While rummaging through the dusty box of photographs that had remained in storage for 70 years, I came upon one photo that looked to be a picture of a hand-written letter. Soon I came across another similar item, complete with a small, manila sleeve with an oval-shaped window and a stamped postmark.
Victory Mail, or V-Mail, was devised by Eastman Kodak during World War Two as an improved means of mail communication. It was purported to be faster and it was less expensive than ordinary airmail. It’s most important contribution was that, as an avalanche of mail passed across the oceans with the deployment of millions of US troops, it saved large amounts of vital space on aircraft.
The system went like this: A one-page letter would be hand-written onto a special sheet of V-Mail stationary. Once it passed the censor, the letter was photographed with about 1,600 others onto a roll of microfilm. Instead of bags upon bags of paper letters, these greatly condensed rolls of microfilm were flown to the United States, where the letters were developed into small photographs and mailed to the appropriate locations.
The V-Mail letter which follows was written by Capt. Everett Bailey, commander of L Company, 86th Mountain Infantry. The content of this letter clearly illustrates the necessity of an intuitive reading of World War Two letters in the face of censorship, not only through government policy, but also through the author’s desire to shape the perceptions of loved ones back home. Taken alone and at face value, the letter loses much of what can be seen in it when it is placed within the context of further research.
The 10th Mountain Division had just conducted its first major offensive operation. Company L had been heavily engaged around Monte Belvedere and Monte Della Torraccia, and had suffered over thirty percent casualties between February 20-26, 1945. Despite the losses, the first phase of Operation Encore was a success, and the letter was sent during the short reprieve before the second phase of the operation began.
Atop Monte Della Torraccia, the mountain troops endured a series of German counterattacks that petered out into several days of sporadic artillery and mortar barrages. They had dropped all of their gear before the attack, and without blankets the men suffered in their foxholes during the frigid nights. Horton Durfee and Everett Bailey shared a foxhole, pressing close to share body heat under a blanket that Durfee had taken from a dead German. Rations were not delivered for several days, and the men scavenged for food in the packs of slain enemy troops. Decades later, Jack Hay recalled with tears in his eyes watching a young man retrieve a blood-soaked loaf of bread from a dead German, cutting the bloody parts off with his knife, and eating the rest. Of this time period, Bob Krear recalled that,
We had little or no water for washing. We found no ponds or streams. The only water we saw was what was brought up to us in five-gallon cans on the back of a mule, mainly to fill our canteens. We got the dirtiest we had ever been in our lives. At least I did! My hands got so filthy that the skin broke out in little pustules that got infected, and my face was so dirty that I looked like a member of a darker race. Ernie Pyle’s portrayal of the filthy “dog face” infantryman was no exaggeration!
Rations and other supplies were finally brought up by mule, as well as some V-Mail stationary. Everett took the opportunity to write this letter to his wife, Doris.
My dearest Lovely,
For the past week I have been waiting to return to an area where I can write long mushy love letters to you, however today some V Mail stationary came up so you will get this “Fore Hole” vanity only for the time being.
You have of course read of the old 10th Mountain by now. I am still untouched and am enjoying the beautiful sunsets God ironically treats me to every night.
It has been rough, but my boys have done a grand job, probably the best of any. I can’t ask for more.
Your letters reach me regularly and mean more than either rations or sleep. What a wonderful wife you are my love, and how I wish I could be dancing with you instead of relinquishing you to those USO commandos.
Please don’t try to imagine what my life is like. It really isn’t bad. Remember comfort and security are merely a matter of relativity.
Your package has not arrived yet, but surely will be welcome. The sentiment involved in again eating something that you yourself cooked for me has me overwhelmed. (not [illegible])
Goodnight my dearest love, and please say your prayers as I selfishly do that this period in our lives may soon be but an opaque memory never to be repeated. No fooling – I won’t even let you alone for a month after I get home. I’m so afraid I’ll lose you again – and then there is another reason.
Love Ev
This blog is part of a larger body of research culminating in the publication of the book ‘Heroes in Good Company: L Company, 86th Regiment, 10th Mountain Division 1943-1945’ which is available in select bookstores and on amazon.
SOURCES:
“3rd Battalion, 86th Infantry Regiment Killed and Wounded in Action.” Excel spreadsheet provided in 2013 by Archivist Dennis Hagen. 10th Mountain Division Resource Center. Denver Public Library. Denver, CO.
Bailey, Everett C. V-Mail Letter to Doris Bailey, 1945. Bailey Papers. Author’s collection.
Carlson, Bob. A History of L Company, 86th Mountain Infantry. Self-published Manuscript, 2000.
Durfee, Horton K. World War II Memoirs of Horton K Durfee 1943-1946. Self-published, 1998.
Fire on the Mountain, the Story of the 10th Mountain Division. Directed by Beth Gage and George Gage. First Run Features. 1995. DVD, 72 minutes.
Krear, H. Robert. The Journal of a US Army Mountain Trooper in World War II. Estes Park, CO: Desktop Publishing by Jan Bishop, 1993.
The Last Ridge, the Uphill Battles of the 10th Mountain Division. Directed by Abbie Kealy. WXXI Rochester, WPBS Watertown. 2007. DVD, 56 minutes.
US Department of the Army. Company L, 86th Mountain Infantry Regiment. 1945. Morning Reports of 19 February through 2 March. Box 11, 10th Mountain Division Collection, Denver Public Library, Denver, CO.
V-Mail and Dishonesty in History
(Click photo to view larger)
While rummaging through the dusty box of photographs that had remained in storage for 70 years, I came upon one photo that looked to be a picture of a hand-written letter. Soon I came across another similar item, complete with a small, manila sleeve with an oval-shaped window and a stamped postmark.
Victory Mail, or V-Mail, was devised by Eastman Kodak during World War Two as an improved means of mail communication. It was purported to be faster and it was less expensive than ordinary airmail. It’s most important contribution was that, as an avalanche of mail passed across the oceans with the deployment of millions of US troops, it saved large amounts of vital space on aircraft.
The system went like this: A one-page letter would be hand-written onto a special sheet of V-Mail stationary. Once it passed the censor, the letter was photographed with about 1,600 others onto a roll of microfilm. Instead of bags upon bags of paper letters, these greatly condensed rolls of microfilm were flown to the United States, where the letters were developed into small photographs and mailed to the appropriate locations.
The V-Mail letter which follows was written by Capt. Everett Bailey, commander of L Company, 86th Mountain Infantry. The content of this letter clearly illustrates the necessity of an intuitive reading of World War Two letters in the face of censorship, not only through government policy, but also through the author’s desire to shape the perceptions of loved ones back home. Taken alone and at face value, the letter loses much of what can be seen in it when it is placed within the context of further research.
The 10th Mountain Division had just conducted its first major offensive operation. Company L had been heavily engaged around Monte Belvedere and Monte Della Torraccia, and had suffered over thirty percent casualties between February 20-26, 1945. Despite the losses, the first phase of Operation Encore was a success, and the letter was sent during the short reprieve before the second phase of the operation began.
Atop Monte Della Torraccia, the mountain troops endured a series of German counterattacks that petered out into several days of sporadic artillery and mortar barrages. They had dropped all of their gear before the attack, and without blankets the men suffered in their foxholes during the frigid nights. Horton Durfee and Everett Bailey shared a foxhole, pressing close to share body heat under a blanket that Durfee had taken from a dead German. Rations were not delivered for several days, and the men scavenged for food in the packs of slain enemy troops. Decades later, Jack Hay recalled with tears in his eyes watching a young man retrieve a blood-soaked loaf of bread from a dead German, cutting the bloody parts off with his knife, and eating the rest. Of this time period, Bob Krear recalled that,
We had little or no water for washing. We found no ponds or streams. The only water we saw was what was brought up to us in five-gallon cans on the back of a mule, mainly to fill our canteens. We got the dirtiest we had ever been in our lives. At least I did! My hands got so filthy that the skin broke out in little pustules that got infected, and my face was so dirty that I looked like a member of a darker race. Ernie Pyle’s portrayal of the filthy “dog face” infantryman was no exaggeration!
Rations and other supplies were finally brought up by mule, as well as some V-Mail stationary. Everett took the opportunity to write this letter to his wife, Doris.
My dearest Lovely,
For the past week I have been waiting to return to an area where I can write long mushy love letters to you, however today some V Mail stationary came up so you will get this “Fore Hole” vanity only for the time being.
You have of course read of the old 10th Mountain by now. I am still untouched and am enjoying the beautiful sunsets God ironically treats me to every night.
It has been rough, but my boys have done a grand job, probably the best of any. I can’t ask for more.
Your letters reach me regularly and mean more than either rations or sleep. What a wonderful wife you are my love, and how I wish I could be dancing with you instead of relinquishing you to those USO commandos.
Please don’t try to imagine what my life is like. It really isn’t bad. Remember comfort and security are merely a matter of relativity.
Your package has not arrived yet, but surely will be welcome. The sentiment involved in again eating something that you yourself cooked for me has me overwhelmed. (not [illegible])
Goodnight my dearest love, and please say your prayers as I selfishly do that this period in our lives may soon be but an opaque memory never to be repeated. No fooling – I won’t even let you alone for a month after I get home. I’m so afraid I’ll lose you again – and then there is another reason.
Love Ev
This blog is part of a larger body of research culminating in the publication of the book ‘Heroes in Good Company: L Company, 86th Regiment, 10th Mountain Division 1943-1945’ which is available in select bookstores and on amazon.
SOURCES:
“3rd Battalion, 86th Infantry Regiment Killed and Wounded in Action.” Excel spreadsheet provided in 2013 by Archivist Dennis Hagen. 10th Mountain Division Resource Center. Denver Public Library. Denver, CO.
Bailey, Everett C. V-Mail Letter to Doris Bailey, 1945. Bailey Papers. Author’s collection.
Carlson, Bob. A History of L Company, 86th Mountain Infantry. Self-published Manuscript, 2000.
Durfee, Horton K. World War II Memoirs of Horton K Durfee 1943-1946. Self-published, 1998.
Fire on the Mountain, the Story of the 10th Mountain Division. Directed by Beth Gage and George Gage. First Run Features. 1995. DVD, 72 minutes.
Krear, H. Robert. The Journal of a US Army Mountain Trooper in World War II. Estes Park, CO: Desktop Publishing by Jan Bishop, 1993.
The Last Ridge, the Uphill Battles of the 10th Mountain Division. Directed by Abbie Kealy. WXXI Rochester, WPBS Watertown. 2007. DVD, 56 minutes.
US Department of the Army. Company L, 86th Mountain Infantry Regiment. 1945. Morning Reports of 19 February through 2 March. Box 11, 10th Mountain Division Collection, Denver Public Library, Denver, CO.
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