Smitty, April 1944 & Letter I
Camp Stoneman
Pvt. Smith was as cocky and proud as the next trooper, but he also thought of the army as a learning experience and considered his new adventure as a chance to experience things he would not otherwise have the opportunity. On April 23, 1944, he stepped off a train near Camp Stoneman, California. Here the troopers would learn how to live aboard ship, operate life boats, raft kits and climb up and down rope ladders. Censorship of the soldier’s letters began here. The Inspector General’s men discovered the ruse of the 11th A/B Division hiding behind the paperwork of Shipment #1855 and the troopers began to accumulate AW104’s in record amounts. (Under the Article of War #104 – a commanding officer may give punishment, as is necessary, without the threat of court-martial.) May 2, the 11th A/B moved to Pittsburg, CA by way of inland boats to their actual POE and the letters from Smitty began …
Everett Smith, aka “Smitty” or “Pops”
Letter I Tuesday 5/2/44
Dear Mom,
I sure am a fine one after calling you Sunday especially to wish you a Happy Birthday and I go and forget to, but I assure you it wasn’t intentional, but just excitement of the conversation. I tried yesterday to buy a card, but to no avail. No doubt by the time you receive this letter you will be wondering why I didn’t call you this week as I promised I would. It just so happened that we were confined to our company area starting yesterday morning, so it was an impossibility to get to either a telephone or telegraph office.
From now on all my letters to you will be numbered as this one is in the upper left hand corner. In that way, you can read my letters in sequence and can tell whether or not you are receiving all my letters. I would also advise sending all letters to me from now on by airmail as that will be the quickest way. We heard that not all the mail so far from here has yet been sent out, but when it does go out, why you will no doubt get them all at once. Tell everyone at home to be patient and they will no doubt hear from me as I sit down Saturday and either write a letter or card to everyone I know. You had better check up on them all and see that they have my correct address, as the army will notify only you of any new changes. I sure don’t want to lose out on my letters of anyone just because they have an incorrect address.
Yesterday we didn’t do much of anything, but Sunday was really quite an entertaining day. We went bowling, then to a free USO show and from there to a movie. The entertainment is so full and alive that sometimes it still persists in your dreams. Therefore, you can really say they even take care of you while you are slumbering. Well mom, that is all for now, so once more I want to wish you a “Happy Birthday” and the best of everything. Don’t worry and keep your chin up.
Love,
Everett
PS – Be on the lookout for a new Class E allotment I made out and also a B allotment. Your allotments now will come to 22 dollars cash and a $18.75 war bond a month. I’m getting pretty good, aren’t I?
Click on images to enlarge.
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Military Humor –
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Farewell Salutes –
Joseph Bernardo – Norwich,CT; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, 188th Reg/11th Airborne Division
Andrew Gettings – NYC, NY; US Army Air Corps, WWII
Robert Guinan – Watertown, NY; US Air Force, Korea
David Lamphere – St. Cloud, MN; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, 511/11th Airborne Division
Milton Moss – Lebabon, OR; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, 221st Med/11th Airborne Division
Robert Neavear – Siloam Springs, AR; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, 503/11th Airborne Division
Bernard Neihm – Gallipolis OH; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, 457 Artillery/11th Airborne Div,
James Parcell Sr. – Wooster, OH; US Army, 101st Airborne Division
Cecil Robson – Casa, AZ; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, 675 Artillery/11th Airborne Division
Albert Scigulinsky – Perth Amboy, NJ; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, 11th Airborne Division
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Posted on August 18, 2016, in First-hand Accounts, Letters home, SMITTY, Uncategorized, WWII and tagged Camp Stoneman, family history, History, Military, Military History, Pacific, Pacific War, Smitty, WW2, WWII. Bookmark the permalink. 70 Comments.
Pacific Paratrooper 
Reblogged this on quirkywritingcorner.
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Thank you.
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I always enjoy seeing letters to home during the war. They provide a perspective that would be non-existent otherwise. Reminds me to ask my brother, the keeper of my father’s war material, if we have any for which I am unaware. Thanks, GP.
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Very true, Karen. I’ve re-read these letters since I was a kid and still enjoy them today! I feel it’s a voice from a world we’ll never see again.
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That is a wonderful keepsake letter from your father to his mother!
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There will be more and I consider each one a treasure. Thank you, Lavinia.
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Yes, Smitty never felt his time in the service would be interesting to anyone – I always did! I’m not very good at putting things in the sidebar, but I’ll post the candy bar story and put a picture of the book in the sidebar – okay?
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Your father was a wonderful man.
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And he remained so after the war as well. I thank you for saying so.
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What a lovely letter for a son to send his mother. He knew how worried she would be and kept it loving and light.
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He was a very thoughtful person, who you see in these letters and the ones that will eventually follow, is the man that raised me – neither the war or age changed him.
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A letter from a son to his mother full of love and respect for her..What a great man he was.
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He certainly was to me, Mary Lou. Thank you!
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Reblogged this on KCJones.
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Thank you, Penny. This means a great deal.
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Thanks for sharing that great piece of family history from the past gp, like I have said before your posts bring the past to life, and in this post it showcases the very personal side and family side of War.
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Thanks, Ian. That’s how I feel about it – glad you do too. There will be more letters; some you’ll laugh at Dad’s dry sense of humor and others, when he complains, you’ll probably nod your head in agreement. 🙂
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The start of a great new series
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Thank you, Derrick. This time around, I’m trying to cover more material which is why it’s taking as long to get through the war here as it did to win it.
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such an expertly written letter.
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Thank you.
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Super Letter, GP. I wish I had my dad’s but my mom was grieving after his death and couldn’t stand for anyone to read them. They were all burned at her direction before she died.
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Whoa! That must have hurt. Can’t imagine what might have been in them that would prompt that request, do you?
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They were so much in love and my dad died in 51. My mom held on to them until 1984. When I asked where they were she said, “in her heart.” I think they were just too personal to her that she didn’t want others to read them. Since my dad participated in the battle for Iwo Jima and bombing missions on mainland Japan, I’m sure there must have been some personal reflections of the war. I know since I saw them a few times that there were several bundles tied together. They were the onion skin air mail type letters. Ah well.
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That’s a shame.
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My mother burned all the letters she had from her two brothers also. She never gave a reason. Maybe you helped me understand why. Thanks!
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I hope so, Bev. I trusted my mom’s reasons although she never told me. I think you can do the same. 🙂
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What a treasure, GP, to have letters from your dad to your grandmother. The fact that he was a warm and caring person really comes through. –Curt
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Thanks, Curt. He really was a great role model for me.
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Wow…how nice that you have copies of his letters. You know, currently, letter writing is fairly rare. I always told my “pen pals” in the military to keep hard copies of the emails they received/sent (especially to their families). Their notes back and forth may not seem significant at the moment but are precious and I think, will be appreciated in the future. Email is convenient but it often “disappears” never to be seen again.
Very smart to number them to keep them in order!
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Thanks, Lynn. Dad was the organized type. I’ve been reading his letters since I first came upon this scrapbook as a kid. You are quite right to tell your friends to keep hard copies – those emails are history, no matter how inconsequential the subject matter seems at the time. To me these letters are a part of Dad he left behind.
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It’s living history, isn’t it, that letter. A voice from the past, just as human as ours would be!
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I could just picture him writing this and the ones that follow; it’s as though I hear his voice!! Thank you for reading, John.
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Thanks for sharing his letters. Letters sent and received were very important to the military. I had no idea about the allotments that were sent back home.
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I believe the military recommend that that the soldiers send money home. It not only helped them out, but they wouldn’t have much need for money while training, fighting, patrolling, etc. Thanks for reading Dad’s letter, Bev.
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I’m looking forward to reading all of his letters!
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Some will be funny and some where he complains, no combat or gore, so it makes it easy to post them where even children may read.
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Thank you for sharing that. Your father sounds like quite a man and cared deeply.
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Thanks, he was and he stayed that way!!
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Glad to hear that, Everett!
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So touching and personal, and what a treat to still have these wonderful letters. Your dad comes across as such a nice guy, and the letters remind us of just how important it was to receive mail during wartime.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Later he he uses his sense of humor to keep his mother’s spirits up. I appreciate you reading dad’s letter.
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What a wonderful letter! Thanks for sharing it.
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Thank you for reading it.
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when I studied history, I majored, in my final year in pre-war diplomacy and primary documents. Dry stuff, when you were reading those diplomatic documents but it was in the private journals and the letters of the participants where you found the true, human story. The same is true of war time letters, probably more so, since imminent death will concentrate your thoughts and what you write. I’m looking forward to reading more of these, if you publish them. Thank you.
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Oh, I will. He didn’t write about war though. He had a dry sense of humor and used that to try and keep his mother’s spirits up.
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He was a man in a war, writing. History can fill in the backdrop. His words provide the story.
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I sure enjoy them!
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I’m sure you do.
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Nice letter ! He sounds like a thoughtful guy , and the idea about numbering the letters is simple but brilliant . His youth shows , I think , with the comments about the entertainment . Thanks for sharing this .
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He used to help with the bills at home and was a Great Depression teenager, I don’t think he had much time for entertainment back home.
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That was a pretty good idea, numbering his letters. Seems like staying in touch with his family was very important to him.
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Smitty and his wife were divorcing, so his mother was all that was left. She was a tiny woman; I stood eye to eye with her when I was 7 years old.
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I can only imagine how precious those letters were to the ones waiting at home. Letters have the power to bring history alive. Thank you for sharing.
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And I thank you for reading here today!!
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Oh good, I think I missed the earlier start of the series. From the soldiers I heard via letters home Smitty sounds like quite a responsible man. He gives excellent advice to his mom regarding communications both going and receiving.
It made me curious…how old was he?, Did he enlist or was he drafted? And what part of the country was he from? Share what you feel comfortable relaying. 😀
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Dad was the old guy, drafted at 26, became a paratrooper at 27. Only the general and another officers were older than him. He was from Broad Channel, NY; a mile-long fishing island. His boat rental place is still open today, “Smitty’s” – of course. It was featured in an episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, with Jeff Goldblum.
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That’s right, I remember Broad Channel from another post. Being 26 or 27 when he wrote this letter makes total sense…he is a mature gentleman!
Law and Order…how cool is that?
I just read a little about Broad Channel…did you grow up there?
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I was born there, but then my parents moved out to the island, post war suburbia, but I would be back there quite a bit visiting grandma and friends.
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It’s almost like you have an island too, just like Judy!
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I suppose you’re right! Judy and I do have lives that have been quite similar in many ways. We spoke on the phone one time and discovered more than we thought.
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Kismet!
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That is a fine letter. Was the original handwritten ?
My dad was in the Royal Navy. Often handling and launching landing craft. He was present at the Normandy Landings. I must do a post about him. All the best. Kris.
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Yes, this was handwritten, as the upcoming ones in New Guinea. The letters you will see aboard ship were typed. Thanks for reading here and Please do make a post about your father!!
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He looks so young in that photo – the thought of so much responsibility coming his way is amazing. Thanks for sharing the personal note.
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Certainly my pleasure, Dan. I have more that will be here as we get to that area of the war. Dad refused to write about the war though, he felt his mother was seeing enough in the newspaper and newsreels, that’s why he said he avoided cameramen too.
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What a good guy your father was 🙂
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Thanks!! I couldn’t have asked for a better role-model.
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You’re back into the archives! Thank you!!
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