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Start Over You searched for: Subjects Army spouses. Remove constraint Subjects: Army spouses. Formats Letters (correspondence) Remove constraint Formats: Letters (correspondence)
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Collection

Bernard J. Davis letters, 1944-1945 (majority within 1945)

10 items

This collection is made up of letters that Sergeant Bernard J. Davis sent to his wife while serving in the United States Army's 249th Port Company during World War II. Writing from various locations in the Pacific and from Manila, Philippines, Davis commented on his experiences in the army and on the growth of his son.

This collection is made up of 10 letters that Sergeant Bernard J. Davis sent to his wife and their young son, also named Bernard, while serving in the United States Army's 249th Port Company during World War II. Davis responded to news from home, particularly regarding young his son's growth and activities, and expressed his desire to reunite with his family. His letters occasionally include references to his army experiences, such as the rationing of cigarettes (March 25, 1945), Philippine children's efforts to find food (May 27, 1945), and the recreation centers where American soldiers could obtain foods from home (July 28, 1945). Davis wrote 2 letters home after the war ended, eagerly anticipating his return to the United States but encouraging his wife not to get her hopes up for his quick return.

Collection

Lawrence Nash collection, 1942-1945 (majority within 1944-1945)

16 items

The Lawrence Nash collection is made up of letters and other items pertaining to Nash's service in the United States Army during World War II. Nash received letters about his draft status from the Selective Service System and later wrote to his wife Shirley about his experiences in western Europe during the final months of the war.

The Lawrence Nash collection is made up of 16 items pertaining to Nash's service in the United States Army during World War II. Nash, a sergeant, received 2 letters from the Selective Service in 1942, and wrote 12 letters to his wife Shirley from Europe in 1944 and 1945. The remaining items are a handkerchief and military newsletters.

The Selective Service System sent letters to Lawrence R. Nash ("Larry") in Rochester, New York, on October 1, 1942, and October 26, 1942, about his classification and selection for induction on November 10, 1942. From August 16, 1944-June 8, 1945, Nash wrote 12 letters to his wife Shirley in Syracuse, New York, including 6 written in March 1945 and 2 written after V-E Day. Nash discussed their separation, his hopes for a quick end to the war, and his experiences in England, France, Luxembourg, and Germany, where he spent some time in foxholes. Though he wrote little of military life, Nash mentioned the age of German prisoners, who, by the spring of 1945, were mostly "old men" (March 16, 1945).

His postwar letters refer to his plans to travel to Paris and his desire to return home. A woven handkerchief is enclosed in an envelope postmarked December 8, 1944, and two newsletters (clipped together) contain notes on Allied progress in Europe ("I & E News Bulletin," January 23, 1945) and a poem about "The Soldiers Who Sit" ("The Snowball," February 9, 1945).

Collection

Robert Pate correspondence, 1942-1945 (majority within 1944-1945)

35 items

This collection is made up of letters that Robert Pate wrote to his wife Fern about his United States Army service in Wyoming, the Hawaiian Islands, and Saipan during World War II, as well as a newsletter. Most of Pate's correspondence concerns his love for Fern and their relationship.

The Robert Pate correspondence is made up of 34 letters that Pate wrote to his wife Fern while serving in the United States Army during World War II, and a newsletter. Pate wrote 4 letters from Fort F. E. Warren, Wyoming (November 29, 1942-January 25, 1943); 5 letters from Oahu, Hawaii (February 21, 1944-April 21, 1944); and 25 letters from the Pacific Theater, mainly Saipan ([June 28, 1944]; November 12, 1944-September 20, 1945). Pate's love letters primarily concern his romantic feelings for his wife and his thoughts about their relationship. He expressed his doubts about Fern's fidelity to him in a letter of January 25, 1943, but later chastised himself for his feelings of jealousy; he also discussed his own needs, though he assured his fidelity to his wife. He briefly referred to his living conditions, health, and optimism about the war, and encouraged Fern not to worry about his safety. The collection includes an issue of The Daily Target, a newsletter for United States servicemen in the Mariana Islands (May 25, 1945). The newsletter contains articles, one-panel comics, photographs, and a map of Allied progress in the Pacific.

Collection

Stewart Frederick Laurent papers, 1907-1947 (majority within 1918-1919)

0.5 linear feet

This collection is mainly comprised of letters that Sergeant Stewart F. Laurent wrote to his wife and other family members while serving in France during World War I. The collection also includes documents, postcards, photographs, and ephemera.

This collection (0.5 linear feet) is mainly comprised of letters that Sergeant Stewart F. Laurent wrote to his wife and other family members while serving in France during World War I. The collection also includes documents, postcards, photographs, and ephemera.

The Correspondence series (67 items) contains 65 letters that Laurent wrote about his service in France from March 10, 1918-May 18, 1919; 1 letter that he wrote on January 10, 1918; and 1 letter by other military personnel confirming Laurent's good record as an automobile driver (April 30, 1918). Laurent most frequently wrote to his wife Alice, discussing their separation and anticipating their life together after the war. In other letters to Alice and to his mother, aunt, uncle, and siblings, he described his travels around the French countryside and reported military rumors, particularly those related to the end of the war. He vacationed at Aix-les-Bains in September 1918 and was stationed in Abainville and Haussimont after the Armistice; he also visited Nice and Paris. On Thanksgiving Day, 1918, after the relaxation of censorship requirements, he recounted his passage to France on the USS President Lincoln and enclosed a dinner menu from the journey. Other enclosures include a photographic postcard; snapshots of Laurent, other soldiers, tanks, and places in France; a booklet celebrating Mother's Day; and a political cartoon of an American soldier awaiting his return home. In 2 letters from March 1919, Laurent drew pictures of artillery shells that had been turned into vases.

The Postcards series (11 items) is divided into 3 groups. Stewart F. Laurent sent 3 postcards to his wife Alice between January 8, 1919, and February 17, 1919, of which 2 show the interior and exterior of the Château de Valençay; the third informs Alice of her husband's reassignment to Haussimont, France. The second group of postcards depicts soldiers and scenes from Paris, France, during World War I. The final group of 4 postcards pertains to the Laurents' candy store in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the 1940s.

Items in the Documents series (9 items) mostly relate to Stewart Laurent's military service, including 4 items about his discharge (May 1919), a Treasury Department document about the War Risk Insurance Act and related financial allotments (undated), and instructions for troops sailing from the United States to France onboard the USS President Lincoln [February 1918]. Three items, 2 of which are dated November 18, 1914, concern the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company.

Printed Items and Ephemera (15 items) pertain to Stewart F. Laurent's military service and personal life. A 1908 program for an event at Glenolden Grammar School and an unidentified photograph from 1907 are enclosed with an invitation to Laurent's wedding. The remaining items are from the World War I era, including 2 newsletters about the French Riviera in the spring of 1919, a group of ticket stubs with a parody song ("Silver Threads Among the Black"), Laurent's pay book, a program for a variety performance in Aix-les-Bains, and 3 booklets: a guide to the French Riviera, a history of and guide to Paris, and a soldier's French phrasebook. This collection also includes 2 realia items: a string of beads and a private's chevron.