POST EIGHT ( I Can't Come Home Because of My Hair) 18 Jan 1943

Jan 18, 1943

Monday Evening

Dear Mom,

     I sent you a letter yesterday but know you still will be happy to have another. I came back from chow about quarter to six and a fellow came up with a package. It was a pair of stockings you made. Thanks a lot. I'll tell you how they fit in the next letter. {His mother, my maternal grandmother, was constantly making items. She loved to knit. As a teenager back in the mid 1970's, I would take a box of mittens she had made around my neighborhood to sale during the winter months. This would help supplement her income and get nice warm mittens on the hands of the children.} No other mail to-night. Just a minute here is another. It's from S.D. Warren Co. It's a mill paper about 10 to 12 pages, a little larger than this paper. They have just started it. All the boys in the service send in a report and their names. This group at the Main Office in the mill puts it together with the local mill news and makes up a paper. Then sends it to the boys who wish it. I have read it and think it's great. I'm going to send in for it. I learned about the boys that have been gone from the mill for a long time. When it gets under way it sure will carry a lot of cheer. News you couldn't get any other way. {My Uncle Charlie Knight would receive this S.D. Warren paper even when he was over in Europe fighting in World War II. It was a great encouragement to him to hear about his friends also serving in the war.}

     Gee, it was cold here this morning. Still the sun doesn't shine. A cold hard wind with fine snow that cuts right into your face. Still, you keep your chin up, shoulders back and march straight into it. You do not even lift your hand to your face. One fellow froze his ear this morning.

     One more thing before I close. The Army couldn't send me home now. That is not for 4 or 5 weeks. You should see my haircut. Gee, the Indians that roamed around Horse Beef never could have done a more complete job scalping me. Just a little hair, right on top about 1/2 inch long. Oh dear, Mother, you know how I used to keep my hair. It's gone. I get up in the morning scratch my head, run my fingers back and my hair is combed for the day. 

        Good bye and Good night Ma and All

                                           Charlie

S.D. Warren postcard where Uncle Charlie
worked before and after the war.

^^Jan 16 1st US air raid on Ambon in today’s Indonesia. It is known for a brutal POW camp operated by the Japanese during WWII. The prisoners on Ambon and Hainan were subjected to some of the most brutal treatment experienced by POWs anywhere during World War II. Over three-quarters of the Australian prisoners there died in captivity.
^^German 2nd SS-Panzer division evacuates Charkow
^^Red Army recaptures Pitomnik airport at Stalingrad
^^Jan 17 Tin Can Drive Day in the US, salvage collected for the war effort

^^Jan 18 US rations bread & metal – banning presliced bread reduce bakery demand for metal parts
^^Jan 19 Joint Chiefs of Staff decide on invasion in Sicily. The (JCS or CCS) was the supreme military staff for the United States and Great Britain during World War II. It set all the major policy decisions for the two nations, subject to the approvals of Prime Minister Winston Churchill and President Franklin D Roosevelt.

*Source 1 

https://www.thoughtco.com/world-war-ii-battles-2361453

*Source 2

https://americasbesthistory.com/timeline2ndworldwar1943.html for major battles

**Source 3

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1943_in_the_United_States

^^Source 4 

https://www.onthisday.com/events/date/1943

##Source 5 

https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/us-home-front-during-world-war-ii

copyright of letters and any original material Peter Lagasse