POST ELEVEN ( Chapel, Chow, Cash ) 31 Jan 1943

Camp McCoy Chapel in the 1940's

Jan 31, 1943

Sunday

Dear Mother, Dad & All,

     It's Sunday and the last day of the month. We have got out of quarantine. Will see if I can find something in the camp post or in the P.X. for your birthday {was Jan 25th}. If not will send something if I ever go to town. 

     Gee, it is snowing hard to-day. Fine snow but the wind makes it cut your face. We have had a couple of warm days last week. Saturday morning first class we went on a march. Went quite a way out. Coming back we did a lot of double time.{A marching cadence of 180 30-inch steps per minute.}
Plenty of fellows fell out. It's hard on anyone a little fat or stout. 

     I went to chapel this morning. Will send a picture of the chapel when I go to P.X. next time. Oh, guess you might not know what (P.X.) stands for. It's (Post exchange) or store. I'm sending a copy of order of service. 

     I suspect Joey soon will be home. All the time he has been gone won't be as long as it will be until I come home. Does Helen know how long it will be? Why should I ask a question like that?

     Gee, Ma, a fellow just woke me up for chow. It's almost time to eat supper. I was laying on my back and fell to sleep while I was writing. Will finish after supper.

     I don't get anything in my hair (----). Guess they just do it to bring you down. It's not too bad. 

{Time Out} ----

    They just had chow. Will try to finish your letter. Not much news.

     Tell Helen it's too cold for Chocolate Dates up here. May go to Texas in March.

     Haven't got my things yet. Boy! is it going to be cold to-night. 

     Talk about tests. Have them most everyday. 95% the other day.

     Oh, Mom, I got a letter from that girl I rode down from Bangor to Portland with. She was from Houlton. It makes no difference if you don't know the person. It's swell to get mail. {Portland, Bangor and Houlton are cities/towns in the State of Maine. Bangor is 125 miles north of Portland. Houlton is 235 miles north of Portland. Portland is the largest city in Maine with 77,600 population in 1940, while today it is 66,500. Maps below.} Had a letter from Clifford Thomas.

     How is Dad and Eugene? Did Eugene and Helen get my letter? {siblings}

     Well, will close now and write later this week.

     There is one thing, Mother, I haven't got over, trying to keep clean. Gee, some of the boys are dirty and nasty. Think of it. Have to be told to have their hair cut, etc. The trouble is when pay day comes they start right in to spend their money. Beer, go to town, cheap women. It doesn't last long. Then they bum smokes from everyone. (I had to bum some tobacco this last week Ha! Ha!) They just don't know how to plan. {Uncle Charlie is 27 years old and has worked already for nearly ten years before going into the Army. He had learned already the worth of a dollar.}

     Be good. Cheer up. Keep smiling. Always look up. Never look down. I'm OK.                Your Son

                                    With Love to all

                                             Charles

^^Jan 30 6 British Mosquitoes bomb Berlin in the daylight.

Mosquito

^^Jan 30 German assault on French in Tunisia and Adolf Hitler promotes Friedrich Paulus, commander of the 6th Army, to Field Marshal in the hope that he will not surrender.

Friedrich Paulus

^^Jan 30 USS Chicago sinks in Pacific Ocean. USS Chicago (CA-29) was a Northampton-class cruiser of the United States Navy that served in the Pacific Theater in the early years of World War II. She was the second US Navy ship to be named after the city of Chicago.

USS Chicago

^^Jan 31 Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus surrenders to Soviet troops at Stalingrad

*January 29-30, 1943 – Battle of Rennell Island – Pacific Theater

Information on this battle go to https://www.navalhistory.org/2019/01/29/battle-of-rennell-island

Maine is in the northeast section of the United States

You should be able to find Portland, Bangor, & Houlton

*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   

POST TEN (Gas Masks and Chambers) 27 Jan 1943

Jan 27, 1943

Dear Mother and All,

      This letter may be short but it will be a letter. I got some of your letters you sent about the first of the month, to-night. The package you sent and insured for $25.00 hasn't come yet. If you want to ask Joe about it O.K. I got my stockings. They were just a little small. I can wear them. Things that are loose are warmer. {His mother had made them.}

     Gee, thanks for the picture. It was swell. I don't think Helen took it. Ma, you keep your sugar. I can get some candy. {Remember sugar was rationed.} Just keep writing. Pauline {girlfriend} sent me a pair of gloves and a box of cookies.

     We have had a good day here to-day. {weather} Good days are few and far between. We went through the gas chamber to-day. I had faith in my mask. Had no fear it wouldn't protect me. One buddie stayed close to me. I began to realize something was wrong. When we marched up to the gas chamber he said, "You don't mind if I stay close?" I said, "No, what is the trouble?" "Gee! I feel shaky," he said. I put my hand on his shoulder and told him he would be O.K. Then the Lieutenant cried, "Make ready for gas." I put my mask on and looked around. Poor fellow. I gave him a lift. After he had it on, I pinched off his air. He put his arm up and shook his head for air. I gave him a couple pats on his back and laughed inside my mask. I shook my head and made signs that his mask was O.K. I guess I helped him some. It pays to help out. Some boys can't help it. I know one fellow that can't take a needle. It hurts him because his muscles in his arm get just like a rock. I may need help some day. So I help others.

     I made another 100% on a test the other day. Took another to-day. I got a letter from Ione and Grandpa Ladd {friend} to-night. Gee ,Mom, I can't be all wrong. They both wrote swell letters to me. Sometimes I think it's all my fault. I do say I have my mistakes. Guess Helen {Helen Ladd was his old girlfriend.} saw them all. I felt if I came into the Army I'd forget. But-----

     Gee, Joey {sister's boyfriend} lucky in some ways. Even Mildred Ladd said she missed me like the devil even if I never came down to see her. Do you think Helen Ladd feels she made a good bargain?

     Mom, you're always stuck with me. Your face has helped me many nights when I've come home. Helen Ladd may talk to me someday. Be good to her if you ever see her. Tell her to be a good girl. It pays in the end. Oh well, what do you care about such junk. I guess I just write it because I can't think of any news. {Uncle Charlie had Pauline as his girlfriend when he entered the war, but we can tell his earlier girlfriend, Helen Ladd, still had his heart. Many readers most likely can relate to my Uncle's feelings.}

     Ione writes that Mildred Ladd saw you uptown. Gee, the bus must be crowded now. No cars on the road.

     How is Dad? News looks good Dad. The next letter I am going to write to him. When you get the barn done send a picture of of it.

     Will close now. Good night Mother, Dad, Eugene and Helen.

                 With Love and Kisses

                          Charles

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Charles Overstreet drew instead of writing.
26 Jan 1943, Camp McCoy

^^Jan 27 1st US air attack on Germany (Wilhelmshaven) The Wilhelmshaven bombings by the Allies of World War II destroyed two thirds of the port's buildings. From spring 1943 until November 1943 slave laborers of the SS-Baubrigade II from the Neuengamme camp were transferred to Wilhelmshaven to clear up after air raids.

^^Jan 29 New Zealand cruiser Kiwi collides with Japanese submarine I-1 at Guadalcanal

                                          

Basic Training in Gas Chamber 

Terrified Soldier in Gas Chamber

*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

POST NINE ( In Memory of WW I & All Veterans ) 22 Jan 1943

101 years since posted in 2019
Veterans Day Weekend
Armistice Day

Division Headquarters ~ Camp McCoy

Jan 22, 1943

Friday night 7:00

Dear Mom & All,

     Have had a couple of letters from you but have not received my package you sent. Gee, has it been cold out here. To-day was the best day we have had. Then it was a little hazy overhead. It was quite warm. Wish the sun would shine more. I am getting back in the grind again with a little more pep. My throat feels nearly O.K. It is so hard to go out in that cold air early in the morning with a sore throat. You start to cough and then your throat starts to bleed. {It is hard enough to be away from home when you are feeling great and the weather is beautiful. However, when the weather is cold, dark, gloomy and uncomfortable plus you feel sick physically; the feeling of being homesick becomes stronger I am sure.}

      I have told you all my good ranks so why not tell you my bad ones. We had a tough test the other day. I made 78%. Could be better but not too bad. {Knowing my Eagle Scout Uncle and seeing his tremendous high school notebooks done in wonderful writing and drawings, he is NOT happy at all with his grade.} We are having a lot of gas drills. About everyday. Expect to go through the gas chamber next week. The instructor said we could pay attention or not but -- If we didn't know how to put our gas mask on right when in the chamber ,we'd wish to God we had. He said we would be damn sick. I'm not worrying. Feel sure I can make it O.K. I'm trying to do what I should. That's the way to make less mistakes.
     Had a letter from Flavilla {sister} to-nite with two pictures. One with David {nephew b. 1938} with the tin hat I bought him. Another of  John {nephew b. 1941}. Gee, they were swell. Oh, Ma, please send me a good picture of Helen. The boys like to have a good picture of their sister then show it to the other boys. I think Helen can beat them all. {youngest sister who was quite a character}. Send one of Eugene. Send one of you and Dad. Well, send what you like. Wish I could take some and send them home but all cameras have been ordered off the post or camp. If I ever leave camp I'll have some taken and send them home.
     Margaret Dinsmore down to S. D. Warren sent me a letter and the Portland Sunday paper {largest paper for the state of Maine}. Told me to send back news if I wanted any candy, nuts, cookies or the paper every week. She said it would be a few days late but I could read the news. Well, I don't like to ask for anything. If anyone wants to send anything O.K. If not, I'll make out without it.
     Some of the boys are headed for trouble unless they do different. The Lt. said he had stood all the shit he was going to take. Boy, it's going hard with some. Guess they'll have to learn the hard way. Let me tell you some nights you go to bed at 9 and go right to sleep. Get up at 6 and wish you had more time to sleep. If you don't sleep a night you feel it the next day. You have to put all you've got into this week. 
     Have you heard from Helen? You know Helen Ladd. {old girlfriend} The other night I woke up a dozen times. I kept dreaming about about Helen. {his present girlfriend, Pauline, wouldn't like to hear that}.
     I hear the mill, S. D. Warren, is running good. Gee, wish Eugene could work on a farm and stay home. Will try and write Eugene and Helen {siblings} Sunday. Tell Helen I'm not getting fat but hard as a rock and will give her old man a pounding if he's not good. {her boyfriend, Joe}. Was that doll, The Army Nurse, the one Helen Ladd's mother told you to get?
     Guess I will close now and write later. Keep your chin up, Mother. I'm O.K. Tell Dad I'm thinking about him and try to keep up his health. Everything is going to be O.K. So long. Helen and Eugene be good. 
                                         With Love,
                                                Charlie
P.S. Hard to write laying on the bed with just a piece of card board to write on. Hope you can read.

^^Jan 21 Soviet forces reconquer Worosjilowsk and reconquer Gumrak airport near Stalingrad

^^Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham, Royal Navy, promoted to Admiral of the Fleet. Admiral of the Fleet Andrew Browne Cunningham, 1st Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope, KT, GCB, OM, DSO & Two Bars was a senior officer of the Royal Navy during the Second World War. He was widely known by his nickname, "ABC". 

Admiral Sir Cunningham

^^Jan 22 Allied Joint Chiefs of Staff determine invasion of Sicily for July 10^th.                              ^^Jan 23 British 8th army marches into Tripoli and the Japanese Mount Austen on Guadalcanal captured

This post was published on the weekend of Nov 11, 2019

*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

       

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

POST SEVEN (Wearing a White Suit) 16 Jan 1943

                      

Jan 16, 1943

Saturday 6:30

Dear Mother and All,

     Just a letter to let you know why I haven't written before. You remember I told you I had a cold. Well, it hung on about two weeks. My throat got raw and began feeling really sick. I just had to give up. Had a temperature of 103. Have been in bed for two days and tonight was the first time I've had anything to eat in those two days except a couple of oranges. Guess I'll be O.K. by Monday. Notice my new address on the envelope. It is the 3rd cold I have had. 

     The day before I went to bed I moved a mile and half up the camp. This sure is a big place. Will be here about 11 weeks then may change again. Some other time I feel more like it I'll tell you all about that shield*1 you see in the corner. Everything has a meaning. The five white lines you see stand for the five rivers our 2nd Infantry Division captured and held during World War #1. It is the only Division decorated by the French Government. It is the only Division in the U.S. Army that wears a cord around their shoulder.*2 
     Ma, here are my insurance papers. In case anything happens put in the claim for the money ($5,000). You'll not be able to get it all at once. About $50 or $60 a month. Be sure to keep these papers. The policy may come later. Pa's name is on there but it's good for either one.
     The weather is just the same cold and cloudy. The sun never shines.
     They are trying something new. We are going to train with an artic outfit.*3 When I get all my equipment it will be over $800.00 worth. My sleeping bag cost $70.00. You sleep right in a snow drift at 20 or 30 below zero. Everything is white. White skis, white jacket with hood, white pack, white mittens. Ski boots cost $15.00. Everything white.{$1 then is worth $14.83 in 2019} 
     Have just got a band new gas mask. Some guys got the old ones. Mine was never out of the package. Have had it on. It's not too bad.
     Have had some mail I was surprise to get. From Merrilyn Thomas, Magna Nelson, Mildred Ladd and a few more. It sure seems swell to have mail from anyone. Even if you can't write. How is Dad, Eugene and Helen? Got Eugene's letter. The mail has been all mixed up. Hope it will be better now. Helen Ladd told me just before I left she was coming up to see you. Has she been up yet? Maybe she's married now.
     Remember I told you about that boy finding that tag of his brother in a Jap's pocket. Well here it is.*4
     Well folks will close now and write you in a couple of days. Don't forget my new address. Be good. Keep smiling. I'm O.K.
       Love           Your Son}
          &      Your Brother}  Charlie
      Kiss        Your Sister}

    over     Ha! Ha! I couldn't very well                                               be a sister and brother too.

     P.S. Ha! Ha! Just had a letter from the Lutheran Chaplain. It began like this.

"Dear Lutheran Brethren."---------------

Your name has come to me through the National Lutheran Council.--------

Bring your Communion card so I can sign it for you.-------------------etc.----

P.S. Pictures will be taken so plan to attend-----------etc.--------.

Ha! Ha! not only a soldier but a Lutheran. Guess it's a secret I didn't even know about.

                            Charlie

  Always look up. Never look down.

#1

#3

#4 sad

**January 11 – The United States and United Kingdom give up territorial rights in China.

^^Jan 13 Soviet offensive at Don under General Golikov

^^Jan 13 US infantry captures Galloping Horse Ridge, Guadalcanal

**January 14 – The Casablanca Conference, where Franklin D. Roosevelt becomes the first President of the United States to travel by airplane while in office (Miami, Florida to Morocco to meet with Winston Churchill to discuss World War II).

^^Jan 15 1st transport of Jews from Amsterdam to Concentration Camp Vught

**January 15 – The world's largest office building, The Pentagon, is dedicated in Arlington, Virginia

*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

POST SIX (We Want Mail) 10 Jan 1943

Jan 10, 1943

Sunday afternoon

Dear Folks,

     Here goes for a letter. Gee, I thought you were never going to write. We were told the mail got mixed up. I never knew before and you'll never know what it means to a soldier to receive mail. We have a mail call twice a day. Go over to the classroom and they call out our names from there. Some times they come around with it. I've seen big men go day after day and find no mail for them. They come back to the barracks and lay on the bunks and cry. A letter means a lot. Remember, we're a long way from home. 

     I didn't get up until about about 11 today {Sunday, day off}. Guess I am fighting off a cold. Had a little dinner I mean chow, Ha! Ha!, feeling a little better now. Hope I'm not sick because what they once had the boys do in six weeks we're doing in two so you can see why I have no time. If you miss a day or two it puts you back. Had an exam the other day and what do you think? Out of 60 or 70 men three or four made 100% and I was one.

     Oh, before I forget it write and let me know just what each part on the car cost and the total amount. Hope Joe did send me a shaving set because that's one thing you have to do in the army -- shave everyday. I was glad to get Helen's letter and will write later. But anytime someone wants to write it's O.K. The more the better. The letter sounded just like her. {most likely his sister}. Sent Grammy a card. Had a letter from Waneta. {sister} What did Tiny have to say the other day? Was she glad to see you? I really think Tiny liked me. I tried to do what was right and be good. We all make mistakes. Guess I've made a lot.

     Have you got the kitchen all done? How is Dad? I bet he could go skunk hunting with that light. Tell Dad the news looks good and I guess he may be right. Seems funny Helen says so much about Joe, Joe, Joey. {sister's boyfriend and soon to be fiance}. She must like him a little, tiny, sweet bit. I'll tell you Ma -- don't let her fall in L---- will you. If she ever does, oh, dear. Of course Eugene {brother} never will because he told me himself it was foolish. {Eugene has a change of mind in about a year. ha, ha.} Ask him how Grammy Mains is? {She is Uncle Charlie's dad's mother.} Does he still go down to see her? Tell him when the river freezes over he can go cross country. Glad to here the good news about Eugene. Maybe that's why I came here. If so it's worth it. Tell him to be good and if he wants to go ice fishing use my traps or anything. When I come home with my chocolate baby I won't care about fishing. Ha! Ha! Guess I'll have to go South for that. {It is amazing how in the 1940's the black racial issue was still so strong. Even in the army the blacks and whites couldn't be in the same regiments etc. Though racial issues are not completely solved even today, I know my uncle and other family members changed their attitude. Not one family member had a problem when my wife and I adopted an African-American as our son, Paul. Sadly, he passed away unexpectedly in 2016 at the age of 25.}

     Yes, I have my watch. I think a lot of it. Joey or Eugene haven't got a better watch than mine. What a family, Mother. Well I love my watch and sometimes when I look at the back ----- oh well it's all in the lifetime.

     Hope you do send some pictures. I can send them back to you later. I just sit here and keep on writing anything I think so this letter may seem a little mixed up but it will be just as if I were talking to you.

     Tell Mr. & Mrs. Mains I was asking about them. Sorry I can not write but you tell them why. Wish I could see my Xmas card but it would cost too much to send them. Gee, we have some big mouth Frenchman here. You know the rest. They're so smart when it comes to shooting out their lip but one big blow got 55 in the test the other day. I don't worry; they look good now but they'll be found out someday before long. You know how it makes me mad. In the army you keep your eyes open and your mouth shut. {His mother's mother was French and she had quite a mouth and attitude. That is where he got his thoughts about the French. My great grandmother could scare any of us!}

     I am going to buy some bonds. I'll have them made co-owner in your name. That is, it will belong to you as well as me. If you ever need them you have a right to cash them in your name. I started one as beneficiary but you could cash that only in death so will have it changed.

     Do these guys gamble here. All the time. They're foolish because some fellows here are card sharks and they clean the small guy out. One crook made $390 in one week. {That would be worth $5,783.68 in 2019}. Boy, they don't get any of my money. I'm going to save it to go home someday if I get the chance. I'm going to try hard so I can. 

     Kind of running out of words to write so will have to close soon. You look up on the map of Wisconsin and I am about 35 to 40 miles north of La Crosse. It has 70 to 80,000 people. Hope to go there some weekend on a pass. Will send something home if I can. 

     Well it's about 5 o'clock. "Chow time." So long, Mother. Tell Dad not to hang around the corner at night and Helen and Eugene be good. Someday we'll have a big dinner together. Even Joey "brother-in-law" and Dot "sister-in-law." {both "possibilities" at this time}

                     Good bye 

          Please write often.

               Love & Kisses to all

                           Son Charlie

P.S. Just came back from chow. Got coughing and away went part of my supper on the floor. Oh dear.

La Crosse, Wisconsin

##Baseball and the Battlefield

In January 1942, Kenesaw Mountain Landis (1866-1944), the national commissioner of baseball, wrote a letter to President Roosevelt in which he asked if professional baseball should shut down for the duration of the war. In what came to be known as the “green light” letter, Roosevelt responded that professional baseball should continue operations, as it was good for the country’s collective morale and would serve as a needed diversion.

During the war, 95 percent of all professional baseball players who donned major league uniforms during the 1941 season were directly involved in the conflict. Future Hall of Famers Bob Feller (1918-), Hank Greenberg (1911-86), Joe DiMaggio (1914-99) and Ted Williams (1918-2002) exchanged their baseball jerseys for military fatigues. Feller, in fact, enlisted in the U.S. Navy one day after Pearl Harbor. Because baseball was depleted of so many able bodies, athletes who otherwise likely never would have made the big leagues won spots on rosters. One of the more notable was Pete Gray (1915-2002), a one-armed outfielder who appeared in 77 games for the St. Louis Browns in 1945.

Not all those who served in the military were superstars. Elmer Gedeon (1917-44), an outfielder who appeared in five games for the 1939 Washington Senators, and Harry O’Neill (1917-45), a catcher who played in one game for the 1939 Philadelphia Athletics, were the two big leaguers who died in combat. Over 120 minor leaguers also were killed. Other players overcame debilitating wartime injuries. One was Bert Shepard (1920-2008), a minor league pitcher turned air force fighter pilot. In 1944, Shepard’s right leg was amputated after he was shot down over Germany. The following year, he pitched three innings for the Washington Senators in a major league game.

^^Jan 5 William H Hastie, civilian aide to secretary of war, resigns to protest segregation in armed forces

^^Jan 9 Japanese government in Java limits sale & use of motorcars

^^Jan 10 Soviet offensive against German 6th and 4th Armies near Stalingrad. 

                                                       

John Michael Montgomery  

 Letters from Home

Official Music Video

*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