This collection is made up of over 280 letters that Sergeant Randall M. Stine wrote to his parents and siblings in Portland, Pennsylvania, while serving with the United States Army during World War II. Stine wrote home regularly from October 22, 1942-August 13, 1945, with a few gaps during periods of travel. His first letters concern his arrival and experiences at Camp Pickett, Virginia, and Fort Knox, Kentucky, where he was trained as a cook. He shared his impressions of the South, fellow soldiers, and camp life. In December 1942, he sent illustrated Christmas cards to his sisters.
After his arrival in North Africa, Stine wrote every few days about his work at the 105th Station Hospital; he continued to cook for staff and patients following the hospital's relocation to Italy in 1944. On one occasion, he complained about the soldiers' mealtime behavior. In his spare time, Stine read magazines, played checkers, watched movies, and attended USO shows. In one letter from mid-1945, he discussed his visit to a rest camp in Rome, and on August 11, 1945, he reported the news of the Japanese surrender offer.
Randall M. Stine was born in Portland, Pennsylvania, on April 25, 1915, the son of Morris Stine and Elizabeth Weidman. His siblings included Clair, William, Margaret, Wallace, Donald, Kenneth, Stanley, and Hilda. Stine joined the United States Army in November 1942. He trained at Camp Pickett, Virginia, and Fort Knox, Kentucky, until April 1943. Stine was a cook for the 105th Station Hospital in North Africa and Italy until his discharge in October 1945. After the war, he lived returned to Portland, Pennsylvania, and worked as a supermarket produce manager in New Jersey. He also served as the superintendent of a Baptist Sunday School and owned Bucky's News Store. On November 1, 1947, he married Ada Jennings (1913-1991). Randall M. Stine died on April 19, 1998, in Nazareth, Pennsylvania.