Letter # 26: January 9, 1946.
9 January 19461Camp Pickett, VA
Dear Family:
I haven't had time until now to write even though they did bring us right out to the camp when we got to Blackstone.2 We were an hour late at Louisville but the train waited for me. We were just as late into Cincinnati but the second section waited, so I didn't get in a Pullman car, but slept in a day coach.
There are fellows here from quite a few different camps, but I have seen only 5 fellows from my company at Fannin. I met the boy from Chelsea, Iowa that was on the same orders with me when I first left home for AST. He trained with a tank destroyer unit at Camp Hood, Texas, and went to active duty about 3 months before I did.3
Last night we checked in, got our travel pay, were assigned to units for our stay here, and had a quick physical exam.
Today we are having a check of all our clothing, with a lot of new
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equipment being issued for old clothing that we had.
1 Camp Pickett is today Fort Pickett and home of the Virginia National Guard. It was founded in 1941; by 1943 there were over 1400 buildings including 1,000 enlisted men's barracks, 70 officer's quarters, 12 chapels, and a population of 60,000.
2 Blackstone, Virginia, which is about 50 miles SW of Richmond, is the nearest town to Camp Pickett, where Stewart was waiting to be shipped to Germany when he wrote this letter. Stewart's last letter (#25- see my blog post for September 3, 2020) was written from Camp Fannin in Tyler, Texas, where he was in Basic Training.. Between Sept. 3, 1945 and January 9, 1946, a great deal happened in our family. Dad returned to the states from France, and came home to Minneapolis in September, 1945 for a couple of weeks. He was then sent to Fort Sam Houston, Texas, for a short time and then to Camp Chaffee, Arkansas. Mother and I almost joined him there, but at the last minute he was transferred to Camp Breckenridge, Kentucky, and we left Minneapolis to be with him there, settling eventually into a room in the Methodist Parsonage in Morganfield, KY. Stewart completed his Basic Training in December and was able to join us there in Morganfield for Christmas. The war had ended in August, 1945, so he is now on his way to Germany to be part of the Army of Occupation. He had probably gotten a train in Evansville, Indiana - the nearest large city to Morganfield, KY. This was, by the way, a very chaotic time in my life: e.g., I attended two different schools during the few months we were in Kentucky, and I spent several weeks in the army hospital at Camp Breckenridge on suspicion that I had rheumatic fever.
3 This is Raymond Flynn, whom Stewart mentions in Letter #18 (see blog post for Dec. 5, 2019).
Last night I also raised my bond allotment from 7.50 to 18.75, and made a Class "E" allotment of twenty dollars a month to be sent directly to F and M Bank in Minneapolis.4 Perhaps you had better write them and find out if they will need the passbook to record the deposits. Both the new bond allotment and the voluntary allotment will begin on March 1. We will stay here from 48 hours to one week.
I am feeling fine and sleeping well, especially since we have sheets to sleep between.
P.S. I will have to send some stuff home such as civilian shoes, etc. Don't send the radio until I get overseas because it might be broken in a duffle bag.
Your loving son,
Stewart
4 In Letter #7 (cf. blog post June 30, 2019), Stewart mentions opening a savings account in the Farmers and Mechanics Bank of Minneapolis. It sounds like he has been saving on a regular basis and buying Series "E" U.S. War Bonds.
5 I wonder if Stewart got a little radio for Christmas!
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