Category: Letters

Wednesday Evening
December 12,1945

Dear Folks,
    Well I seem to be sort of getting into the habit of doing my writing just before time to go to work. Only this is my night off so I won't have to quit before this is finished. I'm just a little late with my writing this week. It was in my mind to do all day yesterday and today but just didn't. In fact, today I've done very little except read. I had a library book started and it just happened to be the first thing that I'd picked up this evening. I finished it just about a half hour ago. I know very well that there'll be several books that I'll have to read at college and I just wish that I could read something now that would give me a good start. I try to select good books but it's just a chance that any of them will be on the list of required reading. I expect that I've read more books in the last four months that I ever read in any two years before. Maybe if nothing else, it'll be a little start toward getting back into the habit of reading when I have to. 
    Well I've received two letters from you since I wrote. The one that had been written on Friday came Monday and your week end letter at noon today. I haven't heard from Richard  yet but it may have been that he was too busy to write on Sunday or maybe his letter could have been tangled up in the Christmas mail. The Tribunes have been coming as regularly as you can expect. Sometime they come in two at once but the important thing is that they do get here.
    I'm glad to hear that Wendell is out now and even a little gladder to hear about his planning to go to college. Perhaps a few fellows who wouldn't otherwise have gone on to school otherwise will take advantage of the chance and do so now. 
    It's not going to be very long before Christmas will be here. I'd sure like to spend it at home. It's going to be at least as hard to miss it this time as it was the other years. I can't see any other way around it though so we might as well make the best of an unpleasant situation. One of the fellows has a radio in the barracks and you know how you begin to hear a lot about Christmas now. Boy it almost got under my skin this time.
    Well I see that I've complained a lot but it may help a little to get it off my chest. God bless you.    Donald

There is a second, empty, envelope with the same postmark date (also scanned) which is presumably the one he mentions with respect to the sergeant stripes. The uniform shirt he mentions is probably this one, so those would be the stripes on it.

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Tuesday Evening
8:30 PM.

Hello Folks,
    Whether this letter gets finished tonight depends on how much I find to talk about as I proceed and how lazy I get. Things are running along as usual so there's no real news and therefore very little to chat about.
    I've looked over your letter of last Friday and find out that you asked about what to do with the big check from the railroad. I suppose it amounts to all of about seventy cents. Cash it yourselves. If you haven't already spent that much on something for me, I'm sure you will. If nothing else, it'll help pay for fixing the glasses. I bought it for Richard  to use but since he didn't, I guess that I'm seventy cents better off than I expected.
    The results of the Frankton basketball game sounded good. How did big Jim do in that? I take it that he played some or he wouldn't have been sore over it. 
    Well I ran out sooner than I thought I would so I'll finish up sometime tomorrow.
    Before I close though I do want to make just one comment on this pen. I actually didn't realize what a good pen I owned. When it had the other point, I always dreaded to try to use it. But now it sure works beautifully. Thinking of something to say is another matter, but the actual writing is almost fun. I know that in time the newness will wear off and maybe it'll be less of a plaything. But even then I'll be proud of it.

Dec 4,1945
  6:30 PM
    I see that I made one pretty bad mistake last night. I dated it Tuesday when it was actually Monday. I guess at the time I was actually thinking that it was Tuesday.
    Anyway today is or was Tuesday and it has been my day off. I went to Trenton this afternoon mostly for the purpose of buying what I am enclosing two pair of in this envelope. That's the only pair of khaki stripes I got. I don't wear khaki shirts as outer garments now so I don't have to have stripes on the shirts I have here. But I did want them on the shirt that I am keeping just as a uniform. So sometime when you want to you can put them on the shirt that has the decorations on it instead of the others. Neither pair of stripes are trimmed very neatly but I'm sure you can fix that.
    I also had an afternoon to spend with nothing in particular to do so while I was in town I saw a movie. That makes something to do but actually I very seldom see one that I think is really worth the time.
    I expect that if I'd start another page I'd have a lot of space that I wouldn't know what to do with so - 
So long,
     Donald.

I see two pair of stripes will make this pretty heavy so I'll send one in another envelope. They should get there at the same time.

Saturday Night

Dear Folks,
    Well I haven't done very well on writing this week but there's just not been a whole lot to write about. I'm working tonight and what is worse I'll be working tomorrow. If there's one day that I do hate to work on it's Sunday. And that in itself isn't bad enough I've got to change shifts right now and make this a short night. I've got a cold now too and don't feel just tip-top. So I'll be ready to rest when tomorrow night gets here. If it weren't for such complicated circumstances I wouldn't be trying to write this between times when I'm working. But I may not be much in the mood for it tomorrow night so I'd better do it while I can. Thank goodness I already have my letter for this week written to Richard . I got the application blank filled out and sent a little letter along in the same envelope. I felt sort of out of practice filling out things like that but I know that I should get back into the swing of it.
    Well how have things been going this week? I suppose the sickness at school has begun to quiet down a little by this time.
    Did I tell you that I got my new G.I. glasses the other day? Perhaps I already told you so, overlook my forgetfulness if I did. Outside of that I can't think of anything that has happened to me that would make news.
    I you didn't get any more snow, I'm sure that what you had is all gone long before this. We had a half inch or so of snow night before last. But it rained a good shower yesterday so there's hardly any snow at all now. The temperature has been pretty cool too. I suppose there must have been about an eighth of an inch of ice on the puddles this morning. The sun came out though and it's all to freeze over again tonight.
    Well perhaps I'll find a couple minutes that I'll want to spend tomorrow on finishing up this page.
   Goodnight.
 
 Noon Sunday,
      Well all in all I feel better today than I did last night. My cold seems to have broken a little and my throat isn't near so sore. This is a beautiful sunny day too and that always helps the spirits. I did have to miss church this morning but not from choice. I hope things are OK with you at present. I'll be seeing you.
      Donald

Promoted to Technical Sergeant (skipping Staff Sergeant)

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Tuesday Night

Hello Folks,
    I didn't actually think that I'd write this soon and maybe I wouldn't if I didn't have something special to tell you. And since I am writing so soon after being home I may get lazy and not write till the weekend.
   Well here goes the surprise. You didn't know you had a Tec Sgt (Technical) visiting you this last weekend did you? Well I almost knew it but just not for sure so I didn't dare tell you. I couldn't hardly hold myself but I thought it might be best. The first I knew of it was just before I left the office to go on my pass. The lieutenant told me that I was at least going to make staff and maybe tec. The order was coming out that very afternoon but I didn't feel that I could wait for it. If it had come just a little sooner I could have had a little help on my sewing job. That's all to do over again. But I guess it wouldn't be right to complain about it.
    I sure had luck getting back here this evening. The train was late in leaving Indianapolis so ran me close on my time. Instead of leaving at 10:47 it didn't leave until 5 minutes after twelve. I got to Trenton at around five o'clock and came rolling in here with about 15 minutes to spare on the 6 o'clock dead-line. It wouldn't have made too much difference but I'd sort of hate to be late.
    The trip coming back wasn't too bad but it wasn't as enjoyable as the one going the other way. The kind of car you get to ride in makes all the difference in the world. Going home I was in a fairly new car in which you could tilt the seats back to a semi-reclining position. There was no such luxury on this other one but that wouldn't have been so bad if the temperature had been comfortable. During the whole trip there was a steady cold wind blowing on me from around the window. I never saw such poor construction! It was almost enough to give you pneumonia. Then to make things worse, running along the floor next to your feet was a pipe that, I suppose, was for heating the place. It would almost burn right through your shoes and to touch it with your leg was just like getting against a stove. It was like the old saying about being hot on one side and cold on the other. It was all I could do to relax at all last night and I don't believe that I slept any. That's one time that I was glad it wasn't a longer trip.
    There hasn't been enough time elapsed for much news to have happened. So I might as well sign off. I'll have to get ahold of some stripes now before I can send you any to put on the shirt you're fixing for me.
    You can tell whoever you see about this but I doubt if I'll do much writing to the rest of the folks for a few weeks anyway.
    So long and be good.
                   Donald
T/Sgt Donald V. Tappan 35893186

Wednesday Eve.

Dear Folks,
    Well for plenty of reasons this is going to be mighty short. I hope to be seeing you soon and this will likely arrive while I’m home anyway. In fact if it were a fool proof point that I would be home, I wouldn’t even write at all tonight. But, of course, there still might be something happen to prevent it. 
    What I said still holds true though, if I can’t come I’ll let you know. I sure hope that I won’t have to call.
    Things turning out this way make me feel a lot better toward the officer that I work for. I explained to him just how working the night shift on Friday effected me and he changed the schedule to help me out. I believe that if there wasn’t such a strict rule here about no pass being over 3 days long, he would have given me an extra day or so. They consider anything over three days a furlough and you know about how the army feels about giving furloughs.
    Well I want to get a haircut tonight so I’ll be slick for the weekend. So I hope you don’t mind this being so short. 
    I got your Sunday letter at noon today. Be good and I’ll be seeing you.
              Your son and brother,  
                       Donald

1:30 Sunday Afternoon

Dear Family,
    I really hate to begin this letter because I dread to say what’s got to be said. We’ve got to feel that the Lord has a purpose for working things out this way. The thing has happened that I’ve been afraid of and hoping against. My pass has been cut on its length and now I have to decide again whether to come home or not. Instead of working in the daytime of Friday I have to work that night. So the best I could do now would be to catch the 4:44AM train out of Philadelphia. Then it will be 10:50PM Saturday night when I get to Indianapolis and even later when I get home - provided I could catch a bus at all at that time of night. I could make pretty good connections at that time of night by changing in Richmond and going to Elwood. But I still lose too much time going the other way to make it practical.
    So I wonder if a 40 to 45 hour stay would hardly make it practical. I hate to say that I won’t come because it’s hard to tell what may happen in the meantime. But you can see how things are now. Maybe the best way to leave it is just as I did before; unless you hear from me, I’m still coming. If I decide not to try, I’ll call you sometime Friday or Thursday evening. So if you think I’m not deciding in the right direction, it still won’t be too late to change my mind. I’ll still be able to make it.
    If it were some special occasion - Christmas, or the Golden Wedding Anniversary or Easter (which I promised a good while ago to spend at home), I know that I’d come. Perhaps I should even without anything extra, of course, it’s not like my last chance for going home before going overseas or something of that nature. I dare say that before as much time has elapsed as has gone by since I was last home, that I’ll be back for good. I’ll be able to make several trips back and forth from Purdue and spend several Sundays at home with what this one would cost me. If I call, help me to decide, will you?
    We do have so many things to be glad for on this Thanksgiving season that we can’t let any little disappointments of our own make us any less thankful. The Lord has certainly been merciful to us.
    I didn’t tell you why my pass was shortened but it’s because the fellow who does the same job as I do on the other shift went home on an emergency furlough. I have to take over for him Friday night. Since the officer is there in the daytime he can keep an eye on things and keep it going with fellows who haven’t had quite as much experience at it as we have. But one of us almost has to be there at night.
    Well now to change the subject; how’s everything at home? One of your letters said that this last week was to be a kind of a busy one so I’m waiting for word on how everything came out. I’m wondering if you’ve done any more cementing. The weather always makes something to talk about, so how’s that been? I guess the weather here is on the average a little cooler than it was a couple of weeks ago but it’s been pretty nice. Oh it does rain once in a while and the wind blows a good bit but I can’t complain. The sun is shining beautifully today. Of course, the vegetation is too far gone for it to seem like a summer any more but it is a nice day. 
    Let us truly be thankful for our many blessings this Thanksgiving. I’ll still say that “I’ll be seeing you” even though it may not be as soon as we expected. God bless you.
             Your son and brother,  
                   Donald

No envelope or dateline, but he mentions the date in the letter

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Night Shift
Lunch Hour
9:30 PM

Hello Everybody,
    I’ll at least get this started now and with luck may finish it up. I very seldom go to chow when I am working nights anyway so I might as well do this as nothing. 
    Your letter that I received this evening sure made me feel better about planning to come home. I know you would be glad for me to come but until I read this letter I sort of had the feeling that maybe you thought it wouldn’t be wise to try it. I’m just holding my breath now and hoping that nothing comes up to interfere.
    About the schedule you said you were sending. I haven’t received it but I expect it’s just like the one I already have. I know about the possibility of changing in Richmond and getting off at Elwood and also about changing in Columbus, Ohio and getting off in Marion. But either coming or going there’s about a six hour lay over on each of them. As you said yourself it is about an 18 or 20 hour trip and by going straight through to Indianapolis I think I can save time. It’s not quite 15 hrs from Philadelphia to Indianapolis and I can make it both ways without any long delays. And with busses running every two hours I think that will be my best bet.
    Off-hand I don’t remember enough else about the letter to make much conversation except the garage floor. That I was glad to hear.
    Since I mentioned something to Richard  in one of your letters about writing to Daymon, I’ll tell you how it comes out. He referred my letter to F.D. Martin, head of the Chemistry department and I received a couple of pamphlets from him this week. What he sent me were the only copies that he had and he asked me to return them to him. So I felt very pleased with the consideration that I received.
    Well I’ve sort of worn the keen edge off the things I had on my mind so I think that I’ll finish this sometime tomorrow. So long for now.

 9:45 AM Thurs.
    Now to put the finishing touches on this and get it started. You can’t guess why I happen to be up this early this morning. Well, remember when I was home that I said I was going to see to it that the army give me another pair of glasses before I get out. About a month ago I went to see about it and like other things that we’ve experienced I had to get an appointment. The date set was for November 15 and since that’s today, I just returned from filling it. I didn’t get any definite promise when they’ll be ready (they’ll let me know) but I am getting another pair of glasses.
    I wonder if it seems as cold there as it does here today. It doesn’t seem to be freezing but it’s been so mild for a couple of days that you sure feel the difference. There’s a lot of wind too and that always makes it harder to stay warm.
    So long for now and I’ll be seeing you,  
                                       Donald

Monday Evening
November 12,‘45

Dear Folks,
    The letter I received from you this evening put some question in my mind about coming home on my pass. I hope I am doing the right thing. But when it’s up to me to decide I have to decide one way or the other. I’m still holding my breath for fear things will change before then but so far nothing has happened.
    Here’s how the railroad schedule will get me there and back. I’ll leave here Friday evening and get there sometime early Saturday afternoon. Since I’ll be working Tuesday night I’ll have just a little extra time on that end. I think that I’ll be able to leave about the time on Monday evening that I left on my furlough. As I remember it without looking on the time-table, the train leaves Indianapolis around 10:40PM. If it works out that way I’ll have just a little over two days there. Do you think that will make it worthwhile?
    Actually, I expect the biggest reason why I decided to come home now is because of Christmas. As bad as I hate to miss being home, it looks like it’ll take a miracle to get me there. Even if they should get generous and give  us the day off it still won’t help me out. And although I can hope, I still can’t plan on being discharged by that time. So I expect the best thing for us to do about coming home the end of next week is to plan on it but not so hard as to be disappointed if anything happens.
    Forgive me for talking so much on that subject but you can see where my mind is. There’s really not much else for news anyway. I just go to work, do my little part in getting the fellows out of the army, and keep hoping to hear about the points going down to fifty. I went to the movies this afternoon just for something different but that’s hardly important enough to put into a letter. The weather’s been neither very hot, very cold, nor very wet (damp though); so there’s not even any weather news to talk about.
    I hope the usual run of activities are running along at least normally well with you. How is the cemetery work coming by now? I guess there has been a big change in the garage from the time I last saw it. I remember it with great holes in the north end almost as it is in the picture of Dad and I on top.
    Well be good. I hope to be seeing you and I’m sure I’ll be writing.
            So long,  
               Donald

1PM
Sunday Nov. 11

Dear Folks,
    Another week is gone and it's Sunday again. As usual when I’m working nights, I just went to church and that’s all I did get done this morning. So besides church and eating dinner this is the first thing that I’ve done today. I usually wake up around 7:30 and then more or less doze for the next hour or so. But this morning I slept straight through till 9:30. I was really surprised at myself when I looked at my watch. It was really cloudy this morning and I expect just the absence of the sun shining in my eyes accounts for my sleeping over. I said it was cloudy but that’s hardly the word for it. I’d suppose you’d say it’s foggy but it’s not like the fine, smokey fog you usually see. It’s possible to see almost as far as on a clear day but the air’s so full of moisture you get  almost wet as being in the rain. The droplets collect on your glasses just like rain and in fact just after church it did start falling a little as sort of a misty rain.
    Does this seem like Armistice Day to you? I hadn’t heard a word mentioned about it till this morning when the Chaplain talked a little about it. I wonder if it’s caused much enthusiasm that you’ve seen. Do you suppose that in the future it’ll lose a little of the significance that it’s had in the past? I suppose that as long as the American Legion has several World War 1 men in it there'll still be celebrations held but it’s possible that the date will become less important as time goes on. I wonder what date will be celebrated as the end of this war.
    Our church service is always held at eleven o’clock so I thought that I spent the “Armistice Day Hour” about as appropriately as possible. I can’t help thinking where I spent Armistice Day last year. I expect you remember my telling you about our company marching up in a group and attending the celebration in the little English town where we were. It was just such a drizzly, wet day as this , too.
    On Friday - I can’t remember whether it was at noon or in the evening - I received your letter of November 7. I’m glad to hear a report on the turnip crop and gladder yet that they did well. As I remember the potatoes I helped with summer before last didn’t turn out so fancy so a favorable report on these sounds like maybe the fact that I helped wasn’t what spoiled them. I didn’t think the turnips looked very evenly planted when they first started to come up. How did that part of it turn out? They were thicker on the north end weren’t they? Here’s another thing. Jim needn’t give the army all the credit. He had quite a hand in them, too.
    I haven’t really told you any news in this letter but when things go along as usual there’s just none to tell. I’m still expecting to see you in two weeks. Be good and God bless you.
                  Your son and brother,  
                       Donald
P.S. Dad suggested that I try to come home by plane but here’s what I’ve decided. It’ll be expensive enough, at best, for such a short stay so I’d better be satisfied with a train. It’s got to be decided on one way or the other and I hope I’m doing the right thing.

Friday Morning

Dear Principal and All the Rest of My Family,
    I’m showing off my new pencil this morning. And since it came with the compliments of the Principal, I’m addressing this letter to him. The truth of the matter is, I thought all last year of sending him a letter but this is the first time I ever got around to it. Seriously though, thanks a lot and thanks also for all the rest of the box. Somebody has either been thinking about me for quite a while or went to a lot of trouble on the last minute and made all that candy. My favorite is still the divinity. You did go to a lot of trouble and if it had been a smaller box, I’d have appreciated it just the same.
    Well the time sure rolls by doesn’t it. Another week is just about gone and it sure won’t be long before I’ll have been at Ft. Dix two months. That’s just two months closer to getting out but I kinda wish I had some idea when that’ll be.
    What happened at home this week? I don’t know whether the first full week of November holds any excitement or not. The biggest thing that has been in the papers here is the New York City election. I haven’t heard a word about the election at home. I know that the first Tuesday after the first Monday is the proper day but maybe this isn’t the proper year. I hadn’t thought much about it till this brought it to my mind but this time next year, I’ll be of voting age. If I just had a couple of years of college to my credit now I’d feel better about it. I wonder if I should break my neck now trying to catch up with myself or just forget it and let things go along as near normal as possible.
    I went to Trenton yesterday afternoon, mostly, as I said before, to see about train schedules. I also had a new strap put on my watch (the old one pulled in two the other day) and then because I had nothing better to do saw a movie. I still feel exactly like I always did about going to town. I don’t mind it a bit if I’ve got something to do and can go do it and get it over with. But I don’t get any thrill at all out of merely being in town to spend time.
    We sure can’t complain about the weather so far for November. It’s been a little cool sometimes and has rained once, I believe, but on the whole it’s been exceptionally nice. The sky is just a little bit overcast today and I thought that it might turn out to be pretty cloudy. But I see the sun is breaking through now enough to make shadows so it may be pretty nice after all.
    It wouldn’t surprise me a bit to get a letter from you at noon today and if I would wait till then to finish this letter no doubt I could make it a little longer. But I think I’ll sign off and get this started. I’ll need something to write about the next time anyway. Be good and good luck.
           Your son and brother,  
                          Donald