World War II Letters: How to Earn Points, Gee Whiz!

Like the other soldiers during WWII, Dad kept careful track of the points he had accumulated in hopes of returning home after the war.  I don't know if the Navy and the Army used the same point system, but for army I believe some point examples were:

1 point for each month overseas. 
5 points if you received the bronze. 
5 points for any additional medal 
5 points for the purple heart. 
12 points for each child under 18.

Note Dad's use of the then popular phrase, "Gee whiz!"  I think it disappeared after the 1940's.  The only place I hear it now is in movies from the 1930's and 1940's.  I was wondering what American slang phrases are now popular that will also disappear in time.  There are so many, but here are some I came across:

I went to the beach to "catch some rays."
I "goofed up" on the math test.
We have to "hang tough" on our decision.
Hey, "what's going down?"
This job is "pure gravy."
That food tasted " yukky."
Bob is a real "couch potato."
His girlfriend is a real "airhead."
Who's bringing the "booze?"

Oct. 3, 1945
Guam

Dear Mom & Dad, * Vi,

     How is everyone there at home?  I sure hope everything is going alright.  I haven’t written to you lately, because I was waiting for your new address, but in the letter I received from you today, you hadn’t moved as yet.  I’m sorry, honest.

     Gee whiz, I thought Eddie was sure of coming home.  I hope they take him, though he’s short 1 3/4 points.  I want so much to hear he is home with Marge and Ronnie.  I hope and pray he makes the grade.

     Well, the latest rumor is that I am going to get four of those battle stars we were gypped out of.  If I get them, that will be twenty points more and I’ll have a grand total of 69 points.  There has been a lot of trouble on the count of those.  One time I was supposed to have 51 or 52 points but ended up with 49 over here.  Some fun.  Anyway, IF I get those this month, I’ll be home for X-mas, but remember I said “if.”  I know now I’ll be home when the baby is born.  That helps an awful lot.

     Thanks a million for sending my request box.  I haven’t received it yet but it won’t be long.  I’ll sure be able to drink some of that Pop-Ade.  The boys too.  I gets so darn hot here that when anyone goes fishing and gets a fish, all they have to do is clean it and put salt on it, and eat it.  It’s already fried.

     Say Mom,  do you mean to say you have won $160 already at bingo?  Egads!  That’s a small fortune.  How about loaning me five?  No change?  OK, I’ll take the ten!!  I’m just kidding, I don’t need any money.  If I ever do need any money, Mom, Bonnie will send me some.  Thanks just the same.  If I ever needed money and didn’t ask her, she would be hurt.  She’s sure a wonderful, sweet little wife.

     Well, there isn’t much I can write about this island or anything else, so I’ll close.  Tell everyone I said “Hello” and to write.  Did Jesse & Bee get my letter?  I guess they didn’t.  Bye for now.  Take care of yourselves.  God bless you and watch over you.  I miss you terribly.

Your loving son,
   Elwood

p.s.  Please don’t tell Bonnie about this possibility of us coming home by December or X-mas.  If we don’t get more transportation from Guam and Tinian, we may not get there in time for X-mas.  I want to be absolutely sure before I tell her, OK?

World War II Letters: Twin Brothers

 Dad and his twin brother Eddie missed each other all during the war and each worried that the other might not return home.  Eddie already had a child, Ronnie, with his wife Marge, and Dad was expecting his first child in March of 1946.  Years later both their families lived in the same duplex, where the brothers continued to look after each other and remained close until Eddie's death in the early 1980's.

Even after the war officially ended, there was still sniper fire in the Pacific, alluded to in this letter my Dad wrote in September of 1945.  Renegade Japanese soldiers remained for months on Guam, where sniper fire, though much reduced, was still a threat from some wooded areas and caves.

Sept. 12, 1945
Guam
7:10 P.M.

Dear Mom and Dad,

     How are the best mom and dad in the world getting along?  I hope you are both OK.  Have you talked to Bonnie lately?  When you call her again, tell her I said “hello.” I sure do miss her.  Do you know how she is getting along? If she is having a hard time being pregnant, I know she won’t tell me.

     I wrote to Jess and Bee, and to Eddie the other day.  So far, I have received only one letter and got it today.   It was from Bonnie, one that she wrote on August 9th!  That’s over a month ago.  Boy, was I happy when I received it.  It’s such a sweet letter.   Maybe now my mail will start coming to me regularly.  Boy, Mom,  I know how you feel about being asked to send me things I need, because you told me when I got home the last time, so would you please send me that Pop-Ade you had in the fridge?  It’s terribly hot over here, and believe me, a good drink like that would really be wonderful.  If you don’t have it anymore, please don’t go out to get any.  I know it is hard to get.  I asked Bonnie to send me a couple of tee-shirts, a mirror, and a set of guitar strings.  Oh yes, I’ve been trying to remember what it was I wanted.  Would you get me one of those transparent cigarette cases that George has at his cigar store?  I guess that’s his name.  Anyway, it is one of those cases that you put the while pack of cigarettes into.  The top comes off the case.  I had one, but I’ll be darned if I know what I did with it.  It’s nice to keep cigarettes in, because it’s so very humid here, and the smokes stay fresher longer in a case like that.  That white case with the gold finish you gave me, Dad, I left at home this time, because it’s too good to bring over here.  I don’t want to use that case until I become a Mason.  I remember you used to carry that case to the lodge, and I want to carry it too. 

     I’m going to try to save $50 here.  It won’t be easy, because I'm sending almost all m money home to Bonnie.  If I can save it, I’ll try to send it to you.  It will be coming out of the money I’ve allowed myself for rations.  Please don’t tell Bonnie that, or she’ll make me quit sending her $100 a month, and I know she needs it.  I can surely do without candy and stuff in order to save about $5 a month extra.  At that rate, it’ll take ten months to save the $50.

     I have a higher point average in this squadron due to my other tweleve months over seas.  The average for this squadron is 45 points, and I have 48.  I sure hope I can be home when the baby is brought into this world.

     I had a swell dream about Eddie last night.  I dreamed I met him here, and we spent a whole evening together.  No one will ever know how much I miss Eddie.  I’ve worried so much about im since you told me what Jack Ralph said about Eddie’s ship being attacked by the Japs.  Now that the war is over, I’m not worried so much.  If something were to happen to one of us,  I had prayed it would be me.  Now I know Jack Ralph was wrong about Eddie’s being wounded, thank God.

     I guess I’ll close for tonight.  There isn’t much I can write about this place, except to say that I think I told you about the Jap sniper here in the area not occupied by Yanks.  Well, a negro fellow went in there day before yesterday and never came back.  He was found shot dead in the area, where evidence of a Jap camp was also found.  I figure I won’t ever need to go in that wooded area, as I’ve never lost anything there and have no business there anyway.  If two men travel together in that area, the Japs won’t attack them, because if if one is shot, the other will kill the Jap.  We’ve all been trained to react instantly.  But a guy who goes there alone is sure to be killed.  A Jap will pick a spot where he can see anyone coming his way and will lie there for hours without even moving.  He lets the enemy move and give away his position first.  Anyway, don’t worry.  I won’t be going anywhere near there.

     Bye for now.  Be careful.  Write soon.  God bless and watch over you.

Your loving son,
  Elwood

World War II Letters: The Trouble with Dolores

 

Dad was a handsome man, and he couldn't help the attraction felt by women he encountered along the way during the war.  The fact that he shared with his parents this particularly innocent female encounter says a lot about his good intentions and also his sensitivity to how his wife Bonnie would react to any kind of correpondence between him and the Seattle lady. Based upon Dad's having met Nadine from Michigan and Bonnie's reaction to that guileless meeting, Dolores might really have caused some problems for Dad had the news been received by my mother.  As it turned out, there was never, to my knowledge, any further problem from Dolores or her machinations through any more correspondence.  I can imagine, however, that the possibility worried Dad for a while, even after he returned home.  He adored my mother and wouldn't have upset her for anything.  Fortunately, she adored him too.

Sept. 13, 1945
Guam
12:15 p.m.

Dear Mom & Dad,

     I just received a letter from you and believe me, I sure was happy to hear from you again.  Mom, I’m glad that youre going into Billings for a thorough check-up.  I hope you’re all right by now.  You were really lucky to have won $50 at bingo.

     In this letter you have enclosed a letter from Dolores Wartham of Seattle.  I had forgotten about her.  She is a girl I met through Fred Seacrest and  Bill Puckett and the boys in Santa Anita.  I hadn’t known her very long when she claimed to the boys that she more than liked me.  She said (and I’m not bragging) that she liked me because I was clean and the quiet type. I had told her all about you and Dad, but I also told her about Bonnie.  She used to force her way into our bunch when we were all out galavanting and then hang around me.  Of course, I was with her only in the crowd, but I didn’t tell my honey, because I knew she wouldn’t like it, but what is a guy to do?  She asked for my address and yours, so she got it, and after she had written me a few times in England, I wrote to her.  Why she said my letter was so sweet, I really don’t know, unless it was because her letters were all HELLO and GOODBYE.  I did write one good, long letter telling her about England and the army air corps.  Anyway, I’m glad you didn’t tell Bonnie, because she might not ever understand.  I’m not going to write to Dolores, because if she writes back after I’m out of the service, the letter will come to my house.  If you hear from her again, just throw the letter out and forget about it.  

     EVERYTHING happens to me.  A girl named Nadine in Michigan used to like me too, and after Bonnie and I were married, Bonnie found out about her and cried herself to sleep for a whole week.  That is why I won’t mention this to her.  And don’t think that Bonnie is too jealous.  I feel the same way about her.

     Well, so much for that!  How are you both?  Boy I sure wish I could see you, but it won’t be that long before I do see you again.  If the latest rumor is right, I have a chance of being home for Christmas.  Don’t tell Bonnie, because if it isn’t true, it would break her heart.  I’ll know in a couple of weeks for sure.  The rumor is that all men with 50 points or more will be home for X-mas.  There are so many rumors flying around here, that I don’t know if there are any  I can actually believe.

     I received nine letters from my honey yesterday, and one of the letters had the sweetest little baby booty in it.  It is pink, trimmed in white, and had a little pink silk ribbon on the right side.  I guess it’s for the right foot.  In another letter there was five dollars, and another one had two dollars.  Bonnie is sure a sweet kid.  I don’t know what I would ever do without her. I’ll write to her again tonight.  She told me in her last letter that she will be moving to Jean’s, but she didn’t give me the address.  I guess I’ll just have to write to her mother until I get it.  Today I didn’t receive any mail.  It’s 4:30 now, and I just came back from this afternoon’s work.

    I guess I’ll close for now.  Keep writing.  I need your letters.  Bye for now, and God bless you both.

Your loving son, 
   Elwood

p.s. I just found out that it was only a rumor about the 50 points.  I still think I’ll be home when my baby is born.  I pray I will, anyway.

World War II Letters: After War's End, Waiting to Go Home!

 As of September 9, 1945, Dad had his final address on Guam and was hoping to be shipped home by February before the baby's birth in March.  There was already a tremendous release of tension among the soldiers, who knew they would soon be on their ways home.

Sept. 9, 1945
Guam

Dear Mom and Dad,

     I am settled now and my new address will be the address I’ll have for my stay here.  It is:

507th Air Material Squadron
90th Air Service Group
APO 334 c/o Postmaster
San Francisco,  California

     When you write to this address you’ll know for sure I’ll get my mail.  I don’t know when the other mail will catch up with me.  I sure wish I could hear from you and from my honey.

     We have a nice barracks here, and our whole area is built up pretty good.  In the last place we had to wash out of our helmets, and the showers were big oil drums on platforms with spigots on them.  This is comfortable for being on an island.  I was really surprised.  The natives here speak English, and the native women wear regular dresses and make-up.  Their form of transportation is an ox and a two-wheeled cart.  It rains here almost constantly, and the mud is terrible, but overall, it isn’t that bad.  I sure wish I could be there with you now.  Oh, yes, Dad, remember these soft shoes you gave me?  Well, they really are handy.  I wore them on the ship all the way over, and now I wear them in the barracks.  I really like them.

     Well, this is a very short letter, but I’ll have to close for now.  It is time to eat supper.

     Bye for now.  Be careful, and pray I can come home soon, Eddie and I both. God bless you and watch over you.  I sure do miss you.

  Your loving son,
   Elwood
p.s.  Write soon!

World War II Letters: Guam!

Guam Barracks, 1945

As of September, 1945, the war had been over for a while, but Dad was still on the island of Guam in the Pacific.  His buddies were breaking up and leaving a few at a time, but Dad was not really celebrating yet.  He was still on guard and yearning to get back home before I was born.  Again he and his twin brother Eddie had lost contact with each other, Eddie being in the United States Navy and stationed elsewhere in the Pacific.  I love the photos of celebration in newspapers of England and the United States.  My favorite is still the most famous, of a sailor giving a nurse a kiss right in the middle the street surrounded by jubilant onlookers.

Sept. 7, 1945
Guam

Dear Mom and Dad,

     Here I am half way around the world again, and this time the war is over.  As soon as the Japs heard that the 367th was on a ship and on the way over here, they threw up their hands and surrendered.  I’m right as two rabbits about that too.

     How are you?  I sure hope everything is all right.  How did you feel when you heard the war was over?  Yes, I guess you did the same thing we did.  Some people went out and celebrated by getting drunk and getting into a lot of foolish trouble, and others stayed in their homes and thought of their boys in the war, just as those boys were thinking of them and thanked God that this was finally a thing of the past.

     I tried my best to find Eddie on the way over but didn’t find him.  I was told he was probably in Tokyo Bay waiting to protect the landing.  We made two stops before we arrived here on Guam, one at the Marshall Islands, and one at the Carolinas.  In both places I inquired about Eddie’s ship, but he wasn’t there.  Well, our outfit is breaking up.  Some of the men are leaving for Tinian Island tomorrow morning at five.  As far as I know now, I’ll stay on Guam for a while.  All of my buddies that I have been with since I came into the army are shipping out in all different directions.  Ed Skafish and Bill Haakinson, and Jimmy Scott and I are about the only ones who will be here, and we won’t be here long.  I hope to be home by February, but that is only my hope, maybe just wishful thinking.  I pray to God I’m home when the baby is born.  If I’m not, I know that you will see that Bonnie and the baby are taken care of for me.

     We haven’t received any mail as yet, and it looks as though we won’t for at least another week.  I sure hope I get a letter from you then.  I miss you both so very much.  Dad, I want to ask you again to forgive me for not saying so-long when you left for work that day.

     Tell Jesse and Bee ad Vi I’ll write within the next week.  I want to be assigned and have a permanent APO number before I write.  Now my APO is 234.  Tomorrow, lord knows what it will be.  My whole address will change within the next week.

     I guess I’ll have to close now, because it is getting dark, and we have no lights.  Our shower is a barrel on a platform with a spigot on it, and our helmets are our face bowls.  Nice place, Guam.  I wish they would just give it back to the Japs and send us home.  

     Well, bye for now.  Be careful, and God bless you both.  Keep writing to this address until you hear from me again.

      Your loving son,
          Elwood

p.s.  Tell my baby doll I said hello, and that I miss her.

YouTube video on Guam: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6MXJMRYR4Q&feature=watch_response

World War II Army Air Corps Jacket and Buttons

World War II Letters: July 1945, Missing Home

 At this time,  military security was very strict in terms of soldiers not even being allowed to reveal where they were at the time or where they were going.  The envelope from this letter has an approval stamp from the army examiner.  The return address was San Francisco, which was the base from which soldiers were shipped to the Pacific, where Dad was to serve on the island of Guam, but no one knew that at the time, not even Dad.
    

  25 July, 1945
                                                                                            1:30 P.M.

Dear Mom and Dad,

     We just had a mail call , and I received your first letter with my new address on it.  I sure was glad to hear from you.  Thank you for congratulating Bonnie and me.  I’m sure it will be just what we ordered.  No, Dad, I’m afraid you’re wrong.  Bonnie and I both want a girl first, then four boys, and then three more girls, and then seven....Oh well, anyway, we want a girl.  NO TWINS!!!

     Dad, about that petition.  I am ready, but as you know, I won’t be able to begin at present.  I too hope Eddie feels the same.  I’m sure he does though, with you and Mom as our parents.  You’ve made me feel a lot better now, since you told me you would be with Bonnie when the baby is born.  I won’t worry too much now.  I’m sure I want to be home when the baby is born, so you both know how I feel.  I’m glad Bonnie had a good rest.  She sure needed one.  She works too hard there at her mother’s.  I wish you were living in Highland, and she could be with you.

     I sure miss you both an awful lot.  I’ll never get used to being away from you.  I guess when I get out of the army, I’ll have to live in the town you live in, or all my money will go for transportation from my home to yours.  All Bonnie used to talk about was being with you or having you over to our house.  She sure loves you both.  I’m so very proud of her.  I don’t know how I was ever lucky enough to have her.  

     I’m glad you feel OK now, Dad, since you had your lower teeth extracted.  For two pins, I would have the same thing done.  My lower teeth are all right, but they are full of fillings.

     Mom, please do keep in close contact with my honey.  If you will, I can rest assured she will be all right.  I just don’t want her to work herself to death.  I want her to rest and to have fun, not work all day, seven days a week.

     I’m sorry I can’t tell you where I am.  I know you both would like to know all about it.  When I come home, I’ll tell you all about it, OK?

     I guess I’ll close for now.  God bless you both and watch over you.  Be careful.  I love you, and I miss you terribly.  Bye for now.  I’ll write again day after tomorrow.

                                                                    Your loving son,
                                                                        Elwood

p.s. Bonnie and I will be married seven months tomorrow, the 26th!

Help Solve the Mystery of the World War II Canteen Cup!

Tom Cushing wrote:

    "The mystery I present to you is that of an old W.W.II canteen cup, that is inscribed with the 

 various places the war took the bearer of the cup.  I purchased it from an Army surplus store, that stood on the corner of Milwaukee Avenue and Higgins, in Chicago, Illinois in the late ‘40’s; to use the cup and canteen for hiking and camping with the Boy Scouts.   
 Enclosed please find an attached photo of the cup and a copy of the inscription, mimicked in style and spelling of the lettering as it appears on the cup.  If the soldier who carried it is still alive, he may be interested in having it back as a souvenir of his service days, or his family may recognize the trail of his travels."  

 LEWISTOWN, NEWCUMBERLAND, COLORADO, TENNESSEE, NEW YORK,IRELAND, SCOTLAND, ENGLAND, FRANCE, BELGIUM,LUXENBOURG, GERMANY, then to BLANCHE

Please circulate this to anyone you know, who may have had a dad, uncle, grandfather, or friend, who served in World War II. Let's help solve the mystery of the World War II canteen cup!
 If you have any clues, please contact Tom Cushing via: my potomacriver@gmail.com

World War II Letters: Porcelain Unicorn: A Poignant 3-Minute Film about the War

This summer, the renowned director/producer Ridley Scott launched a global filmmaker competition dubbed “Tell It Your Way” following its Cannes Lions award-winning short-film project “Parallel Lines.” The entrants were given freedom of expression and could take up any theme they wanted; still there were two strict rules—there had to be the exact six-line dialogue as it was in the Parallel Lines films, plus the entries could last no longer than three minutes.

Here’s the prize-winning entry in the “Tell It Your Way” competition.

During WWII the world was already changing every moment.  This little film may be a reminder of why America and its allies were fighting so hard for that change.  It is brief but powerful in its message of compassion.

Watch it here:    http://www.porcelainunicorn.com/

World War II Letters: Happy Expectations!

  Dad relates in this letter his excitement over the coming of his first child (me).  Can you imagine my deep feeling as I held this letter and others to read about my approaching entrance into this world?  Dad was far from Mom at this point and was worried about her, which is why he depended upon his parents to watch over Bonnie until he was able to get home.

The other issue for Dad at that time was that my grandfather, who held the highest office in his Masonic Lodge, wanted both his twin boys, Elwood and Eddie to become Masons as well.  From all I can gather, neither Dad nor Eddie was especially enthralled with the idea, except to please their father, but Grandpa B was very authoritarian and was one of those dads who felt entitled to decide everything from careers to whom his sons would marry.  I believe that both Eddie and my dad became experts at appeasing their father, sometimes through delays and distraction before going their own ways.  As far as I know, neither brother ever became a Mason.  How Grandpa B felt about this, I don't know.  He always appeared to me as a very imperious man, and that demeanor was captured well in the Masonic picture in which he was wearing his tall silk hat.                                                                         

17 July, 1945

Pratt, Kansas

Grandpa Bolinger front center Masonic High Officer

2:20 P.M.

     Dear Mom and Dad,

     Please forgive me for not writing.  I wanted to wait until I could tell you about Bonnie and I being able to see our “little world of happiness” ahead.  I called her last night, and she said she had told you she is going to have a baby!  I knew she wanted to tell you first, so I waited.  Isn’t it wonderful? I’m the happiest, luckiest guy in the world.  I only wish I could be there with her.  This war is keeping us all from so much happiness.

     Dad, as much as it hurts, I guess I’ll have to wait to try to get into the Masonic Order until after I get back.  I know Bonnie will need all the money she will get from me.  It may be better that way, because when I come back and try for membership, if I get in, you can give me my degrees.  I know how you’ll feel when you read this, but honest, I don’t know what to do.  As far as I can see, I’ll have to wait. 

     I was so very happy when I called Bonnie, and she gave me the news.  Dad, if I can’t be there when the baby is born, will you and Mom go with Bonnie?  She thinks the world of you and Mom, and if I’m not able to be there, I know it will help if you can be there instead.  The way things look now, I won’t be there.  I won’t be able to be there with her to buy the baby clothes and won’t be able to be with her when she needs me most, just because of this damned army.  God, how I wish this war would end!  Well, I guess I’ve said enough about my own troubles.

     How are you feeling, Dad?  Bonnie said you were having your lower teeth extracted.  I hope you’ll feel better then.  I want to write to Bonnie again, and I’ll write you more often now.  Bye for now.  Be careful Dad.  I’m sorry I’ll have to wait to get into the Masons.  Write soon.

                                                                      Your loving son, 
                                                                            Elwood