Where Is the USO Movie That Includes Babe in the Front Row?
March 30, 2012 3 Comments
Babe reveals a fascinating piece of information in his last letter: “I was in the movies about two months ago and if you saw it, you wouldn’t have missed seeing me. I was right in front and it was a movie of a USO show with Ella Logan.”
So now, of course, I’m wondering: Where can I put my hands on that movie? Does anyone have any ideas?
In a couple of other posts, I’ve covered some information about that USO tour with Logan, dancer Edith Delaney and accordionist Jerry Skelton. The threesome performed for the Fifth Army in Italy on at least one and probably several other occasions. Babe writes in this letter of Dec. 16, 1943, that he saw their show “tonight” — that night, the night of Dec. 16. That said, I’m not sure Babe is entirely reliable with his dates.
This post from a retired Air Force colonel makes reference to the same threesome’s show in Foggia, Italy, “right after Christmas,” and includes a photo with several servicemen, along with Logan and Delaney. And my earlier post detailing some information about the war widow/USO performer Delaney refers to performances in Italy that must have been in November 1943.
The tour was obviously noteworthy because it include Delaney, who forged on after her husband was killed in a key battle in North Africa in May 1943. Babe himself notes to his parents that “you will have read all about it.” Newspaper articles documented, so it’s not hard to believe there was a movie or newsreel about it.
But where would I find it?
Letters from an Everyman in WWII
Getting My Arms Around the Process of Delivering Wartime Mail
March 28, 2012 Leave a Comment
A portion of a diagram illustrating mail movement along the supply chain. The letters refer to V-mail, air mail, ordinary mail and packages.
Throughout this project, I’ve been trying to get a better understanding of how the mail actually makes its way from the hands of an infantryman in World War II to his mother and father’s mailbox in a small town.
Maybe I’m over thinking it, but seems like a little bit of a miracle to me. The people are constantly moving, the facilities, I assume, are often temporary, supply lines are not always reliable and there are the realities of war that affect mail delivery: ships sink, cargo planes get shot down, soldiers are wounded, hospitalized and die.
Little by little, I think I’m getting a handle on it.
The latest pieces of the puzzle come to me from two correspondents: First, I’ve heard from “Charlie Sherpa,” chief cook and bottle washer for the Red Bull Rising blog I’ve mentioned before. Then, I heard from Lynn Heidelbaugh, a curator at the National Postal Museum, which is part of the Smithsonian Institution. I wrote an email to the museum on its feedback page and Lynn was kind enough to reply. Read more of this post
Filed under Commentary Tagged with Charlie Sherpa, Lynn Heidelbaugh, National Postal Museum, Red Bull Rising, Smithsonian Institution