Tag: World War II

1940s Postcards, Military Postcards, North America

War Dads Canteen, Part 2 [1944 – Springfield, MO]

Kate
Springfield, MO 1944 WW2 Postcard lg

Like the previous Lost Greetings post, War Dad’s Canteen, Part 1, this card was produced to promote a service members’ place of respite near a major military hospital in Springfield, Missouri. Whereas the previously posted “War Dad’s Canteen Chapter No. 6” image showed the interior of the building, this one features the exterior and notes its location at “Frisco Station,” a significant depot on the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway. The postmark “P.O. ST-SF Sta.” stands to indicate this note was also placed in the mail at Frisco station.

The postcard was sent by Sgt Marvin L. Ward to a youngster living at the same residence in Morrisville, North Carolina as previously featured on this blog. Though, this postcard was delayed in reaching that destination.

Continue reading “War Dads Canteen, Part 2 [1944 – Springfield, MO]” →
Military Postcards, Postcards, United States

War Dad’s Canteen, Part 1 [1945 – Springfield, MO]

Kate

Springfield, MO War Dad_s Canteen 1944 ww2 postcard lg

Communities found innumerable ways to support the war effort, and locations like this service members’ canteen popped up like mushrooms wherever military personnel congregated in the early 1940’s.

The American War Dads of Springfield produced this postcard to highlight their canteen, located adjacent to a passenger train station, but they also raised funds to sponsor the travel expenses of mothers visiting their sons at O’Reilly General Hospital. Known as “the Hospital with a Soul,” this Army medical center in Springfield, Missouri specialized in reconstructive surgery, plastic surgery, and physical therapy. Between 1941 and 1946, O’Reilly General Hospital provided extended care for injured veterans returning from the fight abroad. Worth a watch, a local news story about the history and fate of the “Hospital with a Soul” is included below. Continue reading “War Dad’s Canteen, Part 1 [1945 – Springfield, MO]” →

Military Postcards, Postcards, United States

Keep ’em Flying: Writing on the Move [“Camp Boardwalk” – Atlantic City, New Jersey – 1942]

Kate

Atlantic City, NY 1945 Keep 'em Flying Air Corps Image lg

For the two years my husband was in Army flight school, we dated long-distance. Then, cell phones had slide-out keyboards, Taylor Swift was a pubescent country artist, and the quest to post the coolest AOL instant messenger “away message” often occupied a corner of my thoughts. I sometimes wrote him letters, even though such a thing was, by then, terribly old fashioned for people our age. I remember occasionally writing to him while trying to stave off boredom in my Strategic Management class, as I worked toward finishing my senior year in college. Much of my correspondence is tucked away in storage somewhere, but a few months ago, I came across one letter with a large jittery squiggle snaking across the page. Continue reading “Keep ’em Flying: Writing on the Move [“Camp Boardwalk” – Atlantic City, New Jersey – 1942]” →

Military Postcards, United States

Summer Camp and Boot Camp [1943 – Galilee, PA]

Kate

Postcard Camp Chicopee, Galilee, PA 1943 lg

This postcard traveled from the itty-bitty town of Galilee, PA to Great Lakes, Illinois, home to a massive Navy installation which trained a staggering number of sailors for service in World War II.

The front of this card features an aerial image of Camp Chicopee, a traditional summer camp which was located in the rural northwest corner of Pennsylvania near the New York state line. The camp was in operation until the late 1960s (source), but based on some Google Maps sleuthing, the land has since returned to private use and little trace remains of the buildings depicted in this photo.

Regarding supervising campers, I can personally relate to the sender’s sentiments. I myself worked as a camp counselor for one summer in rural Vermont when I was 19, and can attest that keeping a group of 8-year-olds entertained and out of trouble is no easy feat no matter the era. Though, for the recipient of this card, I’m sure a Navy life wasn’t much of a picnic either. Continue reading “Summer Camp and Boot Camp [1943 – Galilee, PA]” →

Military Postcards, United States

Postcard Casanova [Camp Barkeley, TX – 1945]

Kate

Postcard Casanova, Camp Barkeley TX 1945 Mt Vernon image lg

On the front, we find a sedate pastoral image of George Washington’s estate at Mount Vernon. On the reverse, we read a list of presumed conquests in the form of a litany of female names, though I wager this note was written with tongue firmly in-cheek.

This card was sent from Camp Barkley, Texas to Captain Cassidy, a chemical officer serving in Europe with the 9th Army (based on the APO listed, #339). The recipient may have needed some lighthearted cheer, because as of February 1945 (postmark of this card) the 9th Army had been heavily involved in the Battle of the Bulge, the last major German offensive of the war. I hope that this implausible list of exploits was well received and that the sender wasn’t really the Casanova he purported to be. Though, I did enjoy reading the list of common female names of the time period, and I hope a few of these lovely monikers come back into style. Continue reading “Postcard Casanova [Camp Barkeley, TX – 1945]” →

Vintage Photos

Post Office in the Sand: Servicemen Sorting Packages on an Unidentified Island in the Pacific – [1940s Photo]

Kate

This is not a postcard, but I also have an affinity for photos such as this.

Though postcards have fallen out of popularity as short-form communication, packages are still of vital importance to everyone of us. This is especially true for Americans still serving in far-flung locations around the globe, just as they were in this candid photo from the Pacific Theater of World War II. Instead of being secured with clear packing tape, the parcels pictured here were carefully tied with string before being entrusted to the mail service to bring a bit of home to service members abroad.

“Photograph of two U.S. Army Air Forces servicemen sorting packages in the sand in a post office hut at an unidentified camp on an unidentified island in the Pacific Theater during World War II. A row of Army Air Forces mail bags is seen on a stand. Photograph taken or collected by Capt. Ferd L. Davis of Zebulon, N.C., while he served in the 394th Bomber Squadron, 5th Bomb Group (Heavy), during the war (undated).”

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From Ferd L. Davis Papers, WWII 191, World War II Papers, Military Collection, State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh, N.C.

 

First Class of WAVES, Norman, Oklahoma 1943
Military Postcards, Postcards, United States

Making WAVES in the Sooner State [1944 – Oklahoma] US Navy

Kate

Norman Oklahoma 1944, USNavy postcard image lg.png

A Naval base in the middle of Oklahoma? It may be hard to believe, but thousands of male and female Navy personnel spent time training in the wide open spaces of the Sooner State during World War II.

This post card was sent by a Navy service member stationed in Norman, Oklahoma, and depicts the hydroelectric Quanah Parker Dam to the West in what is now Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. Perhaps the sender, Russell, found time for a weekend trip to this scenic part of the state during a reprieve from his hospital duties in 1944. Continue reading “Making WAVES in the Sooner State [1944 – Oklahoma] US Navy” →

Military Postcards, United States

Th’ Sarg Gave Me th’ Works [1942 – Sebring, FL]

Kate

Sebring, FL 1942 WW2 Comic Postcard lg

A drill sergeant picking apart a recruit seems to be a common vignette on military-themed comic postcards of this period. Though, I have to imagine that while the postcards are vivid, they would have been out-shown by the colorful language of the real drill sergeants of past and present. Breaking down the individual and building him back up as part of a team has long constituted the basis for basic American military training.

On this card, we meet Joe, a Private who uses this postcard image to relate his experience to a young lady in Pennsylvania. Continue reading “Th’ Sarg Gave Me th’ Works [1942 – Sebring, FL]” →

Camp Claiborne Louisiana World War II
Military Postcards, Postcards, United States

Earliest Days of the 101st Airborne [1943 – Camp Claiborne, LA & Nashville, TN]

Kate

Vintage Linen Postcard, World War II - Camp Claiborne, Louisiana

Unpacking this postcard has been a fascinating journey including a long-forgotten Army Camp in Central Louisiana and the famed 101st Airborne Division. The image depicted, its caption, the writing style of the sender, his assigned unit, the location of the postmark, and content of the message all have much to offer.

Let’s start with the arrival depicted here. The linen postcard image is a color-enhanced photograph of new soldiers arriving by rail car and transferring to trucks at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana. The installation was primarily used for basic training and artillery practice. Camp Claiborne was also notable for the Claiborne-Polk Military Railway, a rail line spanning 50 miles, including 25 bridges, which connected the camp to what’s now Fort Polk, Louisiana. The railway was used to simulate rail repairs and test methods for derailing trains. Though Camp Claiborne was returned to civilian use right after the war, it had birthed one of the most decorated units of World War II – the 101st Airborne Division, which was activated there in August of 1942. Continue reading “Earliest Days of the 101st Airborne [1943 – Camp Claiborne, LA & Nashville, TN]” →

Postcard from Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky 1940s
Military Postcards, Postcards, United States

Lucky Strike and Major’s Pay [1942 – Camp Breckenridge, Ky]

Kate

Camp Breckinridge, KY 1942 WW2 Comic Postcard lg

I never cease to be amazed by the veritable explosion of construction projects and mass movement of personnel that characterized 1942 and 1943 across the United States. The creation of Camp Breckinridge in Morganfield, Kentucky near the Illinois state line provides a textbook example of this furious pace of military activity in many rural corners of the country. A testament to the swift construction of Camp Breckinridge, the buildings here were built in such haste that they were not properly insulated, a fact not lost on our sender who keenly felt the cold in December of 1942.

In this card, we meet Pvt. Louis Featherston who hails from Durham, North Carolina. His note recounts get-to-know-you conversations like so many of us have had when we’ve moved away and our hometown falls outside the list of top 25 most populous cities in the country. They go like this: Continue reading “Lucky Strike and Major’s Pay [1942 – Camp Breckenridge, Ky]” →