August 27, 1944

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To learn more about V-MAIL click the wikipedia link below:

V-Mail

August 3, 1944

I don't know the reason why Paul was in the hospital. From earlier letters, he had injured his ankle in a practice jump. Unfortunately, none of the snap shots mentioned in this letter were in the envelop. This letter was written the day before Paul's 22nd birthday.

July 6, 1944 - France

Since photographic paper was in such short supply, any snap shots were shared via the mail. Unfortunately, they were not returned to this letter. I don't have the letter where Paul describes his 'close call'. I have no idea of what happened. I just can not imagine what Joe and Paul were thinking and feeling, knowing that today could very well be their last. I was fortunate, that all of my immediate relatives survived WWII.

May 15, 1944

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Steve ‘Joe’ Holasek was my father's best friend. If memory serves correctly, he had a bad leg that kept him from serving in WWII. He resented his situation. In the coming weeks, on my family history blog(see link to the right), I will be posting pictures of my dad and Steve Holasek including additional information.

To learn more about V-MAIL click the wikipedia link below:

V-Mail

April 16, 1944

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As an aside, my father wrote on the envelope the date when he received these letters. From Europe to the South Pacific, V-Mail took about one month. In this present age of the Internet where an email takes seconds to minutes to be delivered, can you imagine waiting 30 days for a one page shrunken letter?

To learn more about V-MAIL click the wikipedia link below:

V-Mail

April 8, 1944

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Text of the letter due to the difficulty in reading(even the original):

Dear Joe,

Your V written Mar 15th arrived a few days ago but the first paragraph was the only one legible. The rest of the letter is blurred due to some error in developing or printing. I can, however, make out the last sentence saying you received my letter acknowledging the receipt of your package.

I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of your airmail letter. I'll assure you Joe, any film service you get is better than ours. My roll has been gone for a month now. It'll eventually get here though and that is the best means of getting them developed since you can't send any home that aren't censored here.

Things here are pretty much the same. All routine stuff and I feel o.k. except for a bad tooth the dentist can't decide what is wrong with.

I sent Justine a letter asking her to buy mom something for Mother's Day. The P.X. took orders but prices didn't fit my cash on hand. So long and good luck.

Paul

To learn more about V-MAIL click the wikipedia link below:

V-Mail

March 25, 1944

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This scrap of paper with an address was in the envelop with the V-Mail. There is no mention of it in the letter.

Text of the letter due to the difficulty in reading(even the original):

Dear Joe,

Your V written the 4th arrived several days ago and I was glad to hear from you once again. Your mail seems to make almost as good time getting here as some from home.

I've written you several letters since I've received your package, but I'd like to thank you again, Joe. The pen is a real honey and I've been offered small fortune for it because of the scarcity of pens here, but won't ever sell it. I didn't think it'd get here either after being on the way for so long, but there was a hell of a lot of  packages going through the States about the time yours went through.

Steve isn't around any more and I don't think I'll see him for the duration. He was transferred, but I don't know just where. I didn't see him very often, possibly three or four times since we've been here in England. He said his mother wrote all that stuff I mentioned. Where she picked up stuff like that beats me, but you know how it is.

I didn't stop in to see Sheppards while on furlough because I had my choice of either taking a local that stopped in Newcastle or a through that went straight to Edinburgh, so I went straight through. I don't imagine Jack would have been around anymore anyway.

We have movies here at camp twice a week. Some of them are quite recent, others not so new. There are several large theaters within walking distance of camp thought so we do get to see pictures before they are too old.  Then about once a month we have a Red Cross leg show. They're not bad at all. Most of the talent being American.

The weather here is about the same as we'd have at home in late April or May. Its really swell, warm and sort of lazy. The people here tell us that  it never gets too hot in mid summer. Probably about 80 degrees. I don't know if we'll be here that long, but it sure would be a change from the lst summer I spent in N.C. and Tenn.

Yes, I am salting away a little of the little I make. I have 12.50 deducted every month for bonds and also have a ten buck class E allotment. I don't think that tend buck allotment will save me much though cause I sent home for more that I have saved. I expect to make out another allotment soon.

I don't think our G2 gets too much film for development because of the shortage of film both here and at home. It's impossible to get film her and a lot of boys that sent home for it never got it. My film is being developed right now and I'll send you a few snaps as soon as I get them.

It's getting pretty late now so I'd better be signing off. Good luck, Joe, and write again soon.

Paul



To learn more about V-MAIL click the wikipedia link below:

V-Mail