October 1, 1943 Chuck's Battalion, the 475th, departed San Francisco Port of Embarkation for overseas service.
10/4/43 Chuck sends Pauline her first "V-Mail" letter. Postmark on envelope is San Francisco, Calif. and the postmark date is October 23, 1943. The V-Mail has a stamp in upper left corner reading: "Passed by Army Examiner" and signed by "George W. Hightower, 1st. Lt."
V MAIL Loneliness and homesickness were very real for servicemen and women. Mail was the primary means of communication during the war. The government created "Victory Mail" or "V-Mail." V-Mail letters were microfilmed versions of full size sheets. The condensed letters (4" x 5") were an effort to speed the delivery time and allow for more room in overseas shipping
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Chuck has a new rank--T/Sgt. [Technical Sergeant was a rank in the United States Army until 1948. During World War II it was
abbreviated as TSgt. or T/Sgt. The rank after was Master Sergeant, while the rank before was Staff Sergeant. It was replaced by Sergeant First Class in 1948.]
Dear Pongee,
Well I'm kinda disappointed because I didn't get to make a trip home. I'm glad though I was able to at least call all of you on the phone.
I'll bet this is your first V. letter. They say it's the best way for us to write. At least it's the speediest.
I like this being on the water. Believe I could have been a good sailor. So far I've been able to keep all my meals down. They've all been darn good meals too. I'm sitting on toipside writing this. Trying to get a little tan. Believe it will be good for hoarse voice too. Lost the darn thing at Camp Dix and I'm just getting so I can talk again.
Well Pongee, write when you have time. Believe I'll have plenty of time for answering once I get settled.
It's going to be funny if I run into Chatter*. He's the same rank I am now.
Love, Chuck.["Chatter" was Fred Chatterton, his sister, Caroline's, fiancé. Fred was in the U.S. Army, and at Pearl Harbor during the Dec. 7 attack by the Japanese. Fred later was in many of the battles of the South Pacific, from Tarawa to Iwo Jima. Fred and Caroline married March 18, 1944 in Bremerton, WA .]
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[There are no letters from Chuck between October 4, 1943 when he was on a troop ship enroute to the South Pacific, and December 5, 1943. His Battalion was on the move; first to New Caledonia and New Hebrides (Espiritu Santo.) The APO # 709 on his Dec. 5 letter and
the history of his 475th Coast Artillery Battalion
make it likely he was on Guadalcanal.]
12/5/1943 Chuck sends another V-Mail letter.
The V-Mail has no censor's stamp but one or more words have been blacked out in the body of the letter.
Dear Pongee,
I'm all mixed up. I don't know who I have and haven't written to. Guess in the future I'll have to keep a tally of who I write to.
Boy! I've worked like the dickens today. I just received a bunch of new tools and it was a job cleaning them up. They come all packed in a messy grease and believe me it's hard stuff to get off. Then after I get them clean I'll have to turn right around and oil them all up again. Boy! Stuff sure rusts around here. Every time I use a wrench or tool I have to oil it just as soon as I'm through with it. I'm getting my work pretty well lined out now. Can just about plan my days now. At first I had about a dozen jobs at once, now things are set up so I can be pretty much my own boss.
I got a kick out of Mom guessing where I was at. Believe it or not she had things pretty well figured out. It can now be told. I was at New Caledonia and Espiritu Santo and I'm now "Somewhere in the [next words blacked out]. So far I've covered quite a few miles don't you think so? I'm just about halfway around the world from home.
I hope Barbara has received her grass skirt by now. It will be something for her to show her friends won't it.**Well, Pongee I'm feeling fine and everything is going good here.
Merry Xmas to all of you.
Your Brother, Chuck** [In his Tales of the South Pacific James Michener has a hilarious account of the "grass skirt" trade and its impact on the availability of the anti-malarial drug atabrine--which could be used to dye the grass skirts yellow. I don't remember whether my grass skirt from Chuck was natural color or atabrine yellow!--BH]
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NEW CALEDONIA and ESPIRITU SANTOIn Chuck's Dec. 5, 1943 letter he says that he had been at New Caledonia and Espirito Santo earlier.
James Michener was also at Espiritu Santo and wrote his Pulitzer-prize winning book, Tales of the South Pacific (in 1946) about his experiences there during WW II. The stories were based on observations and anecdotes he acquired while stationed as a lieutenant commander in the US Navy on the island of Espiritu Santo in the New Hebrides Islands (now known as Vanuatu ).From Wikipedia: During World War II, particularly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the island was used by Allied forces as a military supply and support base, naval harbor, and airfield. In highly fictionalized form, it is the locale of James Michener's Tales of the South Pacific and the subsequent musical, South Pacific. The presence of the Allies later contributed to the island's diving tourism, as the United States dumped most of their equipment and refuse at what is now known as "'Million Dollar Point." Another wreck off Espiritu Santo, the SS President Coolidge, is also a popular diving spot. The SS President Coolidge was a converted luxury liner that hit a mine during the war.
Beach Scene on Espiritu Santo
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