Letter 3/4/45

It's been awhile since we updated, our apologies.  Life sometimes gets in the way, and before you know it two months have passed.

Today's letter is one of the first times that my grandfather references a date and time on his letter home.  It looks like he pulled the night shift and has taken some of the time to write home.  I can hear the loneliness in his voice, partially because he has been up all night and partially because he's 18 and fighting a war on international soil.  Sometimes I fear that Hollywood tends to glorify wars, especially WWII, but in letters like this one we see what the war really was: a battle being waged by teens and young men in a country that wasn't there own, passing time communicating home to those they've left behind.

Have a wonderful rest of your weekend!  We will post more frequently now that the weather is warmer again! :-)

Mr. and Mrs. A. Kumasaka
287 Main St.
Keansburg, N.J.
U.S.A.

T/5 A. Kumasaka
ASN 32609377
Hq Btry 863 FA Bn
APO 140 c/o P.M.
New York, N.Y.

6 A.M.
3 March 1945

Dear Folks,

I thought I'd write a few lines to you during these quiet hours when I must stay awake.  I had my sleep in the later afternoon and evening, so I hope you don't think that I'm kept awake day and night.

Yesterday afternoon, I had some time off, so I went to visit one of the larger towns nearby (can't tell you what town now).  While there, we stopped at a bakery shop and bought a bag full of cookies and a couple of loaves of bread.  The cookies cost 5 francs a piece, and weren't too tasty; the bread, however, was good, especially since we had cheese for supper which I saved for a sandwich later on.  The loaf of bread cost 15 francs, or about 30 cents, which is a cheap price to pay for bread even here.  Other than bakery and grocery stores, there were very few stores of other kinds open.

Nothing new to report about myself.  Oh yes, recently the electricity was restored to our rooms -- it looks nice and cozy now.  We also have tables and chairs in the room, so my set up isn't bad at all.

I plan to go to church today.  Protestant services are now 130 in the afternoon at a different place.  So long for now.  Hope you're all well.

Archie.

Letter 3/1/45

I must admit, I've been putting off this post for awhile now, mainly because the letter I'm transcribing today is one of the more difficult letters to decipher in my grandfather's collection.  He already has pretty awful handwriting (which he has since blessed my mother with), and on top of that the V-Mail cameras that captured this letter were a bit funky, and that's putting it nicely.  The right side of the page is quite darkened, and there's a lovely black line running through the page from top to bottom slightly to the right of center.  My grandpa's already hard to read notes home have become decidedly harder to read with this letter.

Nevertheless, my eyes will take the strain today and see if we can't make it through this.  After all, our eyes are only young once, right?

Mr. A Kumasaka
287 Main St
Keansburg, NJ
U.S.A.

T/5 A. Kumasaka
ASN32609377
Hq Btry 863 FA Bn
APO 410, c/o P.M. N.Y.

1 March

Dear Folks,

I received Dad's letter of Feb 19 yesterday, in which he said that he hadn't received any letters from me in over a week.  I'm sure there was a mail delay, because I have been writing at least twice a week since I came over here.  I hope my letters have caught up by this time.

Things are about the usual with me just now.  I'm keeping up pretty well with my sleep, getting enough to eat, and getting cleaned now and then.  Today I had a shower -- a hot shower -- and my second one since I came to these parts.  The shower belongs to the Infantry, but the attendant lets us use it when it isn't crowded.  The water it uses is taken from a nearby river, and heated by a special unit on a tractor.  Then it is piped inside a tent to us eager Joes.

In closing, I want to wish Dad a happy birthday.  I'm sorry I can't be there to celebrate.

So long for now.  I hope everything is O.K.

Love,
Archie

Letter 2/26/45

Happy New Year!

2014 is here, which means, we're fast approaching the 69th anniversary of these letters being written.  Yes, you read that right...69 years ago!!  Yikes!

I hope your New Year's celebrations were fun, and safe, and most of all relaxing.  Since I have a little time to spare, I thought I'd upload the next letter from my grandfather for your reading pleasure.  I mean, nothing says Happy New Year like nerding out on some WWII letters, amiright?

This is one of my favorite letters because my grandpa admits that he's been getting mail from some women while he's away.  It's funny for a granddaughter to think of her grandpa having an active dating life, but there you have it, I guess he did.  The fun continues a few letters later, and I won't ruin the surprise, but I'd be lying if I didn't admit I'm dying to know who "Kay" is and whatever happened to her...

Have a great day!  And a great year!

Mr. A Kumasaka

287 Main St.

Keansburg N.J.

U.S.A.

T/5 A. Kumasaka

32609377

Hq Btry 863 FA Bn

APO 410 c/o PM

N.Y. N.Y.

23 Feb 45

"Somewhere on the Alsatian Sector"

Dear Folks,

I received your letter of the 4th the other day.  I still haven't decided whether air mail is faster than V-mail, be-cause both seem to have periods of delay.  To compare things further, I saw a letter today which was sent from Chicago by regular mail on Feb 12 -- 11 days is fast time even for air mail.  One thing I have observed, though, is that one day we'll get a bunch of V mail and another day we'll get only air mail, so it might be wise to use both types.

I received a Valentine from Kay the other day.  She writes that she hasn't heard from me lately.  I hope my letters are reaching her by now, for I have written her a couple of times.

I had a treat a couple of days ago.  We went to see a movie in another town on our time off.  Saw GI newsreels, sports reel, cartoon and a classic "Z" picture which you pro-bably never heard of: "Swing Out the Blues with the Vagabonds".  As this is the first pictures I saw since I [unintelligible] this place, it goes without saying that I enjoyed it

You know, there's nothing like traveling to see how the other side of the world lives.  Take this place, for example, the people are very hard workers, they strive constantly to keep their homes clean.  However, they keep their animals (cows, etc) in a barn which is built into the house.  In front of the house, one finds a neat pile of dirty straw from the barn.  How they can stand it, especially in the summer, I don't know.

So much for now.  I'm in good health and hope all of you are too.

Love, Archie