I am trying to reconstruct a timeline of events from July 15th-July 31st, 1942. This is what I have so far.
July 15th – Roscoe writes that he will be firmly requesting a leave from his commanding officer in the morning
July 16th – Roscoe requests leave and it is granted. According to a “voucher for per diem and/or reimbursement of expenses incident to official travel (standard form no. 1012-revised)”, Roscoe left Norfolk, Virginia at 19:00 hours on July 16th. That would be 7:00 PM to all of us non-military types.
July 17th – Again according to the voucher, Roscoe arrived in Kentland on July 17th at 16:50, or 4:50 PM.
July 18th – Gladys receives letter Roscoe wrote on the 15th in the AM, prompting her to write a letter wondering where Roscoe is and when she should expect him because she has not heard from him.
July 20th-Dr. Lentz mails Roscoe a letter from Norfolk, with a 7:30 PM postmark.
July 22nd-Dr. Lentz’s letter arrives in Kentland and it receives a second postmark of 7:00 AM
Detail from travel reimbursement document
The military paperwork and Gladys’s letter create quite a contradiction. My only thought for the discrepancy is….the military form was stamped February 1943, a good 7 months after the original travel occured. I think it likely that my grandfather mistakenly put the wrong dates on the form. I believe that my grandfather actually left Norfolk on Friday the 17th and arrived in Kentland on the 18th at 4:50 PM. This would account for my grandmother mailing a letter prior to 4:30 on Saturday, only to be surprised an hour or so later when Roscoe walked in the door. I still don’t know why he didn’t call or send word prior to his departure.
As you will see by the following letter by Dr. Lentz, my grandfather had a bittersweet leave. The letter that my grandmother wrote and posted on Saturday is possibly one of the letters that Mrs. Evans said had arrived on Monday morning. Dr. Lentz presumably mailed it back with his own letter to my grandfather in Kentland. It might explain why this is the only early letter of my grandmother’s that has survived.
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- July 20, 1942, p. 1
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- July 20, 1942, p. 2
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- July 20, 1942, p. 3
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- July 20, 1942 Envelope front
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- July 20, 1942 Envelope back
Letter transcription:
Monday PM
Lt (jg) Yegerlehner-
Well, Junior, it is hot as the infernal regions today and no relief in sight. The official readings for Sat. + Sun were 104° + 101° and today about equal to those. Am in Ferneau’s room in front of fan writing this in my lap.
Enclosed find letters which arrived this a.m. according to Mrs. E.
The reason I am writing this via Air Mail special is that I am being detached Wed-July 22 to report for duty in the West Coast on or about July 31. These new preliminary orders and no specific place has been mentioned- I got the information
(page 2) about 1:30 PM today and about 3:15 PM while in the O.D. Room saw your leave papers + mentioned to Dr. Wack that you roomed with me – so immediately informed me that you have order reading similar to mine for a place on the West Coast which he told me not to mention. You will get the orders on your arrival from leave, so have a good time, and you will have opportunity to see our family when you leave for the coast via Kentland. So informed Mrs. E. accordingly + she feels rather badly about it.
Three (3) new doctors reported today – a Dutchman, a Dr. Weaver from New Albany, Ind.
(page 3) and a lieutenant Commdr.
Well-it won’t be long before we will leave this hot place. We will be practically on leave from time of detachment until the time specified to report.
With Kind regards and best wishes,
Lentz
Genealogy Lady 
And to think that any and all of these documents could have easily been tossed into the trash…as my folks moved from one house in Kentland to another, then to Lafayette, then to Florida. Then mother moved back to Indianapolis…and eventually I moved her to New Jersey–then into the New York apartment. So much stuff did get thrown away. And what a good thing these blogs are…..to be able to connect with other people (such as Catherine) who are on similar missions to reconstruct the past.
I am so glad that I knew about the letters and urged you to save them when you were cleaning out the house in Indianapolis. Think of how much would have been lost forever!
So happy to get your reply and looking forward to reading further info on your follow up posts. My Grandfather is much more of a mystery man, having left my grandmother and scarpered over “the pond” to Canada, established another family, but then joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force, fought in France for the duration of the war and took R&R in England where it seems he met up again with his wife/ my Grandmother. No judgements here at all… just trying to re-construct the past and his only other remaining grand-daughter, in Canada, is working along with me on this task. Isn’t collaboration Grand? Cheerio, for now.
Sounds like you have a great mystery to chase 🙂 and possibly an interesting topic for a book someday!
Thank you and you are very welcome. I am very fortunate that my grandmother saved all these documents & letters. My grandfather also wrote down a timeline of which units he served with and when. Since the units were somewhat obscure I have also been trying to connect with some military historians. Hopefully I will hear back from one person next week. The only difficult parts I have had with reconstructing the timeline are when my grandparents were together because of course they did not need to write!
Thanks for the prompt. This is what I need to do i.e. construct a timeline for my Grandfather, using his Military Records etc, to get a really clear idea of his activities on the battlefield and recreationally during WW1. Thanks again.