March 2, 1943
March 2, 1943No. 14 Casablanca, Morocco Dear Folksies, In a few days I will undoubtedly be sending you another money order for $100. Money seems to collect around here, as there isn’t a great deal of use for it. About $75 comes in cash each month, and I can’t possibly spend it all, even […]
December 15, 1942
No letter from René for a while. By December 15, 1942 would his parents have known that he was on a ship heading across the Atlantic? They certainly would have been thinking of him, so here are some photos of him from 1919-1941. René with his mother, Alma, and sister, Marie-Louise René in Golden Gate […]
October 5, 1942
October 5, 1942 Camp Pickett, Virginia Dear Folksies, Golly, I just realized that when I say “Folksies,” above, I really only mean you, Dad, and Bobsy, to whom a carbon is going. It hardly seems possible that Mom, Marie-Louise and Amie will actually be on their way by the time you get this. Friday night […]
October 1, 1942
October 1, 1942 Camp Pickett, Virginia Dear Folksies, Things have been slightly popping in the last twenty-four hours and many have been kept busy, though things now have slowed up again. To begin with, yesterday A.M. Phil Westdahl and I worked on the ward for a while and then wandered over to Surgery to see […]
September 26, 1942
September 26, 1942 Camp Pickett, Virginia Dear Folksies, Last night there was a little party at the Hospital Officers’ Club and they had invited the 59th, so naturally, there being little else to do, most of the gang were decent and showed up, taking a majority of the nurses along with them. Unfortunately, the floor […]
September 25, 1942
September 25, 1942 Camp Pickett, Virginia Dear Folksies, We are situated behind the Station Hospital, which is rather a nice location. We have some shade and some cool trees in the neighborhood. As things stand now we are all working in the hospital. Many of the men of the Station Hosp. are away on leave, […]
September 9, 1942
September 9, 1942 Camp Kilmer, New Jersey Dear Folksies, Night before last there were 6 of us who went to N.Y. together – Bob and Bam, Ed Cane and one of the other nurses. We had a wonderful dinner and relatively cheap, at a place called “Barney’s”. Had crab cocktail, a wonderful tenderloin steak, […]
September 1, 1942
September 1, 1942 Camp Kilmer, New Jersey Dear Folksies, They really pulled a dirty deal yesterday. Actually the “alert” was over at 6 A.M., but Post Headquarters somehow failed to notify the 59th and it wasn’t until we began to see a few civilians on the Post that we got suspicious and finally Carroll Russell […]
August 30, 1942
August 30, 1942 Camp Kilmer, New Jersey Dear Folksies, After writing on Friday I walked around here a bit and then at 4 P.M. the definite news came that at retreat the “alert” would be off. Consequently we got ready and awaited retreat. Took the usual train and arrived in time to pick up […]
August 28, 1942
August 28, 1942 Camp Kilmer, New Jersey Dear Folksies, After writing on Wednesday noon, I loafed around here, took cleaning to the cleaners, etc. Then Lois and I took the usual 5:22PM train and went directly from the Penn Station to 181st Street where Lenny and Babs live. We had a very nice steak dinner; […]
August 26, 1942
August 26, 1942 Camp Kilmer, New Jersey Dear Folksies, You asked about Alain driving into the ditch. It was only at a speed of 1-1/2 miles per hour and consequently we nestled very gently into it – possibly one reason why it was hard to get out. We went straight into it and then […]
August 25, 1942
August 25, 1942Tuesday Camp Kilmer, New Jersey Dear Folksies, Yesterday we took the 5:22 P.M. train to New York again and went directly to the Commodore Hotel. Got half price tickets to see “Priorities of 1942”. After getting our tickets we went to the “Brass Rail,” otherwise known as the “Continental Café.” There we […]
August 24, 1942
August 24, 1942Monday Camp Kilmer, New Jersey Dear Folksies, Today is the first really nice day we have had here. The sun is shining brightly but it is relatively cool. Somewhat like a nice day at Tahoe. It rather suddenly became cool around midnight and we all woke up and pulled on blankets for […]
August 22, 1942
August 22, 1942 Saturday, noon Camp Kilmer, New Jersey Dear Folksies, I made the train back to Camp just in time – arriving back with a whole trainload of others at 5:30 P.M. It was so darn hot here that I jumped into a cold shower, didn’t bother to dry off, lay down on […]
August 21, 1942
August 21, 1942 New York City Dear Folksies, Yesterday we took the 6 P.M. train from the Camp and got into N.Y. at 7 P.M. Bob and Bam, George Sterba and Fran Trembley and Lois and I stuck together and we went to the Commodore Hotel where the gals got one room and we […]
August 20, 1942
August 20, 1942 Camp Kilmer, New Jersey Dear Folksies, On the night of the 18th, there was a dance given by an outfit next door to us and it would have been lots better if the hall hadn’t been so hot. How the Col. was able to dance every dance when most of us […]
August 18, 1942
August 18, 1942 Camp Kilmer, New Jersey Dear Folksies, I phoned Alain at noon yesterday and he drove here by 6:45 P.M. He is only about 25 miles away. He has a nice, rather new, Ford coupe. He has changed little, except in his viewpoint towards the Germans. He was most jovial, and in […]
August 17, 1942
August 17, 1942 Camp Kilmer, New Jersey Dear Folksies, Sorry the connection last night was not as good as it should be. Hope it will be better later in the week and I can at least say “hello” to all of you. We are at Camp Kilmer, a camp that has existed only […]
August 16, 1942
August 16, 1942 Camp Kilmer, New Jersey Dear Folksies, Arrived at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey. Out of the train at 6 A.M., now in barracks, as at Ft. Lewis — not rooms as at Ft. Ord. Weather: hot, wet, and sticky. […]
August 15, 1942
August 15, 1942 Dear Folksies, Willard, Ohio at 9:15 A.M. Akron 10:45 A.M. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at 1:40 P.M. Went to see the gals at around 3 P.M. and played cards for a while. Around 9 P.M. we had a party in gals’ car. The Colonel came around and we expected to get the devil, […]
August 14, 1942
August 14, 1942 Dear Folksies, Kansas City 9 A.M. pouring rain! At 4 P.M. Bob and I went back and taught the gals some more bridge. Crossed the Mississippi at 6:20 P.M. Had dinner with the gals again. Arrived in petticoats of Chicago at 10:45 P.M. We were shifted on various tracks all […]
August 13, 1942
August 13, 1942 Dear Folksies, First stop was Belen, New Mexico around 10 A.M. Then we found out the Col. had relented and allowed us to visit the nurses. Bob Treadwell and I spent the afternoon there, taught the gals contract bridge and even had dinner in their car. A good part of […]
August 12, 1942
August 12, 1942 Dear Folksies, Stopped at Barstow for an hour between 10-11 A.M. Got out there with the whole outfit — plenty hot in the sun but not too bad in the shade. Walked around and had some orange juice and ice cream. Saw the gals. We’ve been allowed to visit with them […]
July 21, 1942
At Ft. Ord in Monterey, René was close to home, so he wrote fewer letters than he will starting in August. Instead of a letter for July 21, 1942, enjoy some photos of him from 1915-1918… Alma with René, born July 12, 1915 Four Generations: Grandmother Lillian, Great-Grandmother Bertha, René and Alma (left to right) […]
April 13, 1942
April 13, 1942 Ft. Lewis, Washington Dear Folksies, We’ve really begun today! We were given rifles this morning and we work on a regular routine. I think I forgot to tell you that we all had Saturday night sore arms. Yes, we had typhoid and tetanus shots Saturday. A few of the boys […]
April 11, 1942
April 11, 1942 Ft. Lewis, Washington Dear Folksies, Please forgive me for not having written much sooner, but we have really been kept BUSY!! Yesterday morning we awoke to the startling announcement that we were moving right away over to the “Officers’ Training School.” We moved and since then have had every minute […]