Spalsbury: #96 Letters Home October 20, 1944

Name/Title

Spalsbury: #96 Letters Home October 20, 1944

Entry/Object ID

2021.2.340A-B

Scope and Content

Postcard 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 OCT 20, 1944, 1:30 PM, Fort Smith, Ark., FREE postage

Context

This is the first I've had a chance to write at all. 19 October 1944 Dear folks -- I'm writing this by the light of a candle in a pup tent. It's now Thursday night. We've been on maneuvers since Sunday afternoon, were bivouaced in a heavily wooded area, out of which we moved at 9 this morning. The first "maneuver" is over, and now we are bivouaced here at Engineer Lake on a sloping hill, an ideal location. For the next several days we will be "resting" here, then another maneuver. ---I grab a jeep driver, and go get the mail every day ---lot of fun. Another fella + I got up at 1:00 this morning to take some report to C:C."A" - 9 mi. distant. Love, Bob

Collection

Marshall White

Lexicon

Nomenclature 4.0

Nomenclature Primary Object Term

Postcard

Nomenclature Sub-Class

Writing Media

Nomenclature Class

Written Communication T&E

Nomenclature Category

Category 06: Tools & Equipment for Communication

Archive Items Details

Title

Postcard 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 OCT 20, 1944, 1:30 PM, Fort Smith, Ark., FREE postage

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. Recently, he was given a new job serving as Mail Clerk for the Company. This postcard is written in blue ink. There is Anti aircraft equipment pictured in the top left of the back side of the postcard. It is printed with Camp Haan California however Robert has crossed that out.

Dimensions

Height

3-1/4 in

Width

5-1/2 in

Condition

Overall Condition

Very Good

Relationships

Related Person or Organization

Person or Organization

Robert C. Spalsbury