’s letter refers to him as “Lugi” when his name was Luca.

The final reference was in another post trying to pin down Babe’s initial movements after he arrived in North Africa.

I am grateful for hearing from Luca’s children, Pia and Luca Edward, when I initially sought out some information. Luca Edward gave me a summary of his father’s service in the war. In his introduction to the summary, Luca Edward writes:

The source for the following is primarily through personal conversations I had with Dad, although I did request and receive some records from the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC). Dad was reluctant to talk about his military experiences, and when we finally did get into detail—especially about Anzio—he cried, even after over 50 years!

Luca and Jane Conte; they met in Naples, Italy. She was an Italian national.

Luca George was inducted into the army just before Christmas 1942, about two months before Babe, though he was apparently a few years older than Babe. Luca had been at the University of Pennsylvania, while Babe had just graduated from high school.

Ultimately, Luca went to what was the Military Intelligence Training Center at Camp Ritchie, Md., and trained as an Italian interpreter. Nearly 10 months after his induction, he found himself in Naples, Italy, assigned to the Allied Military Government, the military command serving as the governing body for occupied Italy. Almost immediately, while serving as an interpreter and typist there, he met Jane DeAngelis, an Italian national working as a clerk for the Italian authorities.

Pia Conte

They courted through their separation over the next couple of years, but ultimately they married on June 24, 1945. Luca returned to the states in November, and his wife followed in April 1946.

There is much more to tell about Luca’s experience in Italy, but I thought this part of the story was so charming I couldn’t wait. Pia was kind enough to share photos of her parents, as you can see: One from when they were both very young and he was still in uniform, one from many years later, although I do not know the dates of either.

Shoulder patch for the 34th Infantry Division.

Letter dated Aug. 7, 1943; postmarked Aug. 16. With this letter, Babe’s address has changed; he is now posted to the 34th Infantry Division, 168th Infantry Regiment. It appears he’s assigned now to the regiment headquarters. Possibly from Oran, Algeria.

Dear Mom and Pop,

The same old story; I changed my address again. At least, though, I finally got assigned to a regular outfit, and boy, what an outfit. It’s the best on this side and I don’t mean maybe. It’s got a history that dates way back to the Rainbow Division of the last struggle.

Our food here is pertty good and the work isn’t too hard, so I don’t mind this at all. Besides, I think some mail will catch up to me here. I haven’t been at one camp long enough to receive a letter yet.

That’s all for now, so I’ll say so-long.

L&K,

Babe

PDF: In the 34th Infantry: ‘The Best on This Side, and I Don’t Mean Maybe’

“You might also run into an interesting World War II type of mail called ‘V-mail’ (as in ‘V for Victory’). V-mail letters were written on a special form and then photographed on microfilm. Only the film was sent back to the states, where it was developed and used to make a photographic copy of the original letter. These photograph letters were then mailed in a small envelope with a window in the front to show the address.”

The National Postal Museum website says a roll of the film contained about 1,700 messages weighed 5.5 ounces, compared to the 50 pounds a sack of the same mail would weigh.

About half the remaining letters from Babe will be on V-mail. The rest will be air mail.

The postal museum says that in its day, V-mail “played the same role 60 years ago that email is playing today in keeping lines of communication open between loved ones.” The museum’s web page on the subject of V-mail describes its origins:

Later to become “V-Mail” when adopted by the United States, the Airgraph Service was first developed by the British Post Office in response to the Italians closing of the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea to Allied forces. Seaborne traffic was rerouted around the Cape of Good Hope. This 12,000 mile detour could mean delays of anywhere between three and six months for mail destined for British soldiers stationed in the Middle East and the Far East. Alternatives to the route around the Cape were considered, eventually settling on transport by aircraft-however, space in any aircraft was extremely limited. Microphotography was deemed the best solution to the problem of space.

The article says V-mail was in use by the U.S. military from June 15, 1942, until April 1, 1945, a little more than a month before Babe was killed. The postal museum said the first large-scale overseas V-mail processing center was opened right where Babe was located, in Casablanca, on April 15, 1943, about three months before he got there.

A B-24 Liberator; 'First sign of civilization since leaving the U.S.' Source: U.S. Air Force photos.

Postmarked July 29, 1943, still in Morocco based on the location of APO 776 at this time. This is the first letter he sent on V-mail.

Dear Mom and Pop,

Well, I’m feeling fine and I hope you all are the same.

It’s a pretty barren place, this North Africa, but it has a lot of background that I can’t tell you about.

We had a nice trip over here. There were Red Cross workers and Army nurses on the boat with us. The biggest thrill everyone got out of that trip was when we were a few hundred miles from Africa and a Liberator bomber came over. It was the first sign of civilization we saw since leaving the U.S.

We just got a speech from the colonels and majors welcoming us to North Africa. This page isn’t nearly big enough, but it’s all I have. I’ll have to close.

Love & Kisses,

Babe

PDF: ‘It’s a Pretty Barren Place, This North Africa’

My Uncle Bob, my mother and a friend of my brother's (Mark Richards), perhaps around 1983.

Dated Aug. 1, 1943; postmarked Aug. 4, from the U.S. Army Postal Service.

Dear Mom and Pop,

It just occurred to me that two more days and it will be Bib’s birthday. I never keep track of the date and I just asked one of the boys before I found out. I don’t even know how old he is. I want to send him my best wishes any how.

Right now, I am writing this letter in the guardhouse. But don’t worry, I am on guard and the guards sleep in the guardhouse when they are not walking post.

I like this camp better than the last one and I hope I stay here a little longer.

I guess Vince went by now, but to tell you the truth, I hope he never goes.

That’s about all I have to say for now.

L&K, So-long,

Babe

PDF: Away for Brother Bob’s Birthday: ‘I Don’t Even Know How Old He Is’

The form (included here) notes “his army record has not been found; it apparently was a 1973 fire loss.”

I found alternate sources and pieced together a few documents, but I still think there is more to be found.

I mention it here because on Monday, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote a story about the renewed efforts, with painstaking work and new technology, to restore some of the records that were burned. My former colleague, Steve Giegerich, had this story on the front page headlined “Labor of love and duty at St. Louis County records center after 1973 fire.”

Six and a half million documents in one form or another were ultimately recovered; 18 million perished forever. The files are stored at the new facility in a climate-controlled warehouse with a constant temperature of about 35 degrees and with a relative humidity that never dips below 40 percent. When the summons for a document is delivered from a family or government official, the files move from the warehouse to the archivists on the third floor. The work can be tedious. With time being their enemy as they plowed through Dumpsters after the 1973 fire, agency employees could not devote any time to cataloguing the debris.

In 1994, I lived in South Florida and had nothing but U.S. mail to connect me to the records center. Now, I live 15 minutes away from it. Perhaps it bears another go.

This is the second letter within the envelope postmarked July 27, 1943, by the U.S. Army Postal Service. Click here for the first letter; this letter is dated July 26, from North Africa.

Dear Mom and Pop,

I’m feeling fine and dandy and I hope you all are the same.

We saw another show last night — “They Got Me Covered,” with Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour. I missed that picture back there so I enjoyed it here.

I got some more French money for you, too. One is five francs, worth 10 cents, and the other is 10 francs, worth 20 cents. You notice these new bills were printed in the U.S. but the old ones were made here. The French, as you will see, let their money keep in circulation until it crumples up into dust. This one is taped up like the 100 franc note I was going to send you in my last letter. The censor told me I couldn’t send more than fifty francs in any one letter, though.

I went to the P.X. and got some Life Savers yesterday and where do you suppose they were manufactured? Port Chester, New York.

That’s all for now.

L&K, So-long,

Babe

PDF: An Enjoyable Hope-Lamour Movie; More About the Local Money