I picked up some soldiers mail following a local G.I. to 3 or 4 locations..i thought they were all Red Hook postmarks..but i was pleased to see this one from the Annandale-on-Hudson,(Bard College) post office. I remember Sid Delanoy as an older man..i was only one year old when he went into the army. When i knew of him he had a small sawmill !
When i first hear of young Sidney the future sawyer he is in the peace time army a la "From Here to Eternity". Apparently he is not much for writing home as his Mom and school chums ask him to remember this one or that one !
Moving on from protecting the U.S./Canadian border at Madison Barracks..he is now at Fort Devens Massachusetts. I feel like a bit of a voyeur reading these letters as the Delanoys and their kin with various surnames are very much a part of the local community,but hey one of them put these letters out as is when they were emptying the house for sale!
Ok, so now its a few months later April 1942 and our young troop finds himself at Camp Blanding Florida ..i have not checked its location yet..this letter also shows the address as A.P.O.# 1 ..i don't know if its a mistake ?
Right now i have nothing to fill in the time between April 1942 and January 1945..Was he overseas ? So he is in the nations and looks like he may be in the military police !
Heres the end of my tale for the time being..i may be able to get more letters to fill in at the next stamp club meeting. So this letter is from the soldiers mom in Red Hook to his wife(MRs.H.S.Delanoy). It appears he married his hometown sweetheart who signed her letters since 1940 as Edna, Edna Louise and finally Louise !!
I have read your posts with great interest and am berating myself for not doing something similar. I have about 400 items from a family who lived in this town (now all gone), and much of it is military mail. (And much of it is letters w/o covers....) But I'm buried in other things and not even able to get to it. This is a fine example of proper postal history. Huzzah!
Roger, Thank You ! Hearing nothing i thought perhaps i did something wrong..as a youngster i remember finding a shoe box of "love letters" in my aunts closet from her future husband. I never knew he was that romantic...i wonder if their kids scrapped them? Everyone is not as sentimental as we stamp collectors !!
Hi Phil,
Thanks for sharing the story as it stands. I love following the story behind the covers. It would be great to know where he served overseas during the war wouldn't it.
Phil, I love following a soldier. I have several lengthy sets of covers, one from a guy starting turn of last century through the late 20s, seeing time in many places, both belligerent and not; and one similar to yours, obtained from the late Mary Jane Campbell, folllowing peace time soldier stationed mostly in the states through the war until his assignment, late in the war, to the Philippines.
it amazes me that we both knew Mary Jame Campbell from Norfolk Va. My brother lived in Virginia Beach and he took me over to meet her. Brad M. brought in the box of soldiers letters..i only took a dozen so there are plenty left in the box..might well fill in the missing couple of years...but i think i am done with it !!
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