Tag Archives: New Caledonia

Dear Mark (Roscoe)

And for today’s post, we have Roscoe’s letter to his formerly youngest son Mark, the last of three letters written on October 27, 1942.

: October 27, 1942 Envelope; Letter to Mark

: October 27, 1942, p. 1; Letter to Mark

: October 27, 1942, p. 2; Letter to Mark

Letter transcription:

Oct. 27, 1942

Dear Mark,

Just finished writing John and while I have some time I’ll get this one off to you. We just had an argument about some geography in Africa, nothing very important but we got it settled.

You no doubt get a kick out of Little Davie and will like to help take care of him. At least I hope you kil like to help mother take care of him for since I’m gone it’s more or less up to you and John until I get home to carry on. I know there will be some things that you won’t like to do but when you and John were little I had to help mother and I wasn’t to pleased about that either, but we got along.

I think you would get a kick out of living the way we do. The mud is rather deep and slippery and when we get out on a place that isn’t level we slip and slide and once in a while someone falls. So far I’ve been lucky. It sure is messy when one falls because the old brownish red mud sticks and smears. And another thing we don’t have to sweep our shoes just kick & kick when we get to the door and that mud that don’t doesn’t come off that way just stays on.

Have you been constructing many model airplanes lately? You should be getting pretty good at that by now at least if you keep trying you’ll be able to build good ones some of these days. I’s like to send to one to you but the stores don’t keep

[page 2] them here. At least I haven’t seen them anyplace around here. I’ll be expecting a report from you on your activities both in and out of school. Probably you have written me but our mail man is slow and we just have to wait.

I hope you received the box of shells I sent. They were pretty when I sent them but after being packed and sent over that long distance I don’t have any idea what they looked like. I hope the coral was in good condition but it breaks pretty easy. No doubt you have or you will hear how that coral is formed and you can show that to the other kids in school.

We were given rain coats and rain hats and when we get them on we look like old fisherman, but we don’t care much just so we keep dry. Of course our shoes get muddy but they are heavy and it doesn’t make any difference.

I’ll be expecting a letter from you telling of all the things you are doing and what Davie says and does and if he is spoiled like you have been and still are in some respects. If you can help yourself and don’t bother mother too much you will be doing a great thing so I’m counting on you.

Love

Daddy

Dear John (Roscoe)

1 Reply

John and Mark, circa 1942

Four letters were written on October 27th between the Yegerlehner family members. Roscoe wrote three of them. Not only did he write to Gladys but he wrote letters to each of the older boys. Today’s letter is the one he wrote to his oldest son John. At this point in 1942, John was twelve years old. Roscoe considered John to be the man of the house since he was the oldest male at home. This was not the first letter in which Roscoe made that point. As a reader, it is interesting to note the subtle change of tone in this letter. Although we have heard many tales of Roscoe’s swimming and his collection of shells and coral along the beach, there is a different quality in his narrative when he describes it for John. Tomorrow, I will post the letter that was written to Mark. Amazingly, both the letters to the boys survived. To my mind, we have Gladys to thank for saving the letters from the trash bin or the carelessness of the boys.

: October 27, 1942 Envelope: Letter to John

: October 27, 1942, p. 1: Letter to John

: October 27, 1942, p. 2: Letter to John

Letter transcription:
Oct. 27, 1942
Dear John,
It has been some time since I’ve written to you but I was waiting until I had gotten an answer from the V-mail I sent you. You probably have answered that letter but things are in a mess as far as our mail is concerned but it will get straightened out before long.
You now no doubt have much extra work to do due to little Davie, that work which I would be doing – at least some of it if I were there so you see that places an extra burden due to your being the oldest male present. Does that sound pretty good or pretty bad. What I am interested in is that you conduct yourself in such a way that you will give mother less trouble.
Very often we have food that I don’t like well and I think of you and some of the food you don’t like but I eat it just like you do, so we are alike in some ways. That’s just kidding you.
You would get a big kick out of our swimming place. It is very fine and sandy and slopes very gradually out to sea, and that makes about any depth of water one wants. Only on some days when the tide is high the water gets very deep and maybe the next day it is hardly knee deep at

[page 2]the same place. Near the edge of the water there are lots of big rocks which are a little hard on bare feet that are tender but out some distance the sand is so fine it’s almost like salt. On days when the water is smooth I can lay there on the water and float like a bad of wind, but on days when the waves are high I get water in my nose when a wave comes along that coves one up. In between swims it’s fun to walk up and down along the water’s edge and pick up various kinds of shells & coral. Hope you have the box I sent you. They are really more beautiful when they are wet and the sun is shining on them. There have been some boys about your size out there swimming several times when we were there and they seem to get a big kick out of the water.
We have things pretty good here in some ways. Our post office is here, we have store, a barber shop, a taylors shop and about everything we need. Of course we can’t buy Christmas presents and lots of things like that but other things more needed are always available. Even to fine smelling hair tonic and good candy bars.
Well I’ve got to write Mark so drop me a line if you have time and let me know about all your activities.
Love
Daddy

This post originally found at: https://genealogylady.net/2013/05/22/dear-john-roscoe/

Rain, rain, go away (Roscoe)

12 Replies

I was featured this week on Geneabloggers’ recurring post titled “May I Introduce To You…” So if you want to take a break from World War II, you can learn a little more about me by following the link:
http://geneabloggers.com/introduce-deborah-sweeney/

: October 28, 1942 Envelope

: October 27, 1942, p. 1

: October 28, 1942, p. 2

: October 28, 1942, p. 3 (written on the back side of p. 2)

Letter transcription:

Oct. 27, 1942

Dear Mother,

This being Tue it rained all day and it being a raining day omits Tue – Don’t pay attention to that I just tried to tell you in a complicated way that it rained all day today up to now and it is now about 1615 and no sign of letting up. About the middle of the afternoon I was very ambitious went to the shower thru the rain Took a complete bath and came back thru the rain. I didn’t know whether to wear a rain coat or to take my clothes off and wrap a towel around me. I chose the latter so was ready for soap when I got there. The shower needless to say was cold but very invigorating. It was the first time I’d changed for some time and I think it helped to raise my moral by getting out clean clothes etc. It has been out of the question to have laundry done because it has been raining almost continuously since Fri night and in that time we haven’t seen the sun not even a peep.

I wrote both the boys this A.M. and put their letters in separate envelopes so if they don’t get there at the same time you will have to explain. Possibly I should have sent them in one so they would either have or had not together. It was a little hard to write to them because news are so scarce and I try to write all I can to you but I managed to fill a couple pages each.

I haven’t said anything to you about the fellow here who graduated from Indiana whose folks lived at Morrow [?]. He is still with us and

[page 2] in that way.

The Sykes seemed OK. They had just bought the first load of coal they ever had to buy and it cost 15°°. They thought that was pretty high – guess they had always been furnished their coal before. Your mail between Aug 29 and Oct. 14 is still on the way. It doesn’t bother so bad now since we get a few letters now and then. So far I don’t believe I’ve missed on any mail delivery yet. Some of the boys are envious, of course I didn’t get one from you yesterday but did get the other two.

The reason we got such a big bridge score last night wasn’t our good playing so much as it was our opponents’ poor bidding. They were both better than we but we doubled them four times and one time they went down four doubled and they were vulnerable so you see that counts up. Then twice the doubled us on bids of 3 diamonds and clubs and we made both bids so that doubled us into game. I know that sounds funny for me to be talking about bridge but it’s either that or go to bed at dark and it’s all in fun. Some of these men are good. I’ve seen bids of little slam and even grand slam made. Me I’ve never been able to do that yet. Last night was the first time my partner has been able to hold any cards. We don’t have the same partner. Just four fellows get together and draw to see who plays who etc. It’s raining pretty hard. I’ll leave the space for further developments. Later, Just received your letter air mail of Oct 12. It was older than the letter by 2 days than the one Sun. This one did answer a few questions and it had David’s picture. If you haven’t sent the laundry just keep it until I write for it.

David – 2 weeks (October 6, 1942)

Our new tent mate has a radio and we got California

[page 3] at 1:00 AM. Sounded pretty good. I think that is the first real radio reception since leaving home. Red Skelton was on but we couldn’t get him.

We had half roast chicken for supper and let me tell you those bones were picked clean. It was also our regular time to get cigarettes. We get two cartons per month on our usual ration pay and that about does one for cigarettes.

You still haven’t said how often my letters are coming but I suppose you have already done so. Well it’s about time for bed. So solong

Love
Daddy

This post was originally posted at: https://genealogylady.net/2013/05/21/rain-rain-go-away-roscoe/

Mud, mud, and more mud (Roscoe)

1 Reply

: October 26, 1942 Envelope

: October 26, 1942, p. 1

: October 26, 1942, p. 2

Letter transcription:

Oct. 26, 1942

Dear Mother,

As I stated last night it would either be raining or clear and I was right it was raining. This is the 4^th straight day and the mud doesn’t get any more shallow and of course it’s just as slick. You can imagine how damp things are and how dirty ones clothes get because we don’t change very often. It’s just a matter of slopping around and making the best of it. No, we didn’t get any more mail but I can’t complain because I’ve gotten more than my share in comparison with some of the others.

Some more of my friends are being transferred and it wouldn’t surprise me much if I got changed although it wouldn’t be so bad. The worst part is leaving friends with whom one has been associated for some months now, but only a few months before we didn’t know these fellows so I suppose we can make new friends all over again. If one stays in the stame same place too long he gets in a rut and that’s easy here with so much mud.

I’m writing this just after chow and before the table is cleaned off so you see it’s by candle and there are several fellows in our tent talking so don’t know what all might be in here. Hope there is nothing of a military nature which might creep in. Had hot chocolate for supper and it is taking affect now and makes me very warm & sweaty. Had fresh meat today and it sure was good – roast beef. And they haven’t as put too much pepper in the food for the past few days. The outward conversation is about to get me down. I write more later.

[page 2] There are only three others here now so maybe I can overcome the outside interferences. I’ve been thinking much of writing John & Mark but seems as if things that could interest them are scarce and after all stamps are not so plentiful, but with it all I’ll write them in the near future. Davie probably wouldn’t appreciate a letter so I’ll not write to him when I do the others.

The weather has been so poor we can’t even go swimming gets to wet going back & forth. Then too the ocean may have raised too much during all this rain, but I rather doubt that that has too much affect on that size body of water.

How much gas are you allowed? And is it enough? Or maybe it is not in affect yet. Guess you have probably answered those questions long ago but the answers just haven’t gotten here yet. There probably will be more answers than questions when all that mail does get here.

Well happy birthday again – One fellow here got some Christmas greeting the other day at $1°° each so I’ll not try to send a greeting. I’ll save save a little space for late developments. No late developments got beat at bridge again.

Lots of Love
Daddy

Missing mail (Roscoe)

1 Reply

Thankfully, the letters that Gladys wrote between August 29^th and October 14^th did make an appearance. I know a lot about my grandmother’s life during that time because the letters did survive. However, at this point in the narrative, they were missing in action. I wonder if they traveled around like my grandfather’s laundry. How many interesting places have they wandered in the past 71 years?

: October 25, 1942 Envelope

: October 25, 1942, p. 1

: October 25, 1942, p. 2

Letter transcription:

Oct. 25, 1942

Dear Mother,

Just now received your letter dated Oct. 14^th. That is regular mail. At present then letters from Aug 29 to Oct 14^th are missing and lots of questions as to how often mail is coming. When the first letter came etc are still missing. In fact all that you wrote in that interval are missing. Which makes me wh wish I had those letters. Of course, you and the boys are Ok and that is the main thing and that was only 9 days ago so that helps although it isn’t as well as being there as you know. I don’t know what happened but this snail sorta slipped in on us. Thanks for the slip. There was only a few of us that got mail. Thanks to the one a day letter and the air mail stamp. I guess we can afford that much. (12¢ each day). I’ve asked and re asked how the bank balance stood but still no answer but there is probably lots in the intervening and in the mail post Oct 14. So I’ll just wait. And I still don’t know how often you get your mail.

Glad to hear that Davie is coming along – remember 5-7 ounces per week is sufficient. I can’t advise you on the formula because I don’t know how or what the feeding is. I suppose that is in the mixed up mail also, but by now, you have my new address and maybe that will help. If not we will be getting Christmas mail on July 4 and “vice virtue.”

I’m wondering which way Joe R. went and you didn’t send his address so I can’t write to him. Maybe you have sent it before. I figure there are some 30-35 letters missing so that probably accounts for lots of missing information.

On Fri night it started raining and has been at it pretty regular since. It’s the wettest rain. No big drops but it seems to come in continuous sheets and the mud. Our floor isn’t good but the mud certainly gets deep with only

[page 2] one sweeping per day and since we don’t have a broom it has to be done by the boys who take care of the tents once each day.

This is my regular day for writing to the folks so after I finish I’ll try to get a line to them. Of course I haven’t received any mail from them since in Aug also and that makes it a little hard to write.

Somehow some where some ham was obtained today and we had chipped ham gravy-potatoes, pineapple, buttered beets & cream of Tomato soup for dinner. Today One of the best meals we have had. Last night for supper we had spaghetti over which there was huge quantities of extremely highly seasoned chilli. Well I ate it. Our desert was chocolate pudding. So all in all I didn’t eat too much at that time, but we did get a bottle of beer and that has lots of strength. So didn’t fare so badly.

That cold weather sounds good, but this reminds one of a dark fall day which is expected to turn cold afterwards but it won’t. We know now it will either be rainy or clear tomorrow but not cold.

Well, guess I’ll write to the folks. It’s about 1630 now so will try to start theirs before chow and church. Will let you know if anything further developes.

Nothing further developed – went to church and slid around thru the mud.

Lots of Love

Daddy

This post originally found at: https://genealogylady.net/2013/05/17/missing-mail-roscoe/

Spam and other meat products (Roscoe)

15 Replies

This letter contains some nice trivia about camp life including more about the daily menu and the living conditions. I was surprised to learn about the garden that was planted. Apparently, the fellow must have known they were going to be there for quite awhile. I wonder where he got the seeds.

Gladys must have received the instructions about including “white poppy” as part of the address fairly quickly. Within a week or so, she started addressing the letters that way.

: October 24, 1942 Envelope

: October 24, 1942, p. 1

: October 24, 1942, p. 2

Letter transcription:

Oct 24, 1942

Dear Mother,

I’m not going to clutter this up with the no mail story only to say that we have none and to again call your attention to the address. Just insert the words “white poppy” in between the SSA & the c/o and if anyone acts as if they want to write also call attention of that to them.

As I was writing last night it was raining and it rained most all night and hard so this morning everything was a sea of mud and no fooling period. It thundered and lightning just like a good old Indiana storm. It was the first thunder we had heard since leaving there. Our tent leaked some just finally seeped thru. It’s an old tent and doesn’t seem to be able to take it anymore but we’ll have to take it unless it gets too bad. This rainy weather will probably bring on droves and more droves of mosquitoes but the nets should take care of them, at least while we sleep.

I suppose I should take this time to wish you a happy birthday, maybe I should have done it several days ago but not knowing how long it takes to get there I’m a little confused as to time. You did tell me you received the money orders I sent long ago so I’m relieved to know it they got thru. Don’t try to send anything for my birthday unless it you stick to what I have already suggested for Christmas. Things to eat would be out and things to wear would be in the way other than as I suggested a few suits of underware, but do send me sometime a good flashlight and a couple of extra batteries.

[page 2] Just after we came one of the fellows planted a small garden and has it pretty well along now. The radishes are about the size of an ordinary marble and the lettuce and tomato plants are coming along. They have to be watered each day that is up until today. The effort seems more than the benefits derived. Now if there was a way to grow a good steak I think I’d be interested for about 2 wks ago we had our last fresh meat. Span, corned beef etc seem to be the main bill of fare. So let me give you warning now. If you want any of that stuff have your fill before I get home because I can see now that I’m going to be well past my fill by then. Some fried chicken wouldn’t be bad either – guess it won’t be too much to dream of those things. The hot dogs are canned and they aren’t even as good as those at home – but we won’t starve as long as we keep getting our meals as often and as plentiful as we have in the past. We aren’t so bad off but we like “self pitty.”

You probably are beginning to have some pretty frosty nights there and the coal pile probably is going down – when it gets down low enough for 2 or 3 tons (have one of the dealers come out and see if it will hold that much) and keep it filled because I imagine it will be hard to get.

Well, I’ll try to add a line on late developments later this eve or in the A.M. Later no new development won at bridge this Eve. Had pretty good cards. Will write this P.M. or after church

Loves of Love
Daddy

Lt. (jg) Yegerlehner MC
Navy SSA (White poppy)
c/0 postmaster
San Francisco Calif