This collection (3.25 linear feet) consists of letters that Stanley Socha, a native of Oneida County, New York, exchanged with his wife Sophia while serving in the United States Army during World War II. He discussed his experiences during training at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana, and during his deployment in the Philippines and Japan.
The Stanley and Sophia Socha Correspondence comprises the vast bulk of the collection. The Sochas wrote over 700 letters to each other from October 1943-January 1946, most of which are Stanley's almost-daily letters to Sophia from Camp Claiborne, Louisiana, and from the Pacific Theater. At Camp Claiborne, Socha discussed military life and his training regimen, which included running obstacle courses and learning to tie different knots. In the spring of 1944, he described his experiences on a navy vessel while traveling to the Pacific, and he commented regularly on his health, surroundings, meals, and everyday life while serving overseas. Among other topics, he mentioned soldiers' interactions with Filipino women and shared his impressions of social class differences. Though he focused on his personal life and his feelings for Sophia, Socha occasionally commented on current events and war news. After V-J Day, he wrote from Tacloban, Philippines, and Tokorozawa, Japan, anticipating his return to the United States. He composed some letters on stationery bearing the logos of Camp Claiborne, Louisiana, and the United States Army.
Sophia Socha's letters to her husband are interspersed throughout the collection, becoming more frequent after his deployment to the Pacific. She commented on her life in Utica and provided news of her husband's parents and siblings, who lived in Oriskany Falls, New York. She occasionally enclosed newspaper clippings with her correspondence. The Sochas' letters from September and October 1944 concern the recent death of Stanley's mother.
The Letters to Stanley Socha series contains 54 items. Stanley's siblings, parents, and acquaintances wrote to him about life in New York, life in the United States military, and other topics. One letter from his mother is in Polish (July [11], 1944). The series includes Easter and birthday cards and V-mail.
Stanley Socha was born on December 22, 1910, the son of Polish immigrants Anna (d. 1944) and Ludwig ("Louis") Socha. The Socha family lived in Augusta, New York, and Stanley Socha had four siblings: Mary, Eddie, Walter, and Leo. He and his wife Sophia were married around 1935 and lived in Utica, New York, where he was a salesman. Socha joined the United States Army in 1943 and trained at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana, with the 361st Engineer Regiment, Company D, and the 689th Engineer Base Equipment Company until April 1944, when he was sent to the Pacific Theater. He served with the 689th Engineer Base Equipment Company and with the 3013th Engineer Maintenance Company in New Guinea, the Philippines, and Japan during and immediately after the war. He attained the rank of supply sergeant while overseas and returned to the United States around January 1946. Stanley Socha died on May 29, 1976.