Somewhere in the South Pacific
September 20, 1944
Dear Mom,
Sorry you haven't been hearing from me here lately, but I swear I just don't have time to write. They don't even know what it is to give a guy a little sleep here. They've been getting the best of me, that's for sure. Don't worry because there is nothing going to happen to me, and if there was, you would find it out. My head hasn't bothered me for over a week now.
Listen Mom, I don't care if Louise writes to me or not. I heard that something is wrong with her, and if there is, I wouldn't want her to write because she might blame it on me.
How does Ruth like school this year? Jewell wrote and said that she didn't want to go to school anymore, but you should make her finish high school. I was the dumbest one in the whole family because I didn't finish high school.
I got a letter from Audrey Riffle today, and she said that Paul and her other brother were in Pearl Harbor. I guess Joe Commuzie is there, too.
Mom, I don't have any more time, so I will close for now. Don't worry. I'll write every chance I get.....
I got five letters from you today and one from Jewell. I was surprised to get 5 from you, but I guess that is because I wasn't here yesterday to get your mail.
Yes, I was sure glad to get on land again. I did not get seasick.
We had it pretty tough yesterday and today. It rained all day today and I was in it all day. Don't worry about my head. It has quit hurting me. I guess I just had a cold in my head.
I guess they were glad to see Jerry. He hasn't been home for about 2 years, has he? I guess all the boys are home on furlough. . I'd give anything if I could be home when Junior Stout comes. Tell him I said hello.
No Mom, you were wrong about that. You had better look it up and try again. Just keep trying and maybe you will find it.
That man is awful good about letting Dad use his car all the time. Seems like you all do a good bit of running around any more.
It took about 5 days for your last letter to get here.
Don't worry about me if you don't hear from me for 5 or 6 days pretty soon because I just won't be able to write. No, Mom, I can't tell you what I'm doing or nothing.
.......
I'd like to send you a Jap souvenir but don't think they'd let me. I've seen a lot of souvenirs here.
I guess all the girls will be married and have kids by the time I get back. Ava has got about 3, doesn't she?
No Mom, they don't censor your mail coming it, but they sure censor my mail going out.
No, you didn't tell me about Bernard's baby dying. I didn't even know he had another one since the twins.
I guess Aunt Lucy does worry a lot. Three months is a long time not to hear from George.
Louise sent me 12 stamps. I don't know why she done that. I told her to tell you to send me some. Anyway, I don't need any because I can get stamps here now.
I"m feeling pretty good except my head hurts just about all the time. I think I've got sinus trouble.
No, Mom, I can't tell you where I am, but I'd like to. Maybe I will have a lot to tell you when I get home. Sure wish I was back home now helping you all eat that corn that you're getting out of the garden.
There is about 16 hours difference between your time and where I am. The natives here are funny looking. I saw one fellow yesterday who had some Jap's teeth. I guess they helped the Americans fight when the Japs were on this island. I haven't seen any women, though.
I don't need anything. I've got a little money, but we can't buy nothing but cigarettes and candy and little things like that. Cigarettes are 50 cents a carton.
....
When I came in tonight about 10:00,there were 3 letters laying on my sack, one from you, one from Betty and one from Louise. It makes a guy feel awful good to get a letter over here. I sat up and read your letters by candle light. I guess Ruth sure hates to see school start again.
Every time you write you say Dad is going on a long trip, so it sounds like he is making good money now.
Don't send me anymore stamps because I can get them now. And I don't need a fountain pen, but if you want to send me one you can. No, Mom, don't send it -- I just happened to think -- I saw some at the PX the other day, and I'll buy me one there. But, if you can find a small fruit cake, I'd be glad to get it. Don't send a big one, though.
Mom, I wish I could send you some cigs. We can get all we want for 50 cents a carton, but they won't let us send them.
I'm sorry you haven't been hearing from me, but I don't know why you haven't gotten my letters. It's been taking 8 or 9 days for mail to get here. Don't worry if you don't hear from me. Those Japs can't catch me -- their legs are too short. ha ha
I guess it's getting cooler there at home. I don't guess I'll see any winter months this year.
This is the first time I've had a chance to write for 4 or 5 days, but Mom, I'll write every chance I get. I had hoped to send you some money but I got fined $25 a month. Well, I didn't exactly get fined, but they are taking $25 from me every month, but I will get it back when I leave the service.
If you don't hear from me from 7 or 8 days, don't you worry, because I expect it will be that long before I have a chance to write, if not longer.
....
Somewhere in the S. Pacific
8/30/44
Received another letter from you this evening. It makes me feel good to get mail here. I should have told you to keep writing because they always send mail to us wherever we go.
My head is bothering me again. I just came back from sick bay, and they put something up my nose.
No, I didn't get seasick, but a lot of the boys did. I think a lot of us was sick because we were leaving the states.
You said the phone bill was 27 bucks the month I called you. It must have cost more than 7 bucks for that call.
Jewell wrote me and said that Dugie has made 26 missions. I think they send most of the boys back to the states after they make 50 missions.
July 29, 1944
I called you, but you and Dad weren't home. I hate that, but it can't be helped. I'll send you 10 dollars to pay for the call. It shouldn't be over 5 bucks, but I'll send 10. I've got 14 bucks now, and that will do me. I don't think I will be here much longer. Jewell said you'd probably call me back, but it costs so much, you don't have to. I just wish you or Dad had been home.
8/28/1944
Hello Mom,
I finally got your letter. I've been expecting one and finally got it. It took 9 days to get here. I thought you would have already got my new address. I filled out a card before I left the states, and they were supposed to send it to you.
I haven't heard from Louise for a while. A certain person wrote and told she was going to have a baby. If she is, it sure don't belong to me.
There are lots of coconut and banana trees here.
It took us 16 days to get here. It was tough. I didn't think we'd ever get here. As soon as I got here, I grabbed me some coconuts, and they were pretty good.
That was awful about Charles Williams getting killed. I guess there are a lot of boys that we know getting killed.
I am writing this by a candle.
Mom, send me some air mail stamps because my letters will get to you quicker if I send them air mail. I'll just keeping sending them free until I get some stamps from you. We're supposed to get paid on the 5th, but money's not much good here, so I will send it to you.
We're not allowed to write about much of nothing around here, so I may as well close for now.
....
7/30/1944
California
Was awful glad to hear your voice last night. Sorry that I got you out of bed, but it was only 11 o'clock here. I guess it was about 2:00 there, wasn't it? I think there is about 3 hours difference between our time and your time.
I waited at the phone from 9:00 until 11:00, and me another boy was talking and I told him my mother was supposed to call between 9 and 10, and he asked me from where, and I told him W.Va., and he told me there was 3 hours difference in the time.
I don't think we will be here more than 1 or 2 days, but don't you worry about me because I've always got along. I think it will be 6-8 months before I see any combat. I've got a hell of a lot more training to do yet.
I am sending you 10 bucks by money order. I don't expect it will pay for both calls, but maybe they won't cost much over that. The first call was 3.75 plus tax for three minutes, and I don't think Jewell and I talked over 3 minutes, but I guess you and I talked about 5 minutes, so it will be a little more. I wish Dad had been there. I sure would have liked to talk to him.
Keep your chin up and don't worry about Pedue, because he'll be back. It might take a little while, but he'll be back.
.......
I finally am here in California. I guess you thought I had died or something. I guess Betty told you about me coming here. I had a good time coming here. It took us from Sunday evening to Friday night. We stopped in a lot of places to eat on the way here. We stopped in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and all the other states we passed through. A couple of us boys slipped across the street in New Mexico and got us a shot of whiskey.
This camp here is in bad shape. It hasn't been used in a long time. They sent us here to straighten it up. I don't know how long I will be here, but it will be a long time before I have to do any fighting because we have a lot of training to do yet. The captain said it would be 6 or 8 months before we see any action. Some of the boys were talking about something they read in the paper that said Hitler's men were turning against him, so maybe this war won't last very long after all.
Mom, they wouldn't let us mail any letters 3 or 4 days before we left North Carolina. I guess it was because they didn't want anyone to know when our train was coming.
We can't get any air mail stamps here yet, so I guess I will have to mail it free, and that means it will take 6-7 days to get there. I will try to get some air mail stamps and will write as often as I can.
Tell Betty I'm glad she called me. I was scared at first. I thought something had happened at home. How much did it cost her? Tell her the reason I didn't want to talk much was that I knew there would be a big telephone bill if we talked very long, and I expect it was pretty high anyway. And tell her that I did say goodbye to her before we hung up.
If I am still here the 5th or 6th of next month,I will call you up. I think it costs about $3 for 3 minutes.
I'm supposed to be off mess duty tomorrow but don't know whether I will or not. I hope I do so I can go on liberty early tomorrow evening.
Mom, they claim they have stopped our mail in and going out, but I'm going to mail this letter anyway, or else I will put it in the post office. They might censor it and let it go.
I would have told you about me shipping out, but I thought you would worry a lot, and I don't want that, because you know I always get along. I don't want you to worry about those Japs getting hold of me.
There isn't any use to take care of those clothes because I can get some more if I need them.
The war news has been looking good here lately. Maybe the war won't last so long after all.
We got three shots today, two on the shoulder and one down on the arm where they take blood. It made me so sick. I couldn't see anything, and they took me out in the shade, and I vomited up everything I had eaten today. I felt better after I vomited, and I went back in and got one more shot. We have 4 more to take.
I got a letter from Betty and she said she and Jewell both have off the 4th, so I guess you'll have all your kids home together, except me. Since this war started, I guess there aren't any mothers who have all their boys at home. I hope all of us will be back one of these days.
I've been working on my pack for about 2 hours. I put everything in it, and my tent with the blanket roll is on the outside. It is pretty heavy.
I'm not afraid to go overseas. When Hitler sees a Chapman coming, he will give up right then! haha
We had it tough this morning. We had to crawl 150 yards on our stomachs with a full pack and rifle. Bullets were going over our heads and there were explosions in the dirt. One boy got shot through the shoulder yesterday. We had to crawl under wire for about 50 yards, then roll over some logs. We knew to keep low because if we got hit by one of those bullets, that would be it. A few of the boys passed out after we got to the end. They got through the last string of barb wire, then got up and started to walk out to the road, and they just fell over. One was a big husky guy that probably weighed over 200 lbs. You know 150 yards is a long way to crawl on your stomach, especially with machine gun bullets going over your head. If a guy even raised his ass up any at all, he would get it blown off. They had dynamite or something exploding right in front of us, and the dirt would almost cover you up. It was kind of fun to go through something like that.
Mom, I'm sending a few of my clothes home that I don't need, and some of them are real dirty. You can wash them, and if Dad or Roy can use any of them to work in, let them use them.
And Mom, I think I'm going to move Saturday or Sunday, so there is no use writing until next week. I don't know exactly where I'm going yet, but I will let you know when I get there.
We bought a big watermelon and a couple of the boys and I sat up last night and ate it. It cost $1.25, and it sure tasted good. There are about 11 of us in this little hut. I don't know if I told you or not, but we stay in little huts now.
No Mom, they don't punish us by making us walk 22 miles. It is good for us.
I got all my hair cut off again.
.....
Well, I'm up here at Tent City now. Got up here about 1:00 yesterday. Boy, that was a long walk. It was 22 miles. I was pretty tired when I got here, but I still went out on liberty. When we got up to Jacksonville, we bought 3 quarts of wine. That's about all you can get to drink here. Then, we all went to the VSO and sitting out there drinking and singing. We had drunk one of the quarts and opened another one, and an MP came out and broke the bottle. He let us keep our other bottle and told us to get out of there. So, we went a little further down the road and drank the other bottle. Then, we went to the carnival and had a pretty good time.
I don't know exactly what I am going to do here. From what I've heard, I may get to come home this month.
We fired for record on the B.A.R. Friday before we left the range. I scored 210, and 175 was expert, so I fired high expert. I was the highest score in our company.
I've got to go wash some clothes now.
Your son,
Pedue
Dear Mom,
I am writing this by candlelight. This place don't have light. In the mess hall, they have coal stoves to cook on.
I guess all of you know by now that I am in California. I can't think of a thing to write about but just wanted you to hear from me to let you know that I'm alright. And Mom, please don't worry about me because you know I'll get along.
I'm going to try to get the mess Sgt. to let me off tomorrow evening to go on liberty. I've heard there are a lot of women here. You can't get anything to drink, though, because you have to be 21.
Dear Jewell (sister),
Yes, I knew I was going to be shipped overseas when I went to Camp LeJeune, but I didn't want to say anything about it. I'm no better than the rest of the boys that are already over there. I just hope that I come back.
I've been thinking about having a large picture made to send to Mom but haven't had much of a chance. I've been broke until yesterday. We got paid 25 bucks, and a boy owed me 5 more, so now I've got 30 bucks. I spent all my money before I left North Carolina, but I had a pretty good time.
It took us about 6 days to get here, but had a pretty good trip. We stopped in just about every state that we came through to eat. I liked New Mexico with all those Spanish girls. There were a lot of pretty girls in Texas, too.
We got here about midnight Friday night, and they got us up at 5:30 a.m. Saturday morning and put me on mess duty. Now I won't have much time off. But, I'm going to talk to the mess Sgt. and see if he will let me off duty today around 3:00 so I can go on liberty. They tell me there are lots of girls here.
