Collections : [University of Michigan William L. Clements Library]

This collection is made up of 15 letters that Sergeant Carl Thomas wrote to his wife Ruth while serving with the 4024th Quartermaster Truck Company in India and Burma during World War II. Also included are 3 letters that Carl and Ruth received from acquaintances and an unidentified photograph.

This collection is made up of 15 letters that Sergeant Carl Thomas wrote to his wife Ruth while serving with the 4024th Quartermaster Truck Company in India and Burma during World War II. Also included are 3 letters that Carl and Ruth received from acquaintances and an unidentified photograph.

The first two items are letters that Carl Thomas received from friends while stationed at Fort Knox, Kentucky, in mid-1943. Lieutenant Louis Zanine and Private Roosevelt Thomas discussed mutual acquaintances and their military assignments. Ruth Thomas also received a V-mail letter from Corporal Walter Washington, who was then serving in Europe with the 386th Engineer Battalion, Company B.

Carl Thomas wrote the remaining 15 letters to his wife Ruth between September 7, 1944, and February 14, 1945. He often wrote on United States Armed Forces stationery, and one of his letters (on United States Service of Supply stationery) includes a printed illustration of a snake charmer. In his brief letters, Carl discussed the weather, homesickness, boredom, and abstention from alcohol. He sent Ruth and others pillowcases from India or Burma, where he served throughout the final years of the war. The collection includes a photograph of an unidentified landscape.

This collection is made up of letters that Lieutenant Russell G. Schlagal wrote to his wife Margery while serving in the United States Army during World War II. Schlagal discussed his experiences in India and on the island of Tinian, and he often illustrated his letters with ink sketches and watercolor paintings.

This collection is made up of letters that Lieutenant Russell G. Schlagal wrote to his wife Margery while serving in the United States Army during World War II. Schlagal discussed his experiences in India and on the island of Tinian, and he often illustrated his letters with ink sketches and watercolor paintings.

Russell G. Schlagal regularly wrote letters home to Margery, who remained in Dayton, Ohio, during the war. He responded to news of family members and acquaintances, and shared his love for Margery. Most letters concern Schlagal's daily experiences with the 28th Air Service Group in India (December 1944-April 1945) and on the island of Tinian in the Northern Mariana Islands (June 1945-March 1946). In India, he occasionally mentioned his encounters with local residents, and he described the wildlife, the scenery, and local customs. He frequently attended USO shows and movies. Schlagal later discussed his life on Tinian, where he remained until the spring of 1946. He continued to attend performances and films, and also participated in underwater sightseeing. After the end of the war, Schlagal wrote about the possibility and timing of his return home.

Schlagal illustrated some of his letters with ink sketches, ink drawings, and watercolor paintings. These depict buildings, objects, and scenery from India and Tinian. Occasionally, he used stationery with pre-printed scenes, and his letter of December 29, 1945, has a manuscript map of Tinian. On February 24, 1946, Schlagal composed a partially pictographic letter about his anticipated return home. He alternated words with pictures of animals, his wife, himself, and the island of Tinian.