Donald V. Tappan

The 87th Division staged at Camp Kilmer, at Stelton (now Edison), New Jersey, on 10 October 1944 – placing this around Sept 15, 1944 based on letter

[Unclear Date – United States Army stationary – with mention of school – possibly written to Carver Grandparents]
Friday Night
Hello,

I got about half an hour so this can’t be very long. We have just finished scrubbing the barracks and getting everything cleaned up for inspection tomorrow.

I got the letter you sent out on Wednesday this evening. I also got a letter from the Mongomerys today. They sure are great folks. They said that they had the Lilly Creek ministry read my letter to the church. I suppose it was alright but it wasn’t a very fancy letter. Most of what they had to say was news about happenings that likely you know. I was glad to hear that Bob has taken up football and that Richard is helping him out a little.

They sent me the first news I have had about the Lilly Creek preacher, but I don’t quite get the whole story on him yet.

It seems to me I have heard of the new teacher but I just can’t place her now. No doubt I have seen her. It sounds like you’ll be able to get things straightened out and running in good order.

Down here we’ve been doing the usual kind of thing. It does seem that it may not be very long before we’ll move out of here. We took a physical examination today and they are packing up equipment all the time. Things like this don’t happen all at once though so we may be here for 3 or 4 more weeks.

I don’t have much news and maybe I’ll have time to write a decent letter Sunday. I sure hope so anyway. Good luck and God bless you.

Love,
Donald

There were two letters, datelined “Wednesday” and “Thursday” in an airmail envelope from his parents. The “Wednesday” one says “see how fast a letter” gets here, so presumably it is referring to the envelope that he must have included with the letters. The postmark resembles “MAY 27”. The letter references an ear infection that he apparently had in late May (based on letters not yet scanned) and “Radio School” that seems to have been May/June

May 24 and 25, 1944 (probably)
Wed
Dear Folks,
Well we fired our rifles for record today and I qualified as a marksman and would have been a sharpshooter with 2 more points. Several of the fellows made sharpshooter and expert but also several did worse than I did. Considering my experience with guns and my eyesight I am going to be satisfied.

I am sending some money for you to keep or spend for me. If Richard needs any money use it that way. Otherwise spend it on bonds or a watch.

My rifle is to clean so Goodnight
Love,
Donald
See how quick an airmail letter gets there

Thursday Evening
Hello Folks,
I had hoped to have plenty of time to write tonight but as usual by the time I got everything done time slipped away.

I got a package rounded up to send to you this evening. It is mostly stuff that I had been intending to send for a long time. Just like you find it when it comes to moving, anything that I can’t use or don’t need I might as well get rid of it. I’ll try to explain some of the stuff. 

The pants are “X” pants that I got when I was working in the supply room. They are getting so strict on extra stuff that I’d better send them home than have them taken away from me. If Richard can wear them go ahead if not I’ll be able to use them sometime.  The towels were all right till I got face towels but since I don’t even use the face towels except for inspections you might as well be using them. The handkerchief is one that’s not GI that I got back from the laundry – hope someone can use it.

I have a G.I. razor & shaving brush and so might as well use them. For sentimental reasons maybe you could keep my razor and brush for me. 

The books & glasses don’t need any explanation. If someone can use those frames, go right ahead. I kept the pictures I want to keep & you can keep the rest better than I can.

I thought you might be interested in my birthday cards. Dispose of everything in that bunch except Margaret’s announcements.

You can do whatever you wish with the toilet article apron. The apron served fine but the case I had when on furlough serves so much better and so much easier to take care of. The biggest trouble with the apron was that I was always losing things from it.

Today at radio school we learned about panel work. This is signaling to airplanes by stretching cloth panels on the ground.

I thought of something I’d like you to send me. That is 2 or 3 pr of light wool sox. We have to wear them now that our feet sweat in the hot weather. The g.i. Ones are like cotton ones only they are just a little heavier. They can be either (preferred) od., white or gray. If you can’t find anything like this some of those cotton sox (in these colors) like we used to get for work. I believe they were called Rockford Sox and had red heels. I think these would pass for gi if they were the right color. The advantage of having them look like issue sox is that I can salvage them if they do. Don’t forget the cigar box.

I was on KP till about 10:30 last night so I’m really tired now. It’s time for lights out anyway so good nite.

Love,
Donald

I’m sorry this had to be such a poor excuse for a letter. My ear has been behaving so nicely that I’m about out of the mood for fooling with the clinic anymore. I’ll try to do better about a letter on Sunday.

Sunday April 30, 1944
Hello Family,

Well I finally succeeded in getting what you have been asking for. The close-up picture of me isn’t so clear but the other one will pass. Even the expression in the larger picture is silly so I won’t care a bit if you just chuck it into the fire.

I had these taken a couple weeks ago but I didn’t know when I could get them so I didn’t dare say anything about it. Since you must have a permit to take pictures here on the post there are hardly any cameras here. The fellow who took these got his permit just a little while before we went out on the range. He is in the same squad as I am and I jumped at the chance to get him to take my picture. He went on an emergency furlough last night but when he gets back I’m going to try to get hold of the negatives.

We got back from the range about noon yesterday. We didn’t have such a bad time (except for wet weather) but, of course, we were glad to get back. 

On Thursday I went through the mental conditioning course both during the day and at night. This is the course where you crawl on the ground under barbed wire obstacles etc. while they shoot live machine gun bullets over your head. Then on Friday we did a little firing with the M1 rifle and finished with the BAR.

I got quite a shock this evening when I realized what Friday is. I hadn’t forgotten about it and I had thought of Ben’s birthday but it hadn’t occurred to me that mine was so soon.

April is all but over. I wonder if you got my KBF medal sent to Marion. It had slipped my mind for the last couple of weeks. If you haven’t sent it, take a chance at it now.

I got up early this morning and did a big washing and got it hung up to dry just a little before time to go to church. I went to church and then came back and mended some sox before dinner. I haven’t got as much resting done as I would have liked but maybe I can go to bed early tonight.

Lots of Love,
Donald

8PM
I just woke up from a nap so I feel like writing a little more even though I don’t have anything special to say. In a letter I got a day or so ago, Richard wondered how the details were handed out. Well they are supposed to be given out by just taking each name as it comes on the roster. I think the details are passed around fairly but the trouble a week or so back was that after the old men had gone there were only the few of us new men to take the details. Now there have been several come into the company from the air corps and more are coming  in all the time so even though I’ll still get them maybe details won’t come quite so often.

I wonder who you had for a preacher today and what Dady will do now that school is out. Wish I could have seen Ben.
Donald

April 20, 1944

Hello Folks,

I’ll start this at noon and maybe get a little written. I had all intentions of writing last night but the lights went out just as I was ready to start so no writing was done. I mended a pair of leggings, sweden the last acorn, worked a little on my rifle, took a shower and the evening was gone before I realized it.

On Tuesday night when I was on guard the company had a night problem so they got yesterday morning off and then we didn’t work too hard in the afternoon. All in all it was a pretty easy day.

When I was on guard I walked two hours during the day and two two hour shifts at night. That wasn’t such a long day but just the strain of the job makes it hard. I was really worn out when the 24 hours were over.

NIght:
Well I got wreckless tonight but I feel a good bit better. Just as soon as chow was over I went to the PX and got a hair-cut then I went over to the movie. I just felt like getting away from  things a little and I saw a pretty good show so maybe the entertainment value of it was enough to keep the time from being wasted.

This morning we had dry firing again and this afternoon we had classes in range procedures which were of course old stuff to me. Tomorrow we do more dry firing and then Saturday after the inspection we go out on the range. I suppose the next time you hear from me it will be from there. We start firing on Sunday so I may be pretty busy next week. 

I’ve been having an awful time getting writing done lately so I suppose I’ll get further behind next week. I finally got letters written to Janette and Mr. Rayment the other day while I was on guard. You can just about guess what a time I had writing both of these.

I’ve got to quit because the lights are going out. Hope everything is OK back there.
Love,
Donald

April 19, 1944
Wed. Noon
Hello Folks,

Perhaps I can get this started before we have to fall out again, I hope. I wanted to write last night but we had so many extra weapons to clean that it was time to go to bed before I got anything else done.

It has been a pretty wet week so that makes it all the harder to keep the guns clean. It is raining some now so I suppose it will be damp this afternoon.

Yesterday and this morning we fired the BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle). We fired part of our record fire with it this morning and we will finish either this afternoon or tomorrow. I’m pretty sure that I’ll be able to qualify with it but don’t know how good a score I will have.

The other day when we finished firing the carbine I wound up with a score that qualified me as a sharpshooter. That seems to be about my standing with most weapons. – Well that’s enough of that.

I was sure glad to get that roll of papers the other day. I don’t know how you are still getting the Baptist paper since you aren’t attending Lilly Creek but I sure like to get it. Even when you send both kinds of S.S. papers the Young Peoples’ are about all I get to read in my limited time. Of course, I always read them first and that might partly explain it. 

Mother wanted to know if May 1 was something special because of what I said about my clothes. I said that I traded a pair of khaki pants for some that would fit me on May 1. You must understand that we call our summer uniforms khakis and our winter one O.D.’s. The significance of May 1 is that we are changing to our summer uniforms on that day.

If Mary thinks that she might want to go to college I say go right ahead and take a college entrance course. With a little planning it should be worked out so that she wouldn’t have to load up much heavier than she already is. The only question in my mind is about a foreign language but since they are not so strict on this any more she might even be able to substitute her home ec. for this. Even if she later decides not to go to school there will be no harm done that I can see. This is only my opinion of course.

I am not prepared as yet to even express myself on Richard’s problem about college. By the way, I wonder how he likes chemistry by this time.

I didn’t get all this written at noon but some place back there I started again this evening. We didn’t finish the BAR but fired a little more with the carbine this afternoon.

Hope you are coming along OK.
Love
Donald

April 16, 1944 (and April 17th)
Sunday Afternoon
Dear Family,

You’ll likely get this letter at the same time as the one I sent yesterday but who cares. I feel a little homesick today and would like to have received a letter from you so the next best thing I guess is to write a letter myself.

I don’t feel quite as disgusted or discouraged or whatever it is now as I did last night. If we can work it as well tonight and get through as soon as we have from the other two meals maybe I won’t feel too badly about today. I guess there is some advantage in having a detail again so close to the last time. You sort of get to know the job and find quicker ways of doing it. I find that there is even a system to sweeping under a mess hall table. 

I got off this morning at about 9:00am and so I got to go to church. I enjoyed it but it was sure a job to keep my eyes open. Then after I got off at about 2:00 I laid down and took a nice nap. I just woke up and although I don’t know what time it is I imagine that they will be calling for supper before too long. I suppose it will be about 8:00 when we get out of there tonight. 

This is possibly a very dull letter to you but like everyone else I soon run out of anything to say.

We do about the same things all the time and if I tell you about it once I hate to tell about it again.

We had our regular inspection yesterday and in the afternoon we played softball to get exercise. We played M company and got beat but we had some fun anyway.

At the inspection yesterday the captain asked us if all our khaki’s fit us so that we will be able to wear them on May 1st. Yesterday evening one of the sergeants took a load of us over to the quartermaster depot and I exchanged a pair of khaki pants for one that will fit me. 

Do you ever write or hear from Ben? It has been quite a while since I heard from him.

It is a pretty nice day today and if it is any ways near as nice at home, I’ll bet that Richard and Jim went for a walk down at Lilly Creek. It is wistful thinking but it sure would be good to do something like that again.

I hope you are all O.K. I’ll not put this letter in an envelope yet and maybe I’ll think of something else to say when I get off tonight.

Loads of Love,
Donald

Monday (April 17th)
Hello again,
I didn’t get this sent out yesterday so I’ll try to write a little more now. I got off pretty easy yesterday evening but I just messed around and didn’t get writing.

We spent most of today dry firing but we did dry firing with the carbine and automatic rifle and I didn’t mind it so much. I have fired the M1 rifle and dry firing with it isn’t so interesting but when I can learn something I don’t mind it so much.

Well I have got another detail for tomorrow. I’ve got guard duty. I’ll go on tomorrow morning and be on for 24 hours then get the next morning off. I’ll tell you more about it later.

I got your letter this evening that you had written Saturday. Hope to hear again soon.
Love,
Donald

April 15, 1944
Saturday Eve.
Dear Folks,

I can’t decide whether I ought to be a little disgusted or not tonight. I find that I am on table waiter again tomorrow and that means that it won’t be much of a Sunday to me. I just hope that I can be off to go to church. I don’t understand why a certain few of us are drawing details so often but maybe it will be someone else’s turn before long.

I thought I might get on the bus and go to town tonight or go to a movie or something but this took all the wind out of my sails. Now I guess I’ll just sew “an acorn” on a couple of shirts, read a little and try to get a little extra sleep. I still say “This is a great life, if you don’t weaken.”

I got your letter tonight that contained the letter from the 7th grade. This shows how well I remember things. I had forgotten about Mr. Tappan having only one grade and addressed my letter to the 6th and 7th grades. I don’t know who wrote it but I got a great kick out of hearing about Blackie. It reminded me of old times which Richard will remember too. I wonder if the teacher realized that he gave away the fact that he proofread the letter  when he wrote a little 3 above the 37 pupils. (I got quite a chuckle out of how easy it was to tell his characteristic way of writing such a simple thing as that.)

Well I’ll sign off and maybe write a little more tomorrow. Hope all is well with you.
Donald