Great Letter; Details of the African People, Weather, Shows and More

January 27, 2012 Leave a Comment

This letter is actually two separate letters, with different dates, in the same envelope. This letter is dated July 23, 1943, from Africa. It was in an envelope postmarked July 27 by the U.S. Army Postal Service.

Dear Mom and Pop,

To continue where I left off in my last letter…

I didn’t have room to tell you in my last letter, but I met Joe Pasquale, Lugi Conte and Steve, who ran the garage across the street, on the boat coming over. I was never so surprised in my life as when I saw them.

This is the craziest weather I’ve ever seen. In the daytime, it’s boiling hot, but at night, we freeze in our bed.

You should see these Africans here. Just as soon as we got off the boat and were walking to the railroad station, all the little kids asked us for chewing gum and cigarettes. They couldn’t speak English, but they could say a few words. All the young people shouted hello and goodbye to us and a few of the fellows who could speak French and Italian managed to talk a little with them. Read more of this post

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A Former Serviceman Describes the Ocean Crossing to North Africa

January 25, 2012 Leave a Comment

While working on research for these blog posts online, I came across a video of a former army serviceman named Robert H. Sterchie. One of the video segments had him describing his voyage across the Atlantic, from New York City to North Africa. I don’t know if Babe’s experience was anything like this, but I thought it was interesting.

Sterchie sailed aboard a converted civilian cruise ship called the SS Monterey that the army had effectively commandeered and refitted as a troop transport. He entered the army April 1, 1941, and left Jan. 16, 1946, as a first lieutenant. He was a prisoner of war camp guard, administrator and interment camp commander. He said 6,000 servicemen were aboard on an ocean that was “smooth as glass.” The troop ships would zig-zag across the ocean while accompanying ships circled the troop ships to protect the convoy from enemy ships.

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Babe’s First Letter from Overseas: Grapes and Swimming N. Africa

January 23, 2012 Leave a Comment

The header of Babe's first letter from overseas, but the date doesn't fit the timeline.

The dating of this letter is confusing, and I try to address it in a separate post. It is postmarked July 25, 1943, so that’s the date I’m using as the most reliable.

Dear Mom and Pop,

As you can see, I’ve changed my address again. I’m still feeling fine and I hope you are too.

I saw more grape vines here in North Africa than I’ve seen in all the rest of my life. The grapes grow on little plants about 2 feet tall. I don’t know whether the plants grown into vines or not, but I don’t think so. There are fields and still more fields of these grapes, all over North Africa. Read more of this post

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I Can’t Figure Out Where Babe’s Next Letter Fits in the Timeline

January 23, 2012 Leave a Comment

As I wrote a few days ago, I tried to piece together the timeline after Babe left Camp Wheeler and it led me to the conclusion that his letter dated July 7, 1943, was the last one he wrote stateside. Everything after that must be from overseas.

That’s supported by a letter from the War Department to my grandmother in 1946, which noted that Babe left the United States on July 14, 1943, and arrived in North Africa seven days later.

The dates associated with Babe’s next letter are bothering me. It definitely appears to be the next letter. He opens the letter by saying, “As you can see, I’ve changed my address again.”

His July 7 letter included a return address of A.P.O. 8962, c/o Postmaster, New York, N.Y. The next letter has a return address of A.P.O. 776, c/o Postmaster, New York, N.Y.

The postmark on the next letter also fits the timeline. It is postmarked July 25, 1943. But above the salutation, Babe heads the letter with this: “Somewhere in North Africa, June 30, 1943.”

If that date is right, he wrote this letter before the last one I transcribed. But that doesn’t make sense, because the return address hadn’t changed. And we have no reason to think he was already in Northern Africa when he wrote that July 7 letter. The army, in fact, says he hadn’t left the country yet.

It’s also the first letter on which he includes “U.S.A.” on the envelope.

If Babe meant to write “July 30, 1943″ as the date on that letter, that wouldn’t make sense either, because the postmark is earlier: July 25.

So, I’m just mystified.

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Piecing Together Babe’s Last Stops Before He Went to North Africa

January 13, 2012 Leave a Comment

Wooden bunkhouses at the Shenango Personnel Replacement Depot. Courtesy of Camp Reynolds and ACW Productions.

Babe’s last letter appears to be his last from basic training at Camp Wheeler, where thousands of young men were prepared as replacements for troops overseas. In that letter, he writes that he expected “to be out of here in two or three days.” He wrote that letter on June 4, 1943.

The next few letters are from his next two stops before he went overseas himself, to North Africa. But the letters themselves are opaque about his whereabouts. They have no postmark, they are censored, and he’s apparently not allowed to write about where he went.

Only later — in a letter from the War Department to my grandmother on Oct. 8, 1946 — did she learn that her son left Camp Wheeler for training in Transfer, Pa. That’s the location of what was called the Shenango Personnel Replacement Depot. The site was also known as Camp Reynolds, according to one Pennsylvania history site: Read more of this post

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