Drafted
On October 10, 1942, Ted received his “Order to Report for Induction”. He was ordered to report to the courthouse in Westerly, Rhode Island, on October 23, 1942, at 6:45 am.
He and the other draftees boarded a bus that took them to Fort Devins in Ayer, MA.
At Fort Devins, they were welcomed into military service.
10/24/1942
Sat.
Dear Helen
I’m starting this now but don’t know how much I’ll be able to write or when
We’re up at 4 o’clock after turning in about 12 Fri night. We’re now waiting for orders. I hope they are to go to breakfast. I’m sure kind of sleepy. (the army is wonderful, bah!) My arm feels as if someone ran into it with a bulldozer instead of just a needle. They say the first couple of days are the toughest – not much rest.
Some of the boys have only been here 2 or 3 days and some have been here 4 weeks. If you want to take a chance on my being here & write the address will be
PVT _________
Co. E R.R.C
Fort Devins, Ayer Mass
I suppose by the time you get this you will have been working a day or two. I hope you will like it. I like my new job!
We stopped on the way up and had hot dogs and coffee which went pretty well. We ate lunch about 1:30 here and supper about six thirty. I’m still burping – we had hamburg fried with onions.
Well I’ll sign off for now and probably get a chance to mail this on the way somewhere around this tremendous estate where they march you up one street and down the other – just for the fun of it I guess.
So far we have had 3 aptitude tests, vaccination on the left arm, inoculation on the right, saw a movie and were then issued our bed clothes. I was thirsty and sneaked out of line to get a coke and had to go without a pillow as a result and had just 3 comforters instead of sheets and blankets.
So long again. I’ll write more the next time I get a chance to sit down.
Love Ted
On November 7th Ted wrote home again:
Sat. Night
Dearest Helen,
Here it is Saturday night – all dressed up and nowhere to go.
We were issued our uniforms today. Were classified according to the work we are best suited for supposedly, and saw a couple of movies on army life and heard the articles of war. We packed our civilian clothes in a paper bag as you will find in a few days and sent them home. We then had chow and back to barracks. I shaved and took a shower and feel pretty good now except my dogs are sort of tired after pushing those army shoes around all afternoon.
We sure got a slew of clothes. I’ll see if I can tell you some of them – 2 pr dress socks, 2 pr work socks, 2 tan gabardine (sic) trousers and shirts, 2 fatigue trousers and jumpers, 2 dress trousers, 2 dress shirts, and 1 blouse, 1 overcoat, 1 Raincoat, 1 hat of each 3 kinds of material 2 pr shoes, 2 tan ties, 4 handkerchiefs and a shaving kit a knife, fork, spoon, Canteen and plate like you have and a cup or at least that’s what it looks as if it might be.
I started this letter Sat. night but everyone started talking about restrictions being lifted and I thought I might go over to the canteen and get some cigarettes but no luck.
We waited around until they blew lights out and then we turned in . I had a swell nights sleep. Got up this morning at 6:30 had chow and went to church at 8:30. We are still restricted to barracks and waiting for announcement of names who will be shipped out Mon.
My arm feels pretty good today but has been quite sore since our inoculation Fri. night. Those first two days sure are tough.
Geo. Geaber, Freeman Healy and Ernie Martin are all in my barracks so it makes it sort of nice. We are sticking together as much as possible
I thought that I might call you Sat. night but I didn’t get out as I said before.
We saw Red Murney, Joe Davis and Fred Salzer yesterday afternoon. That was the only ones I had seen so far whom I knew except for a colored fellow from Wakefield.
I don’t know whether I’ll be shipped with some of the fellows from Wakefield as I understand limited service men go separately.
If you go down to Wakefield Wed. tell the folks everything is going fine.
On my classification blank the classifier put down skilled storekeeper. I don’t know what the results will be.
So long for now honey – it looks as if something might be cooking.
I do miss you and if I’m here next weekend I’ll be eligible for a pass and I’ll come home. Write as soon as you can and if I’m still here I’ll get it OK. Let me know where you will be next Sunday just in case. Take my address from the outside of the envelope.
I sure was proud of you honey when you didn’t boo hoo too much last Friday. We’re all soldiers now I guess so keep your chin up.
Lots of love & write
xx Ted
Excuse writing – I’m lying down in my bunk and can’t write very well
love again
And the final letter from Fort Devins on November 9th: Shipping out – Don’t write until you hear from me.
Will write when I can.
Love Ted
They boarded a train and, not knowing where they were going, they headed out.
On November 11, Mom got a telegram:
A few days later Mom received a long letter postmarked Miami Beach Florida.
11/09/1942
Monday 7:35 PM
Dearest Helen,
I suppose you will get a flock of letters all at once but nevertheless you will know I’m thinking about you.
This morning before I called you I sent a quick letter just saying I was shipping out as I went down to have my barracks bag inspected for shipping. I didn’t know then that we weren’t shipping out until 2:45.
We pulled out of Devins about 4:30. Destination unknown of course. We have been riding now about 3 hours and still don’t know where we’re going. We do know that we are in the Air Corp and have been told that we are lucky to have been chosen for that branch of the service.
Everett Barber, Freeman Healy and Ernie are all in cars hooked to the same engine as I am but I don’t know whether we are all going to the same place or not.
We just had chow. It was cooked in the train here. In paper plates. We had spinach baked potatoes, bread and butter and something like spiced ham, Ice Cream, cookies + coffee. It didn’t taste as good as it sounds though.
You should see me – I’m sitting on one seat with my feet on the other. It’s so warm in here I just have my trousers on and one of the heavy winter underwear tops that they issued us. I had that under my shirt as it was quite cold at Devins this morning at 4 o’clock.
What a screwy place that is. If they ship us to Kalamazoo I don’t care so long as it isn’t there.
This letter will probably be a long account of the trip as we can’t mail any letters until we reach our destination. We might be there in ten minutes though for all we know and maybe not ten days.
Everyone is peeking out the windows but we can’t find out where we are.
We just found out we’re in Troy, New York. It doesn’t seem as if we have been traveling very fast but I guess we have traveled quite a ways. We have been here now about ten minutes. I don’t know what the hold up is.
Next place we recognized is Scranton Pa.
After Scranton the lights went out and my partner and I made a bunk by taking the seats apart. What a night. I slept pretty good considering. I woke up about 5 o’clock Tues morning and some one said we’re in Philadelphia. We can’t recognize any landmarks though.
Breakfast – scrambled eggs with bacon mixed in, bread butter an apple, grapefruit juice + coffee.
I just saw a sign that says “Delaware Park” so I guess that’s where we are.
I hope you can read this.
The train sways quite a bit and its hard to write. Perhaps you can take a map and follow our route. It seems like a roundabout one to me.
In the last two or three hours we have been through Harve – De – Gras, Aberdeen Md. and now we’re stopped in Baltimore MD
The Corporal has just assigned guards for all night to-night and all day tomorrow. It looks as if we’re in for a long ride.
Washington – we stopped at the station for a while and were surprised to be able to get some candy and cigarettes but no soap. Cigarettes that’s all. We saw as we passed by the Capitol dome Washington monument and Lincoln memorial. It sure looks crummy from where we can see it – that is the houses and the streets.
Next Alexandria and Quantico where the Marines train. Now we’re in Richmond Va stopped to grease our wheels I guess. Oh yes we came thru Fredericks burgh too. We saw a big pyramid of stones. I wonder if that is where that famous battle was fought in the civil war.
We had lunch and I took a nap. I don’t think I missed anything as all we can see are colored people and a few white people. The houses are all dilapidated and falling down. The people are very poor I guess. We see cotton fields with a few people picking. All the wagons are drawn by mules.
We just had supper and ran into a thunderstorm. It is pretty dark and dismal outside so I guess we won’t recognize much of anything now until tomorrow. (Wed)
It’s getting hot down here so I have taken off my heavy underwear top and put on a fatigue jacket. Every once in a while a train goes whizzing by. It scares you for a minute.
We have “G” men in here with the regular officers
The last stop before we turned in that we recognized was Florence, South Carolina. Someone woke me up about 3 AM and said we had just passed Savannah Georgia. We got up about six and by that time we were in Jacksonville Fla. We had breakfast. Scrambled eggs with bacon coffee ham and an apple. It is now 7:35 AM and just getting light. This is Wed. You can sleep. We were up about six and Lord only knows what time we will get to bed.
It is now 1 o’clock. We haven’t passed any place of any importance since Jacksonville. There are a lot of small stations like Peace Dale, Wakefield etc. This country is terribly monotonous and is now quite warm. All you see is white pine trees, a few palms mixed in and once in a while an orange grove. There are plenty of blacks though.
Wherever the ground is bare the sand is so white it looks like snow.
I won’t write anymore now unless something unusual happens. I’ll send this as soon as I get my new address
Write as soon as possible as I’m anxious to hear from you.
Here we are in Miami. We arrived about 3 o’clock and its now 8:15 and we have just gotten in our rooms. We still have to go somewhere and get some bedding. We haven’t gotten our address yet. When I do I’ll send it along.
We have just found out that our address may be anything for two or three days so the officer said don’t put any return address on our mail until we find out.
I sent a telegram Wed nite when we arrived. I am sending this Thurs if I get a chance to mail it.
So long for now and lots of love.
Ted
PS We are living in a hotel. I’ll tell you all about it later.