Name/Title
Spalsbury: #84 Letters Home August 29,1944Entry/Object ID
2021.2.328A-CScope and Content
Letter Home from Pvt. R. C. Spalsbury, 17135556, Co A - 216th Armd Engr Bn, A.P.O. 412, Camp Chaffee, Arkansas to his parents Mr. and Mrs. G. C. Spalsbury, 806 South 11th, St. Joseph (10), Missouri. Post Marked AUG 29, 1944, 3 PM, Fort Smith, Ark., 8 cents Air Mail stampContext
Monday Night -
28 August 1944
Dear Mom and Pop -
I haven't heard from you in the last day or two, so thought I'd wake you up. I had a letter from Norma June Klein today, which was nice, so thanks, Mom, for giving her my address. She tells me she returned to K.C. to find Virginia married her marine Sgt., and I believe they're back in North Carolina. Bennie Orth has returned to California - her little boy is two years old now. Bebe Garrett has a baby now. She told me a lot about other kids we used to know, but I can't remember all, and the letter is up in the barracks. (I'm down in the Day Room (Recreation Room) writing this). It's a shame Norma June's not very attractive, because I think she'd make a wonderful mother. However, she says she's quite content with her girl bachelor role. She didn't call herself an "old maid."
You can see by my address that I'm in a line company now - Company "A". Hq Co is way overstrength, so about 15 of us were moved to the various line companies (A, B, and C) Saturday. (The line Companies are understrength.) A long time ago this would've worried me a lot, but I'm beyond that now. I only know it's always a lot of trouble picking up your roots and moving around so much. I don't know exactly what I'll do here. I worked up in Personnel today. The 1st Sgt here told me I could help the Cpl who is Company Clerk, since his assistant, Tec 5 Paoust, is on furlough. Personally, I really don't care about working as a Clerk-Typist anymore, but will keep on until they tell me different.
I wrote two letters up at the Service Club yesterday afternoon - one to Duane, one to Lilbern Roberts. Sgt. Nestor and I went up there to write. Nestor came into Hq Co last week from Ft. Knox, Ky., where a lot of the other guys around here came from. He also was transferred to a line company - C. He was an artist in civilian life, and was a draftsman, a good deal, at Ft. Knox. He sees they can't use him around here, and is scared to death of losing his stripes. He's trying to transfer to an Infantry Battalion (he's had Basic in Infantry) where he thinks he could get into S-2, having done that kind of work before, too. I think he'll have a hard time transferring, though. He's really miserable here. He's been in the Army since Sept. '41, and loathes it with a passion.
We saw an interesting, but odd, picture last night. It was "The Impatient Years", with Jean Arthur.
It's a quarter after ten, so believe I'll go to bed.
Love as usual, BobCollection
Marshall WhiteLexicon
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Category 08: Communication ObjectsArchive Items Details
Title
Letter Home from Pvt. R. C. Spalsbury, 17135556, Co A - 216th Armd Engr Bn, A.P.O. 412, Camp Chaffee, Arkansas to his parents Mr. and Mrs. G. C. Spalsbury, 806 South 11th, St. Joseph (10), Missouri. Post Marked AUG 29, 1944, 3 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 had been working as a Clerk-Typist in the HQ Company but has now been transferred to Line Company A, still working as an office clerk.
This letter is only one page, front and back, written in blue ink on United States Army stationery which features a red and blue inked emblem centered on the page with an eagle in flight carrying a U.S. flag. The letter was sent in a plain envelope. The page is folded in thirds.Dimensions
Height
10-1/2 inWidth
7-1/4 inCondition
Overall Condition
Very GoodRelationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
Robert C. Spalsbury
