Spalsbury: #105 Letters Home

Archive

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St. Joseph Museums

Name/Title

Spalsbury: #105 Letters Home

Entry/Object ID

2021.2.349A-F

Scope and Content

Letter Home from Pvt. R. C. Spalsbury, 17135556, Co A - 216 Armd Engr Bn, A.P.O. 412, Cp Chaffee, Ark. to his parents Mr. and Mrs. G. C. Spalsbury, 806 S. 11th, St. Joseph (10), Missouri. Post Marked DEC 4, 1944, 2 PM, Fort Smith, Ark., 8 cents Air Mail stamp

Context

Sunday Morning - 3 December 1944 Dear Mom and Pop - It's 10:10 a.m. I arose at a quarter till eight, dressed and had chow...breakfast. Then sorted the outgoing mail in the Orderly Room, and deposited the bag at the Mail Room in Bn. Hqs. "A" Company's bag was the first up there. T/5 Enb, Bn. Mail Clerk, wasn't up there yet, but suppose by now he's sorted the various Company's mail, and taken it over to the Division APO, about two blocks from here. By now he should have the incoming mail, and is probably sorting it for each Company. I'll run up in 20 or 30 minutes and pick it up. ---Hope it's ready. Pop, the box of fudge arrived yesterday afternoon and, needless to say, it's delicious. As usual, Spalsbury is taking care of it in the customary manner. Boy, I'll be getting fatter. But that's good ---it'll keep me warm this winter. I tipped the P.X. scale at 179 the other day. Suppose Duane and Lolly are back at Santa Rosa by now. I'm wondering if he'll be leaving or she, tomorrow - Dec. 4th - as you said. However, knowing the ways of the Army, I'd say he'll be there several weeks longer. I believe I wrote and told you I wrote 'em. I told 'em I'm giving 'em the two cream soups, one for their wedding gift, the other for their Xmas present. That's funny about Jane McPherson. I didn't see her at a show. I'm wondering if it was at the Jo or Missouri. Uncle Leo's persimmons haven't arrived yet. Suppose they will come for Xmas. Is he back in St. Joseph yet? If so, give him my regards. My Dunhill Service Lighter doesn't work so well. I'm still using the small 50 cent one I bought at Camp Cooke, California. About my Xmas box----just stick a lot of food in it---the things I like, such as olives, cookies, etc. I can't think of any gift I possibly need, except maybe a small set ----just shaving lotion and talc ----of Seaforth or Old Spice. If you do get a set, don't get one with shaving soap in it, as it would be a waste of money. I always use brushless ---in tubes and there's always plenty at the P. X. Send it any time within the next two weeks. Although everything in the Supply Room must be packed by Dec. 9th, I don't believe we'll leave Chaffee until sometime in January. Of course we can't be too sure. Practically all the Motor Pool equipment - vehicles, tools, etc., has been packed and crated. I'm not sure whether it's been sent or not. I hear a rumor that the Advance Detail will go to Elmira, New York. Of course that might be counter - intelligence. It might mean we'll go West, instead of East. Who knows ??? Last night ---Saturday ---I saw a dandy light comedy ---"Together Again," with Irene Dunne, Charles Boyer, Chas. Coburn, and others. It was hilarious ----see it when it arrives in Joetown. You'll both like it. When I returned I set a can of Campbell's Tomato Soup on the Stove, also some water in my canteen cup, and with the crackers Daoust got at the P.X., I had a delicious snack. Daoust's wife came down from Columbus, Ohio, to Ft. Smith, and brought a lot of cans of soup, so Daoust distributed some of 'em. That's an idea ---stick a few cans of soup in my box, if they're not too many points. It's now afternoon. Got the mail and distributed it. Finished chow about 15 minutes ago. The chow has improved here quite a bit since I've been back from furlough. I'm still cutting stencils of Nomenclature Lists down in the Battalion Supply Office. Mr. Weinstein, Chief Warrant Officer down there, says I'm the only guy (that is ---S-4, or Supply man) from A Company he can get along with - a dig at S/Sgt. Hughes, our Supply Sgt. Major McConnell, our Bn. Executive Officer, tells me to keep up the good work. "It's an important job you're doing there," says he. They will use these nomenclature lists as packing lists for the various company Supply Sergeants. My stencils will run off 50 to 100 copies on the mimeograph, which will save the trouble of typing the lists out of the catalogs each time. LATER IN THE AFTERNOON: Besides this work, Cpl. Manke, Company Clerk, has been grabbing a bunch of us lately to help him get all the Service Records, etc., in order for the various inspections this coming week. It will be conducted by the I.G. (Inspector General) from Washington, D.C. A group of us worked until 11:45 the other night down in the Day Room, checking and comparing records. Then, today - Sunday - Cpl. Manke roped 9 of us into working on 'em. We started at 1:30 this afternoon, and worked till about 4:15. Then we ate early chow, and worked on 'em somemore. I'm taking a break right now to finish this letter. Some of the 49 new fellows are pretty nice. There's Herbert Goff, who came from a Searchlight outfit at Camp Haan. He's very bright ---had a year at Rutgers University on a scholarship. He's only 19, though ---just a kid. Then there's Franklin Schoenberg, another Jewish fellow ---from New York City. He's had 2 1/2 years at a college in New York. He's young, too. He was at Ft. Belvoir, Va., before he came here. Manke is letting me off early this evening, so I can see the movie over at War Dept. Theatre #4 - a block away. It's "Dark Waters," with Merle Oberon, T. Mitchell, and others. It's from a Sat. Eve. Post Story. Well, can't think of anything more, so will stop writing. It's rather cold here in the barracks, so will run down to the Day Room to see how the boys are coming. All my love, Bob P.S. - Did you see in last week's LIFE Magazine ---"LIFE VISITS: Clifton's Cafeteria in L.A."? That's the one I used to eat at occasionally.

Collection

Marshall White

Lexicon

Nomenclature 4.0

Nomenclature Secondary Object Term

Letter

Nomenclature Primary Object Term

Correspondence

Nomenclature Sub-Class

Other Documents

Nomenclature Class

Documentary Objects

Nomenclature Category

Category 08: Communication Objects

Archive Items Details

Title

Letter Home from Pvt. R. C. Spalsbury, 17135556, Co A - 216 Armd Engr Bn, A.P.O. 412, Cp Chaffee, Ark. to his parents Mr. and Mrs. G. C. Spalsbury, 806 S. 11th, St. Joseph (10), Missouri. Post Marked DEC 4, 1944, 2 PM, Fort Smith, Ark., 8 cents Air Mail stamp

Description

Handwritten letter home to parents back in St. Joseph after being called up to serve in the US Army during WWII. Pvt. Spalsbury, at the time of this letter, has completed Basic Training at Camp Callan, California, was stationed for a short time with a STAR Unit for ASTP (Army Specialized Training Program) soldiers in Pasadena, CA then moved to engineering training at Loyola University in Los Angeles, CA. After flunking out of the ASTP program, Robert was briefly stationed at Camp Roberts, located in central California assigned to the Infantry Replacement Training Center. Then Robert was stationed at Camp Haan in southern California, a U.S. Army training camp for Coast Artillery Anti Aircraft gunners. During his time at Camp Haan, Robert was transferred from Battery B to Battery A and began working as an office Clerk in Battery A. At the time this letter was written, Robert is serving at Camp Chaffee at Fort Smith, Arkansas. He had been working as a Clerk-Typist in the HQ Company then transferred to Line Company A. He now has the job serving as Mail Clerk for the Company. This letter is two pages, front and back, written in blue ink on plain stationery. The letter was sent in an envelope with red and blue hash marks around the edge. The page is folded in thirds then one end is folded over to fit in the envelope.

Dimensions

Height

10-1/2 in

Width

7-1/4 in

Condition

Overall Condition

Very Good

Relationships

Related Person or Organization

Person or Organization

Robert C. Spalsbury