Archive for the ‘Letters Home’ Category
On December 25, 1944, Carroll Sammetinger began his Christmas postcard to his parents, “Am Safe, A Prisoner of War in Germany; do not worry.” Thousands of Americans were captured during the Battle of the Bulge and ended up spending Christmas 1944, as prisoners of war. Lieutenant Carroll Sammetinger, from Lima, Ohio, served with the 46th Armored Infantry Battalion, 5th Armored Division. He was captured December 20, 1944, and was sent first to Stalag XIB and then to Oflag 79, where he stayed until being liberated on April 12, 1945.
In Sammetinger’s journal, he wrote about his experiences, about foods he wants to remember (ice cream with Baby Ruth bars!) and recorded addresses of fellow POWs. Sammetinger’s collection—which includes his handwritten diary, numerous telegrams and letters, two hand-carved cigarette boxes, and German insignia gathered as souvenirs—is one of many treasured collections received by The National WWII Museum in 2016.
Thank you to Sammetinger’s daughter, Sara Hammond, for sharing these pieces with the Museum and the world. They are powerful reminders of the separation, distance, and uncertainty experienced by many Americans during World War II.
Post by Assistant Director for Curatorial Services Kimberly Guise.
This blog post is one in a series on a recent tour to the Ardennes which gave Museum volunteers and staff an in-depth look into the scenes of the Battle of the Bulge, Hitler’s last desperate attempt to stop the Allied drive in western Europe in the cold winter months of December 1944 and January 1945.
During the tour, we visited two of the American cemeteries maintained by the American Battle Monuments Commission, which became the final resting place for thousands of American combatants who lost their lives in the Battle of the Bulge. One of the largest and costliest battles the US Army would fight, the Battle of the Bulge resulted in 67,000 American casualties.
At Luxembourg American Cemetery, we visited the grave of General George Patton, laid a wreath in the chapel to honor all of those buried there, and paid tribute to one particular serviceman, Wendell Wiley Wolfenbarger, known to us previously only through the material held in the Museum’s archives. Wolfenbarger was a husband, father, and postal employee from Neosho, Missouri.
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- Photo courtesy Alan Raphael
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- Photo courtesy Alan Raphael
On January 1, 1945 Wendell wrote to his wife, “I still can’t say where I am , but I guess that as long as I’m not in the good old United States it doesn’t make any difference…I nearly cried when you told me about Wylene waking up & crying for me, but it can’t be helped. Try to make her understand that it’ll be sometime before I can be there.”
Three days later, on January 4, 1945, Wendell wrote;
“I wonder how everything is going down at the post office? Does Archie ever say anything about it? Man alive, how I wish I were back there. I would work 24 hours per day, Sundays included and not say a word about it, no use bitching about it though, I’m here and that’s all there is to it.
Are you & the kids all right? I really do miss you all more and more. Everytime I look at your pictures I get more homesick. But at the same time I realize why we’re here and know the job musr be done. All my love to you & the kids. Darling, keep praying. Love, Wiley”
Wolfenbarger was killed in action on January 18, 1945 near Berle, Luxembourg. He served with the 26th Infantry Division. He left behind a wife, Ruby and two small children. The collection was donated to the Museum in 2012 in Memory of Ruby May Barlow Wolfenbarger.
For more information about the tours offered by the Museum, see The National WWII Museum Tours.Stay tuned for more in the series on the April tour of Museum staff and volunteers to the Ardennes region.
Post by Curator Kimberly Guise.
This morning we were visited by artifact donors from Texas who made the trip to New Orleans to share material with the Museum. We sat and went through the collection together, looking over the service material from Albert Dean Bryant from Midland, Texas. Bryant served with the 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron of the 7th Armored Division. Seventy years prior to his daughter’s visit, on 11 September 1944, Bryant wrote a letter home to his family. He describes the weariness and restlessness of battle, “There are things that happen over here which takes complete control over your mind…”
He writes of running remaining Germans out of French towns and the liberation of those towns: The aftermath was something which almost made the danger & unpleasant things we had to endure worth it—People by the hundreds standing in the streets with hands upraised & shouting & laughing & crying with appreciation for being liberated—Bottles of wine and champagne (which would cost $20.00 in the US) were freely given to us as we went through the streets (bottles which had dirt & dust on them to show they had been buried or hidden for years from the greedy Boche).
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- Albert Dean Bryant
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- Bryant's daughter, Judy, and Curator Kim Guise
Gift in Memory of Albert Dean Bryant, 2014
A little over one month later, on 27 October 1944, Bryant was captured and would spend the remainder of the war as a POW of the Germans.
Interested in learning more about donating artifacts to the Museum? See our information on how to Donate an Artifact.
Post by Curator Kimberly Guise.
70 years ago today, John H. Thornton wrote from New Caledonia to his sweetheart, Miss Nell Fagan in East Point, Georgia. He gently provides some very useful information to Miss Fagan regarding the composition of his eagerly-awaited Christmas package. Servicemen being scattered across the globe during WWII and the need to send packages months in advance is sometimes cited as the origin of the early Christmas shopping season.
Gift of M.A. Thornton, 2009.531.018
Thornton writes on page 2 of his letter:
“Darling, about the candy you want to send me, I would like very much to have some but I’m afraid it would ruin getting here, worms get in most of the candy that’s sent out—they were in several pieces of that you sent for my birthday so I’d hate to see things like that ruin. I hate to say don’t send it, because you might think I don’t appreciate what you are trying to do. I appreciate it more than you can ever imagine also think you are very thoughtful and it make me proud to know that a girl like you loves me. I think it’s best not to send the candy but I still want to thank you.”
Post by Curator Kimberly Guise
May 23, 1944
Dear Mom & Dad,
I have some spare time so I will drop you a line. I haven’t gotten any mail for the last three days. I don’t know what the hold up is. But I’ll get a letter to-morrow I hope.
I have been out all day. I didn’t do much but I’ve completed another day. The days seem so long and lonesome. I guess it is because I am always thinking of the good old U.S. I know how good the states looked to Dad after the last war. The American flag means a whole lot to me. I am glad that when I do come home I can say I have a share in it. That is more than some people can say. I hope my son doesn’t ever have to go through what I have and will go through. I am going to have a son when I come back home. That’s what I am fighting for. It may be a girl but I’ll think as much of a Daughter as I would a son.
I have been a Pfc. for more than a year now. But there are no openings so there isn’t much use of hoping to make a rating. But I’ll be satisfied if I can do my Job.
Well I’ll have to say “cherries.” I guess Dad knows what that means. Good nite and God Bless all of you.
Lots of Love & Kisses
Your Son
Darrel “Happy’ Neil was killed in action on July 7, 1944, in France. Read his story and others at www.mymemorialday.org.
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- A civilian photo of Darrel "Happy" Neil
In a world where we take instant communication for granted, it’s hard to imagine what those stationed at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 and their families went through to get in touch with one another in the aftermath of that terrible day.
Below Corporal Henry G. Rieth details in a letter to his family back in Boston the lengths he has gone to in the days after the attack in order to let them know he is safe. A subsequent letter vaguely touches on the after effects of the surprise attack including injured friends, heightened security and the loss of his possessions. Most importantly, he stresses that they should not worry about him and hopes that his absence will not spoil the upcoming Christmas holiday. Scroll down for full transcriptions.
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