Letters

Letters

These are my Grandfather's letters. Some are written many years before he joined the war effort and underscore the difficulty of living in that time. Other letters are written from boot camp, both at Leavenworth and Camp Wolters, TX. They describe a man sometimes confident and proud of his accomplishments, and other times unsure of his place in "this man's army", as he put it. The rest of the letters, at best, hint at the plodding pace of war as he fought in France. Because of the censor's watchful eye, his letters are almost benign as they speak of simple things like wishing for hot coffee, fresh pancakes, and music.

V-Mail

During the latter years of World War II, V-Mail became a popular way to correspond with a loved one serving overseas. V-mail consisted of miniaturized messages reproduced by microphotography from 16mm film. The system of microfilming letters was based on the use of special V-mail letter-sheets, which were a combination of letter and envelope. The letter-sheets were constructed and gummed so as to fold into a uniform and distinctively marked envelope. The user wrote the message in the limited space provided, added the name and address of the recipient, folded the form, affixed postage, if necessary, and mailed the letter. The V-mail correspondence was then reduced to thumb-nail size on microfilm. The rolls of film were flown across the world and then developed at destinations closest to the recipient's position. Finally, individual facsimiles of the V-mail letter-sheets, which were about one-quarter the original size, were then mailed and delivered to the addressee.