Amanuensis Monday - Letters Home from William Robert Blades February 1941

Here is the fourth in a series of letters I am transcribing which my Dad wrote home to his parents during his first ten years in the military.

Part One  http://bladeshandy.blogspot.com/2010/10/amanuenis-monday-letters-home-william.html
Part Two  http://bladeshandy.blogspot.com/2010/11/amanuensis-monday-letters-home-by.html
Part Three  http://bladeshandy.blogspot.com/2010/11/amanuensis-monday-letters-home-by_08.html

February 1, 1941
U.S.S. Livermore (429)
N.Y.C. N.Y.

Dear Mom and Dad:

Getting along good, having a good time. We just got through having our ship’s magnet d mines tested in Yorktown, VA today, tomorrow we are going to Portsmouth, VA to have one of the engines overhauled and will probably stay there for a couple of weeks. Then we go to the Plantation Flats in the Chesapeake Bay for a test run. We are in the command of the Atlantic Fleet and latest news is that we will have Northern Shore Patrol along the N.C. Coastal waters so that means that I will be home quite often, unless they are ordered to go to Cuba. We don’t have to do any washing, we have a laundry and I pay a dollar a month and have all the clothes I want washed. If we go to Cuba I won’t be home until March sometime. We painted the whole outside of the ship last Thursday and Friday. I had to buy 2 sets of working clothes and they cost me $2.80 for both of them. I had to buy two locks for my lockers and I had my dress blues tailored. We might get paid Monday and then again we might not get paid until the 15th of February. If you have sent mail and I haven’t got it because we have been moving around so much every day and the post office in Norfolk burned down so it might have been in the fire. All we do for work is swab decks, shine brass and have liberty. I have only gone ashore 4 times since I have been on the ship. I went everywhere when we were in Washington, D.C. The Capitol, Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, the Agricultural Building, the Smithsonian Institute of Natural History. We past the Mount Vernon home going up the Potomac River and coming back down. I’ve seen the President’s private yacht, the Potomac. It is a beautiful yacht you can see anywhere. I am enclosing some pamphlets I got in the buildings. Well I guess I’ll hit the hay.

Love “Bill”

P.S. Write back soon.

 
 
February 11, 1941
U.S.S. Livermore (429)
N.Y.C. N.Y.

Dear Mom and Dad:

Still going along good and strong. We are leaving Norfolk tomorrow morning and going out in the Chesapeake Bay to test the ships magnetic mines. We will stay out in the bay and come back to Norfolk Saturday to get paid. Monday or Tuesday we are going to Charleston, S.C. and don’t know why we are going there or when we leave there. Word is going around that we will go to Bath, Maine for the final acceptance run. In case they do, give me Carl Maine’s address. An air mail stamp will get to me in a day and it costs 6 cents. I can go from Norfolk to Boston by train for $8.50 round trip. So if we are laid up in Norfolk for 10 days or so I will be home. I would have been home this week if we got paid sooner. We have movies every night that it is possible, that’s where I’m going when I get through with this letter. I’m on a sick list for two days I had a slight fever and a cough so the doctor told me not to work for a couple of days. Well I guess I’ll go to the movies. Give my regards to Hank, Lorraine and the other folks.

Love “Bill”





February 17, 1941
U.S.S. Livermore (429)
N.Y.C. N.Y.

Dear Mom and Dad:

Getting along good so far. I received a letter from Lorraine today and was glad to hear from her and the folks. She said Grammie and Uncle Will looked pretty bad. If anything should happen write right away and I can get 4 or 5 days leave to go home. I got paid today and I drew $12.00 and left $3.00 on the books so in case of any emergency I have the money on the books and I can get leave much easier. The next pay day I have $3.00 that they owe me so I can leave as much money on the books as I want to. I will try to draw as little money as possible in case anything does happen. If I haven’t the money I can always borrow it. The picture at the top of this letter is exactly how the ship looks. We are leaving from South Carolina Wednesday afternoon and I don’t know how long we will be there. I heard yesterday that it will be the home port of the ship, here’s hoping that it isn’t. One of the mess cooks comes from Ohio and he worked for the Consolidated Biscuit Co. and he know some of the fellas that I know that came to Boston to run the factory up on Baker Street. I know a fellow on the ship that knows Mildred and Sandy from Gloucester. It isn’t such a big world after you start traveling around a bit. Today two fellows and I had to go up on the mast and paint it, and boy it is high. I was made a fuse setter on a gun and I have to set the fuse in the shells to go off at a certain amount of seconds. We have gun drills every other day in the morning and the afternoon jus for a couple of hours. This is a big Navy Yard there is 23,000 men working day and night and do thy make a racket riveting at night. In case anything happens, when you send the letter, send it special delivery so I will have time to put in for a leave. When you write the letters address them to Charleston, S.C. and it won’t have to go the New York. Well I think I will go to see the movies in the Marine Barracks so I will close and write again soon.

Lots of Love “Bill”

P.S. Give my regards to the folks, and the kids.





February 24, 1941
U.S.S. Livermore (429)
N.Y.C. N.Y.

Dear Mom and Dad:

Getting along good, weather is fine. Received your letter and was glad to hear from you. We are leaving for Brunswick, Georgia tomorrow morning for our final test runs and we will be back Saturday the first. We will stay here until the 5th and we will leave but nobody knows where we are going. We just got through painting the entire ship today and boy does it look nice. I received my course book for 1st Class Seaman today so I have plenty of time to study between now and September. I will be eligible to go up for my exam in September. I put a six cent stamp on letters because they go by air mail and they get delivered quicker. There isn’t much to write about so I will write again when we come back from Georgia. It sure is beautiful in South Carolina.

Lots of Love “Bill”

Wordless Wednesday - The Last Shades of Fall

Tombstone Tuesday - Stanley CH Blades and Lorraine Blades, his wife

They are buried at Greenwood Cemetery in Orlando, Florida



photo provided by Meradith McGee-Hale
 from www.findagrave.com





Stanley C H Blades
23 Sep 1921 - 28 Sep 1997
photo provided by Meradith McGee-Hale

from http://www.findagrave.com/



Lorraine A. Blades
29 Apr 1924 - 9 Mar 2002
photo provided by Meradith McGee-Hale

from www.findagrave.com



Amanuensis Monday - Letters Home by William Robert Blades January 1941



William Blades is the first row, next to last
person, standing next to the flag holder.  The short one.


Here is the third in a series of letters I am transcribing which my Dad wrote home to his parents during his first ten years in the military.









U.S.N.T.S.
Newport, R.I.
January 5, 1941
Company 79

Dear Mom and Dad:

Sorry I haven’t written sooner but I had to find out the fare home. I have had a sore throat for 4 days and it has just started to go away today. I am coming by bus and train - it costs $1.50 round trip from here to Providence. From Providence to Boston it costs 1 cent a mile and that will come to about $1.00 round trip and if I leave here at 12:00 noon I’ll get home about 2:30 p.m. so it will be quicker and cheaper. All we did last week was have lectures and we went ashore 4 days. Next week we will have gas chamber drill, and on Friday we will have our final bag inspection and Saturday morning we get paid and we had a company picture taken and it came out good. Well will see you Saturday.

Love “Bill”


U.S.N.T.S.
Newport, R.I.
Sea Unit
January 21, 1941

Dear Mom and Dad:

Got back alright and slept in the “Y” and checked in at the station in the morning. My name is on the draft list for the U.S.S. Wasp and I am leaving tomorrow at 1:00 pm by train for Norfolk, Virginia. The Wasp is going to Cuba as soon as they pick us up. It will take us about 20 hours to get there Virginia and we travel first class. I will write again and tell you how to address the letters. It has been 5 above down here for the past week and plenty windy too. Tell dad to get the transfers for the car and to let me know how he made out. I can’t wait to get down to Cuba. Let Hank and Lorraine know how I made out. Well I’ll write again from Cuba.

Love “Bill”

U.S.S. Livermore

January 25, 1941

Dear Mom and Dad:

We boarded our ship today at 10:00 am and was I glad. It is a brand new destroyer about 4 months old. We left Norfolk, VA right away for Dahlgren, VA and we are anchored there now. We will be in Washington, D.C. tomorrow afternoon about 1:00 PM and we will shove off for Norfolk, VA again Monday afternoon. From there we will go either to Boston or Cuba, if we go to Cuba I won’t be home until May or June. I thought I’d be sea sick but I didn’t fell the least bit. We sleep in bunks and we have two lockers apiece. The chow’s twice as good on ship then on the training station. I’m glad in a way that I didn’t go on the Wasp because there is 3,000 men on it and on my ship there is 180 men and you have a chance of quicker advancement. I will write again soon.

Love “Bill”


P.S. This is the address

Wm R Blades
USS Livermore (429)
C/O Postmaster
New York City, NY
Division (1)

429 is the No. of the ship

Funeral Card Friday - Benjamin Lesley Spangler



Benjamin L. Spangler - picture from

The Roanoke Times - December 2, 1996



Wedding Wednesday - Ethel C. Davis and Henry Philip Benedix

Ethel C Davis married Henry Philip Benedix in 1921 according to the 1930 Census for them.  Ethel was 17 years old and Henry was 21.  Ehtel is my Grand Aunt, she was born December 1904 in New Hampshire and Henry was born December 1899 in New Hampshire.  They are sitting in the front row.  We are not sure who is standing behind them, but we think they might be Ethel's sister and maybe best man. 

Ethel C Davis' parents were, Frank C. Davis and Georgia Ann Nichols.  Henry's parents were Edward Benedix and Fannie.  They lived in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire and Lawrence County, Massachusetts.  They went on to have three children, Harold Benedix, Ethel Benedix and Raymond Benedix.

If you can identify them, please email me and let me know.

Unknown Photos



I have added the following pictures to the Unknown Photos tab.
If you know who the are, please let me know. Thanks.

Becky

Mary Beth 1952

Tommy 8 years old

Tombstone Tuesday - Euell B Handy and Nannie L. Howell Handy

This is the tombstone for my Grand Uncle Euell B. Handy and his first wife, Nannie L. Howell Handy.  Euell was born May 12, 1889 and died Jan 7, 1988.  Euell's parents were John William "Will" Handy and Nancy Anne Belcher.  He is buried with his first wife, Nannie L. Howell Handy.  She was born October 20, 1894 and died July 19, 1929.  Her parents were Everet L. Howell and Judah L.  Euell and Nannie are buried at the Belcher Hall Howell Pendleton Underwood Cemetery in Vesta, Patrick County, Virginia.

Amanuensis Monday - Letters Home by William Robert Blades

Here is the second in the series of letters my Dad wrote home to his parents during his first ten years in the military.

December 4, 1940


U.S. N.T.S.
Newport, RI
Company 79


Dear Mom and Dad:

I have been going from 5:30 am to 9:30 pm. Monday we had a blood test and today we were vaccinated and had shots for Typhoid we will have 3 shots, 1 every seven days in detention. After 3 weeks of detention we have a leave Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon within Newport. You can come down any Sunday you want, you can bring any amount of visitors you want. I will be out in six weeks so that means I will be home after New Year’s about Jan. 14th. I’ve seen Bob and we had a good talk together. We move to “D” Barracks Saturday, that’s were Bob is staying. We wash clothes every night and drill in the day with 9 pound rifles.

Love “Bill”


P.S. Try to get down some Sunday



December 8, 1940

U.S.N.T.S.
Newport, R.I.
Company 79


Dear Mom and Dad:

Getting along swell. We moved from “C” Barracks over to “D” Barracks Saturday morning, these are all new Barracks with modern bunks and other devices. We move from here in 2 weeks over to “B” Barracks for 2 more weeks there. If you can get somebody to come down on a Sunday it is alright we can have visitors any time even week days. When I go home if you can have Slim or Stella come and pick me up it would be cheaper because the rates have gone up and I won’t have much money and if you haven’t enough money you can’t go home and they make you buy a round trip ticket unless they know you are being picked up.

We had chicken for dinner and I met Bob at the lunch counter and I am meeting him at 3 o’clock this afternoon. We had a fire drill at 3:30 a.m. this morning and went back to bed again and got back up at 5:30. We can do anything we want Saturday and Sunday afternoons. I will get out Saturday January 10th to go home. Please send some money. I have been broke for a week and I have no cigarettes and I won’t get paid for 2 more weeks. We have a radio in our Barracks and ping pong tables, pool tables, bowling allies. Every day we wear leggings, belts and bayonets. The weather is swell down here no snow no rain. I got Class A in swimming.

Love “Bill”


December 12, 1940


U.S.N.T.S.
Newport, R.I.
Company 79


Dear Mom and Dad:

Received the money and stamps and thanks a lot. We got our shots yesterday and most of us were sick today. They make your head ache and your arm is stiff for 3 days. I just got back from a three mile hike. I have got 12 handkerchiefs. For Christmas I could use a shaving kit, a wrist watch, a fountain pen, cigarettes, and a small wallet that will fit in my pocket. We have one week more in detention and then we get liberty on Sat and Sun. We drill 6 hours a day and we have a lecture every day. We are going to eat chow now, will write soon.

Lots of Love “Bill”

P.S. I took out life insurance the other day for $3,000.



December 19, 1940

U.S.N.T.S.
Newport, R.I.
Company 79

Dear Mom and Dad:

Getting along good the weather is very good. We got our Dress uniform fitted and our dress hats fitted today so we might be out in 5 weeks. You can send any kind of fruits cookies and candy you want. I need the whole shaving kit. Bob has to come back the 23rd of December. Yesterday we took a test for a trade school but I didn’t make it, I didn’t pass in math. I got 82 in General Classifications, 86 in Mechanical Aptitude, 35 in Math, 80 in English, 96 in Spelling. It does not make any difference where you go to a trade school or not.

I recovered from the last shot good and tomorrow we go out of detention and Saturday we go ashore. Write and let me know when you are coming down. Bring a camera and some film when you come down. We got our guard post today, I am the Officer-of-the-Days Messenger and I am inside all the time so I struck it lucky. They are taking in Recruits around 400 a week. Well I have to go eat chow now, give my regards to all.

Love “Bill”