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Title
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Letters from 1943
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Title
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Christmas Card, December 8, 1943
Description
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A Christmas card sent by Johnny to Geraldine
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943-12-08
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Letters from 1943
Letter
Text
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Dec. 14, 1943
Destination Unknown
Dear Jerry,
They hauled us out at 4 A.M. this morning—a very wet morning indeed. We marched to the station with full field pack and entrained at eight o'clock. I was so glad to be leaving that I never noticed the weight of the equipment I had to carry. Rumor has it we're going to Indiana or Illinois—I wonder.
At any rate, our general direction is north. We're in Mississippi at present, having just left Jackson about thirty minutes ago. We just pulled out of a little hick town. There was another troop train of rookies headed south, so we yelled: "You'll be sorry."
This seems to be a stock farming section. We've passed several fairly large farms which were quite well kept. They form a direct contrast to the shacks where the negroes live. I noticed some with couldn't have had a larger interior than your combined living room and dining room. In fact, they were scarcely larger than tourist cabins, yet each one seemed to house a dozen children—well maybe only one-half dozen.
It's getting much cooler up here. I'd say at least fifty percent of the trees are bare of foliage. The rest are a species which is unknown to me. Whatever they are, they must be hardy to stand this climate. Will sign off for now. 4:50 P.M.
Wednesday - 8 A.M. We're now in northern Kentucky, having just crossed the Ohio river. Last nite the porter made up our beds at seven o'clock so we crawled right in, as we haven't been getting much more than five hrs. sleep per nite for the last week. It was nice and warm at first, but towards mid-nite a change became apparent. The windows were frosted over and I was cold from the hips down, despite two heavy blankets, my wool undershirt and wool oo shirt. The boys are now trying to scrape the frost off the windows.
From my peekhole, the country appears to be a rolling farmland. Everything is pretty well frosted up around here. We just saw the first white children since leaving Lousy-anna yesterday. Just leaving Princeton. The houses here look 'livable.' They are the white clapboard type. It sure makes me feel good to get back north again to 'God's country' as we northerners call it. The sun is just coming up, gleaming on frosted panes of farmhouses nestled among the hills.
We arrived in Central City about fifteen minutes ago (9:45) The whole company had to fall out for ten minutes exercising. Boy it sure is cold here! I haven't got any gloves with me and my hands were almost stiff when we got aboard again. I think we feel the cold more because of our stay in the sunny south.
12 o'clock. Still pulling through Kentucky. Here we have rolling farmland, but it's still far enough south for the (just hit a tunnel + had to stop) railway stations to have separate waiting rooms for colored and white. Last nite, before going to sleep, we passed through a little town where the homes were only a couple of hundred feet from the tracks. In several homes were lighted Christmas trees. Boy, that was a pretty sight! It makes you want to get the war over in a hurry so you can live peaceably again. We'll have Xmas day off anyway, providing we don't have K.P. or some other detail.
1:30 P.M. I've just seen my first snow. It looks good—a sight for sore eyes! We have just finished our meal which wasn't too bad, all things considered. After a short stay in the army you can eat anything anyway. We eat right at our seats. The K.P.s bring it to us, one serving at a time so that it takes about fifteen minutes to get the entire meal on your plate.
2:30 P.M. A little while ago we were pulling along near the top of a mountain. On the left, a valley stretched out into the distance. We could see a little village far off down the valley looking like a toy. It was quite a sight. We are now pulling through that same village. About one-thirty we passed Fort Knox, a huge camp of the Service Forces. I saw tanks in motion for the first time. They were 'buzzin' right along.
3:30 P.M. We are now in Louisville. About all I can say is that it appears to be a tobacco center. I saw a Lucky Strike, Wings + Sir Walter Raleigh factory, probably there are other. We were delayed a short time when one of the trucks on this car jumped the track on a switch. It bounced us around a bit, but that's all. We're on our way again. That was short progress because we have stopped again in Louisville to repair a coupling. We won't arrive at our destination until to-morrow morning.
A little feller about eight years old got on our car a few minutes ago. He wanted to see what soldiers look like, so we put one of our field packs on his back, hung a gas mask over his shoulders, and put a helmet on his head. You should have seen his eyes sparkle. He'll probably be telling all his pals about it.
5:55 P.M. Just crossing the Ohio R. It seems to be about as wide as the Niagara at Buffalo. That puts us in Indiana.
Thursday, 11 A.M. - Well we arrived here sometime early this A.M. but we stayed on the train until about eight o'clock. Then we marched here to camp and ate breakfast. Everything is still highly disorganized of course, however from what I've seen I think I'm going to like it here. The air is sure invigorating after that stale southern air. The temperature is near zero.
We sleep in small barracks, six to each. It's something like Slidell except that these are wooden houses instead of tents. There are two double decker beds, two singles and a coal stove in the center. We also have electric lights.
The camp itself is small being only about 1/4 mile wide and a half mile long. Each company has its own mess hall where you eat off plates instead of trays. I can't say much about the place in general as I haven't had time. In a couple pf weeks, I'll be able to describe the routine, etc, better.
One good thing is that we're near town, in fact, part of the suburbs are right across from camp. Later on we'll probably get a Class A pass. (one that enables you to go to town every nite you're free and stay all nite if you want to. It's particularly nice for married men whose wives are here)
I'll close for now and try to get this mailed. Hoping you and yours are well. I remain, as ever,
Johnny over
address
Pvt. John C. Waller - 42028154
Co. B. - 717th Ry. Opr. Bn.
Camp Thomas A. Scott
Fort Wayne, Indiana
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John C. Waller
Date
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1943-12-14
Description
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Letter from John Waller to Geraldine Rowbottom, sent from Fort Wayne, Indiana to Sarnia, Ontario. Post stamped December 17, 1943.
Title
A name given to the resource
December 14, 1943
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Title
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Letters from 1943
Letter
Text
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Dec. 8, 1943
Pvt. John C. Waller 42028154, Co. B - 717th Ry. Opr. Bn., New Orleans, 12, La.
Service Club, New Orleans Staging Area, New Orleans, Louisiana
Dear Jerry,
Thank you for being so prompt in replying to my letter. You're perhaps wondering what's been the cause of my delay and I will attempt to explain.
Te begin, I have now completed my basic training course. Understand that I mean the basic basic, if you understand what I mean. In other words, I now get advanced basic. Very simple, night wahr!
I've been away to another camp at Slidell, a small town about forty miles from here. I enjoyed it there, especially the air, which was much fresher than it is here. Between the camp and New Orleans lies Lake Ponchartrain, a small lake connected to the Gulf by a canal. We crossed this in small cruisers. My gang were on a 65' Chris Craft motor yacht. Boy, that was a beautiful boat! I wouldn't mind riding on it every day.
The camp at Slidell consists of twenty-nine rows of tents. Each tent was equipped with a wooden floor, six cots and a stove, so I can't really say we were roughing it. However, there were no electric lights and we ate all meals out of our mess kits, sitting on the ground. It was quite a job finding your mouth a breakfast time, because we are at 5 A. M. Each nite we went to bed about 8 o'clock and 'chewed the fat' for a couple of hours. There was absolutely nothing else to do.
The purpose of the camp is to teach you to fire the various weapons you'll need, also to qualify with the rifle. We fired the Springfield rifle for our marksman score. I made a sharpshooter, for which I'll get a medal. It's an iron cross with a wreath and the word sharpshooter hanging on a chain beneath. A marksman score is 134, sharpshooter 168, and expert 186-200. My score was 172. (Range was 200 yards.)
We also fired the carbine, which is the weapon we will carry overseas. It's a very light rifle firing a fifteen shot clip. All you do is insert the clip and pull the trigger. A gas mechanism cocks the piece and ejects the shells. We had quite a bit of details while there, but I won't go into detail on them.
I've been over the obstacle course every week since I entered the army. It isn't troublesome for young fellows, but some of the older men have a little difficulty. You start off by climbing an eight foot wall. This is followed by a series of climbing and jumping obstacles. About the middle of the course is a tunnel which would stick anyone the size of my uncle. Even I have trouble squeezing through. Down the home stretch are some four foot hurdles and a stream which you have to swing across on a rope. I've seen more than one take a dunking. The last obstacle is hardest. You have to go hand over hand on overhead bars stretched across a small pond. Some of the bars are at least three feet apart, so you can see it's no joke. This life is making me feel better physically though, and also adding weight. I've gained about twelve pounds so far.
Another feature of our basic was the infiltration course. The course is laid out over a field of rough terrain about two hundred yds. long. Land mines are scattered about the field and go off as you crawl along. There are about five barbed wire entanglements to cope with and at the end, three .50 caliber machine guns fire live bullets twenty inches off the ground. The purpose of the latter is to teach one to keep his head down., also the rest of his body. Most of our casualties in Africa were caused because the fellows didn't keep low enough.
We arrived back here last Sunday afternoon. The trip across the lake was made in open motor driven lifeboats; the same kind the navy uses on its fighting ships. Between the lake and docks at Slidell is a winding canal which gave the cruiser, on the way up, only about twenty foot clearance on either side. The lifeboat was only about forty feet long, but whereas the cruiser navigated without any difficulty, the guy in charge of our lifeboat sent us aground three times. The first time instead of turning a right corner he went straight ahead, landing six feet out of water between two trees. The next turn he sideswiped a cruiser docked at the side of the canal. The last grounding was really inexcusable. There was at least one hundred foot clearance around the last turn and the guy pulled in close to shore and we were stuck again. How he ever got in charge of a boat is more than I'll ever know. Back in New Orleans it took the guy ten minutes to dock in a slip twice the width of the boat. I've been with my dad when he docked in a cross wind with only twelve inches clearance.
Sometime before Xmas I'll probably go to another camp. We were activated upon our return to this camp, as you can see by my new address. That means we are ready for technical training. If everything goes right we should be overseas by next summer, however you can't be sure.
It is now the ninth. Yesterday afternoon we had a showdown inspection of all that has been issued to us. This morning our name and serial number has to be stenciled on each piece. In our morning formation, the lieutenant told us we'll be sacrificing regular drill for the next few days in order to get everything in order. He sounded like he thought we would be very sad about it, but he doesn't know us. That's why I'm getting a chance to finish this epistle now. The lieutenant also said they has a surprise in store for us.
Tomorrow night our old company is holding a party for us. I don't know just what it will be like except that it's an all male affair. You seldom see any of the opposite sex here in camp. They come to the Service Club dances, however each fellow has to have a pass and they're hard to obtain.
I suppose you know that Dean & Bruce Johnston, Don Hallam, and Lyle Goring are all over in England. Dean and Don are going to have their furloughs together over there. Lyle is returning to Canada sometime after Xmas.
Probably you've been to Toronto by this time. I'm sure you would have a good time there as I've been in the city many times. They don't have any churches there like the St. John the Devine in Buffalo constructed entirely of Italian marble. I've never been in a church with such an awe-inspiring atmosphere as that one. You don't dare to speak above the lowest whisper, at least that's the way it makes me feel.
I'll stop for now. You may receive another narrative of my travels soon. Merry Christmas to you and a Happy New Year!
As ever,
Johnny
P.S. I don't know what the complimentary ending means exactly. I imagine it's used for lack of something better.
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John C. Waller
Date
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1943-12-08
Description
An account of the resource
Letter from John Waller to Geraldine Rowbottom, sent from New Orleans, Louisiana to Sarnia, Ontario. Post stamped December 11, 1943. This is the first letter from Waller after his recruitment to the United States Army. He lists his post as Company B, 717th Railway Operating Battalion, Army Services Forces.
Title
A name given to the resource
December 8, 1943
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Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Letters from 1943
Letter
Text
Any textual data included in the document
Dear Geraldine,
I was sorry to hear of your forced hospital "siege" but I sure hope you're shipshape now. You must be rather thin to be a "32". Why even I'm a '36' and you wouldn't call me fat by any means! You must be like my mother, if she weighs over 98 lbs. she starts reducing. Women are certainly strange critters but boy wouldn't we (the males) be lost without them!
You do seem a little mixed up on the school question, probably because I didn't express myself clearly Here's how it is—I'm still working as usual but go to school at nite from 7:30-10 P.M., two nites a week. The course I was taking ended last nite so I can now take a more advanced one or start a new one or of course not take any. I'm thinking of taking some more drawing as it has always been my favorite subject, my hobby, my love, etc. Need I go on? While on the subject I might add that I'm trying for a free art course. The only trouble is that it won't do me any good if I win, as I won't quit my job to go to school at a time like this. My reason for taking it amounts more or less to seeing how good I am or "ain't."
The army hasn't given me any further news in regard to my army service but I'll be ready when they are. From what my friends, who are in the Air Force, write, it isn't bad at all. The one fellow is in California and says the people are the nicest of any he has come across. He has been to the Hollywood Canteen where, according to him, the hostesses are all beautiful. He has seen several movie stars & attended broadcasts but the important thing, at least for him, is that his wife has gone out there to be near him. So he is 'on top of the world' as you might say. The other fellows I know in the Air Force are pretty much satisfied also, so I consider myself lucky to be getting in it (the Air Force) in the event that I have to go and can pass. Of course there's no question about my going, the only thing that bothers me is whether I can pass the physical. As the song says, 'say a little prayer for me.'
My sister and her two kiddies are staying with us for a month or so. Sis is going to get a job and is finished with that jerk husband of hers. He's a no-good if there ever was one. By the way, if I get in the Army I hope you'll keep on writing, as they say letters are very important to a soldier's morale, or a defense workers', heh heh.
We've gone back on our old schedule of work seven days and off the eighth. One good thing is that I'll have Easter Sunday and Monday off. Everything you get a Sunday off you have the following Monday too. The idea is that you don't get more than six days in each work week. If the seventh day fell in one work week, they would have to pay double time. So you see there's method in their madness. Bell made a profit of over four million in '42 — see what I mean.
I wish you could see my sister's youngest child. She's the cutest kid I ever saw, always laughing and full of heck.
A fellow got killed at work to-day. He was a steel worker working on the girders. He touched a live worse, fell fifty feet and landed on his head. Tough luck.
I'm still trying to get a film for my camera, but so far without success. I was going to invest in a better camera last year, but now film is getting scarce I'm glad I didn't.
It just occurred to me that if we ever get together again we'll have plenty to talk about, won't we? Maybe it will be a case of cat has my tongue, although I doubt it.
Oh, by the way, my birthday was on the 24th and I got stocked up on fishing tackle. A new rod, reel, tackle box, plugs, hooks, etc. Now all I need is a fish to catch. In a week or so a couple of fellow from work and I hope to get over on Grand Island to try our luck. I'll let you know how we make out.
Well, Jerry, I guess I'll call it a nite. My Mother sends her best regards and hoping to hear from you soon, I remain -
As ever,
Johnny
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Creator
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John C. Waller
Date
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1943-04-06
Description
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Letter from John Waller to Geraldine Rowbottom, sent from Buffalo, N.Y. to Sarnia, Ontario. Post stamped April 8, 1943.
Title
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April 6, 1943