Sharing living
quarters with scores of total strangers, with little chance for
privacy,
let alone peace and quiet, was the biggest adjustment any civilian
faced after entering the military. Here are stories about being
willing to be part of a group effort to fight a war, to prepare
yourself for even greater sacrifices ahead. |
Detail
from Servicemen playing cards on board ship; 10th Mountain Division,
1945.
Photo by Robert
Lee Olen (page 58) |
{ ONE MAN'S
STORY }
IRVING OBLAS |
Irving Oblas never left the States during World
War II, but his voluminous correspondence with his wife offers
invaluable descriptions of daily life in the Navy. In August
1945, on his way to California to be shipped out to Japan,
Oblas mailed his wife a postcard from every stop his troop
train made. He made it to San Francisco in time for V-J Day
and served out his hitch decommissioning ships in the port
of Bremerton, Washington. |
 Learn
more about Irving Oblas (pages 61,
68, 87, 96, 97-99, 102-105)
 Jump
to other stories featured in Chapter Two
* Page numbers refer to the pages in Voices
of War on which the veteran appears. |
|
“The
barracks are not home sweet home, but a place for rest from
exhaustion.”
– Ben
Snyder
|
|
 |
"When
I wrote you about getting married five days after I come
home..."
Denton
W. Crocker's story
(pages 67, 72-74,
75, 88, 100-101)
|
 |
"...I'm
wondering if you will find me changed..."
Ben
M. Snyder's story
( pages 62, 75-76, 91, 92,
95, 97)
|
 |
"Together
we could have done lots more than we ever did singly."
Malcolm
Harvey Stilson's story
(pages 63, 68, 71, 91)
|
 |
"Above
all, I prayed that I would live to make you happy."
Tracy
A. Sugarman's story
(pages 76, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84,
85) |
|
"There
were 'Dear Jane' as well as 'Dear John' letters."
Marie
Brand Voltzke's story
(pages 62, 78, 100)
|
|
|
|
{ ADDITIONAL FEATURED STORIES }
Rep.
Joe Baca (page 100)
James
Phillip Baross
(pages 64,
66-67, 68, 90, 94)
Samuel Boylston (page 70)
John Butler (pages 68-69)
John Walter Earle (pages 93-94)
John
Enman (pages 64-65,
97)
Mary
Sheldon Gill (pages
60, 74, 88-89) |
Kevin Roy Lee (page
69)
Jeanne Urbin Markle (pages 73, 79)
Helen Minor (pages 67, 95, 96)
Robert Lee Olen (page 58)
Joanne
Palella (pages 65-66, 90,
99)
Vincent
Cornelius Reed (pages 65, 72)
Charles Rosario Restifo (page 62)
Sidney
Algernon Riches, Sr. (page 62) |
Arnold M. Robbins (pages
76-77)
Donald Spencer
(pages 72-73, 77-78, 87)
Paul Alexander Steppe, Jr. (pages 72)
Frederick Clarence Stilson
(pages 63-64, 73, 78, 90, 94,
99)
William
(Bill) E.
Vicars (page 66)
John Caspar Wister (pages
86, 87-88) |
|
|
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Library of Congress
Veterans History Project
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