World War, 1939-1945.
Found in 65 Collections and/or Records:
Letter from "Pete" to his mother, 1945-01-26
"The climate out here is still the same, 'tropical', and if I was to say anything concerning it I'd say that the days are a little warmer. The nights however, remain cool and 'clear-cut'...."
Letter from "Pete" to his mother, 1945-01-27
"...Each morning now instead of Bedetti, the Master at Arms (MAA), waking us up in the morning by blowing reveille, the general quarters alarm wakes us up...Well, the other night I had a little accident. As I've told you before, I sleep up on the third sack up. There is a light out in the aisle with a shade on it--so I quite often bump my head on it when climbing up. I hit it just a little too hard and it cut a small gash in the forehead and made it bleed...."
Letter from "Pete" to his mother, 1945-01-28
"...At the ship's store canteen we can now buy all the candy we want to; even so much as a box. The reason that they've let down and taken the ration off of them is because they are going bad on their hands. Cigarettes are still rationed to a carton a week. But the latter doesn't hold any concern for me so I don't worry too much about it...as for the schooling on board ships--it's definitely out. All you can learn...is what you pick up through experience...."
Letter from "Pete" to his mother, 1945-02-02
"I guess that by now you are pretty worried since you haven't heard from me for quite some time...As to what has taken place during that time we can't say. Censorship is quite strict in the Navy, more so than any other branch of service...Our little 'The Nip Nipper' newspaper keeps us up on nthe latest news--from all sources it sounds fairly good. Germany seems on the verge of collapse...Tokyo is getting bombed rather heavily...maybe this will be over this year...."
Letter from "Pete" to his mother, 1945-02-12
"...We are now having classes (hour ones) in aircraft recognition, first aid, and chemical warfare. All of these classes are very good and may come in quite handy in the future. Ensign Locke conducts these classes. I've already had eighteen classes of plane recognition while I was in 'boot camp'--yet I still can't recognize them as to whether they are enemy or our planes...."
Letter from "Pete" to his mother`, 1945-02-12
"...my letters will become less frequent as time goes onn due to circumstances which I am sure that you'll understand...I'm out here only because I have to be and to win this darn war, so the sooner we get that job completed the sooner I'll be home...Seems like the draft board is getting wise and is drafting nearly all the young boys left on the homefront...."
Letter from "Pete" to his mother, 1945-03-01
"...Instead of getting closer to home we are only going farther away...As to my whereabouts I"d like very much to tell you--also what has taken place--but if you paid close attention to what I have said in my previous letters and from the latest developments in the Pacific from your newspapers you should know...The climate has been nrather cool--so cool that they issued each man a suit of long, heavy underwear...."
Letter from "Pete" to his mother, 1945-03-02
"...Seems like I am broke and ready to be paid at the paying periods every month. If I didn't get into those darn poker games, I'd always have plenty of dough. I never started that until I came aboard ship...Lewis and Carl are certainly fortunate if they don't have to go in service and go overseas and so on like I've done. You just can't tell people in so many words how really a 'rugged' life we lead out here on an LST...."
Letter from "Pete" to his mother, 1945-03-02
"...Today I have been scrubbing the bulkheads getting all dirt from them in the starboard troop lobby as we are having both personnel and ship's inspection by the captain and officers tomorrow. Back on 'mess cooking' well as I don't know, too much about the Navy I'd just as soon be on that as anything...." [Censored areas have been excised from page 1 and page 2 of the letter]