Name/Title
V-mail Letter and EnvelopeEntry/Object ID
2026.14.1Scope and Content
Victory-Mail, known as V-Mail, used by the United States during World War II as the primary and secure method to correspond with soldiers stationed abroad. To reduce the cost of transferring an original letter through the military postal system, a V-mail letter would be censored, copied to film and printed back to paper on arrival at its destination.
This V-mail letter was sent to Ann Marchioni in Benicia from her brother John Golatka in the U.S. Army, "somewhere in New Guinea". He dated the letter April 25, 1944 and the envelope was postmarked May 11, 9AM, 1944.Collection
Museum of History, Benicia