Name/Title
Spalsbury: #81 Letters Home August 16, 1944Entry/Object ID
2021.2.325A-CScope and Content
Letter Home from Pvt. R. C. Spalsbury, 17135556, Hq Co - 216th Armd Engr Bn, A.P.O. 412, Camp Chaffee, Arkansas to his parents Mr. and Mrs. George C. Spalsbury, 806 South 11th, St. Joseph (10), Missouri. Post Marked AUG 16, 1944, 2 PM, Fort Smith, Ark., 8 cents Air Mail stampContext
Tuesday Evening -
15 August 1944
Dear Mom and Pop -
I'm sitting on my bunk. The radio is on, and Ginny Sims' program for servicemen is playing from Hollywood. Last May on my last 3-day pass there I saw this broadcast at NBC studios. It sure seems long ago.
I've got a bunch of letters to answer. They've really been coming in during the last several days. Had one from Grandma Whinery this morning, and one from Lilbern Roberts together with yours yesterday. Haven't heard from Jack Planalp in ages, and I answered that long letter of his before I left Camp Cooke at the end of May. He always makes up in quality for what he lacks in quantity, though. He can certainly turn a neat phrase.
Here I lie (?) , not knowing what to write. Sometimes my mind is a blank, and it's been sorta blankety-blank for some time now. Everything is such an effort - like Grandma Whinery says.
I walked over to War Dept. Theatre #4 last night (it's only a block away) and saw a very old Eddie Cantor film - "Kid from Spain." It was pretty funny. Have you seen any shows since "Mark Twain"?
I took my wool cap and one of my cotton ones over to the tailor shop a while ago to have Engineer braid sewed on in place of the red artillery braid. Engineer braid is red and white. The Supply Room is supposed to do this, and they sent 'em down to Quartermaster for me, but they returned 'em, saying they had no Engineer braid at present.
Mom, you needn't have sent the dollar bill to pay for the gum. I've got more money to spend than you have. But I guess you wanted to be business-like. I had no idea you'd actually send the money, and certainly didn't expect it. I've got 17 packages of gum now, Beeman's Pepsin in the majority. I'll shortly get a few more, and then send 'em all.
I'm wondering if Lessie came over on Sunday. Is she still teaching 2nd grade in Topeka? I always liked her a lot.
Enjoyed the clipping about Emily Harpster's husband. - Quite a write-up. I wonder how much Mrs. Harpster paid the News-Press to print it (Meow!) His name and occupation sounds somewhat Jewish, but they were married in a Catholic Church. Harpsters go to the Westminster Presbyterian Church.
Yes, I received the pictures of me and Duane while at Yuma. Pretty good of us. I don't care about sending Barbara one right now. I've sent her so many snapshots of myself.
Love, Bob
[Note - written along the left hand side of the first page of this letter: What happened to Uncle Robert's job in the defense factory? I never heard definitely about what happened. Suddenly he was back at Tonkawa. Grandma Whinery says he's employed at the Prisoner of War Camp.]Collection
Marshall WhiteLexicon
Nomenclature 4.0
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Category 08: Communication ObjectsArchive Items Details
Title
Letter Home from Pvt. R. C. Spalsbury, 17135556, Hq Co - 216th Armd Engr Bn, A.P.O. 412, Camp Chaffee, Arkansas to his parents Mr. and Mrs. George C. Spalsbury, 806 South 11th, St. Joseph (10), Missouri. Post Marked AUG 16, 1944, 2 PM, Fort Smith, Ark., 8 cents Air Mail stampDescription
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 is working as a clerk in the Personnel Office.
This letter makes references to time spent in Yuma, presumably Yuma, Arizona and potentially Fort Laguna a few miles west of Fort Yuma (operated by the U.S Army Corps of Engineers).
The letter also refers to leaving Camp Cooke at the end of May.
No letters from Yuma or Camp Cooke are a part of this collection.
This letter is only one page, front and back, written in blue ink on plain stationery. The page is folded in half then again in thirds. The envelope has red and blue hash marks around the edge.Dimensions
Height
10-1/2 inWidth
7-1/4 inCondition
Overall Condition
Very GoodRelationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
Robert C. Spalsbury
