Sepia Saturday 702. Sixteenth in a series about letters from my dad’s brother Frederic Mason Charboneau while he was in the US Army during WWII.
About a month after shipping overseas during WWII, my paternal uncle Frederic Mason Charboneau finally received a letter from his mother (my grandmother) Mary (Owen) Charboneau.
From the tone of his reply (in italics below), Uncle Fred was thrilled to finally hear from his mom. He jumped right in with a family discussion – sounding as if he was just down the block rather than half a world away.
Letters at last
“Somewhere in England, September 25, 1942, Dear Mom, Received your V letter dated Sept. 15 on Sept. 23 and was very glad to hear from you. As far as I can remember you have received most or all of my letters to date, and I have received a letter from Owen dated sometime in August and also one, a V letter from him, the same time I did yours. I found out just the other day that they cut a part out of my letter. It wasn’t anything important in what they cut out, just the length of time my pass was good for in London.”
Owen was the oldest of Fred’s four brothers, and apparently he had also sent chatty letters reporting news from back home in Otter Lake, N.Y.
Uncle Fred mentions my dad
“Owen said in his letter that Hubert was having some trouble with his car? How is he coming along with it now. Was there very much the matter with it? I hope Norman likes Potsdam and college and that he gets through OK, but I don’t think there is any doubt but what he will get along.”
Hubert was the middle of the five Charboneau brothers. My dad, Norman, was the youngest brother — and it was fun to read Uncle Fred’s proud reference to him heading to Clarkson College of Technology in Potsdam, N.Y. (now Clarkson University).
Sept. 1942 USO Show
After Uncle Fred updated his mom on his status (“I am the same. I am gaining a little more weight, I think.”) he launched into a report on the USO show he had seen and described other entertainment at his base.
“Did I tell you about the movie stars that put on a show for us a couple weeks ago. There was Merle Oberon, Patricia Morrison, Frank McHugh, Ellen Jenkins, and Al Jolson. It was a very good show. They also have a stage show on every week that costs about twenty cents for one of the best seats which is usually very good. The other night, for a one-night stand, they had an orchestra, and they played a lot of our favorite tunes which we enjoyed very much.”
Searching for more information about this USO show, I was pleased to find a New York Public Library blog post titled “Frank McHugh: A Beloved Character Actor Who Played an Important Role in World War II,” which mentions this tour and includes many period photos of the stars who participated.
The blog says that McHugh “first toured England in August and September of 1942 in a USO tour, appearing in the American Variety Show with Al Jolson, Merle Oberon, Patricia Morrison and Allen Jenkins.”
How about that? The very show my Uncle Fred saw and wrote home about! And what’s more, there was a poster for the tour (shown above).
For now we will leave Uncle Fred tapping his toes to the music. The second half of his letter will appear in the next post. Please stop back! Meanwhile, please visit the other intrepid bloggers over at Sepia Saturday.
© 2023 Molly Charboneau. All rights reserved.
Thank you so much everyone for your comments. Seems everyone was as surprised as I was that the poster for the 1942 USO show was saved and archived. So gratifying to put Uncle Fred’s experiences in context and to learn that they resonate with so many.
I love that poster. I can imagine when you found the newspaper article. Those shows must have been such a morale booster to the troops. Another great post. Thankyou
That’s so fun that you were able to find the poster from the very show he saw! Very cool.
Wonderful post! Those letters are a treasure.
Always very satisfying when one can find things from other sources to fit in with the family photos and letters, isn’t it! 🙂
How wonderful that the show your ancestor attended is the same one in the library’s vintage poster! Interesting that the camp name was censored, but makes sense. Letters from my WWII ancestors also were a mix of questions/comments about what was happening at home and fairly benign info about what the military serviceperson was doing. They didn’t want to frighten relatives at home…and had to write generally to avoid censors cutting out too much.
Those USO shows made an important contribution to boosting the morale of our troops. It tool real showbiz chops to entertain men who were a long way from home and facing dangers that no one could imagine. Not every celebrity was good at it but I think there were many lesser known performers who were memorable for soldiers like Fred. By the way I looked up the stars on the poster that I didn’t know and noticed that Patricia Morrison’s Wikipedia entry mentions this same USO tour. She had a number of credits for film, television and stage roles too. And she died in 2018 at age 103!
I will certainly be stopping back by next week to read more of Uncle Fred’s letter. 🙂 My brother was in the Navy stationed aboard an aircraft carrier during the Vietnam period when Bob Hope & his tour gave a Christmas show aboard the ship. Did my brother see it? No. And not because he was on duty, but because he wasn’t interested. I couldn’t believe it! An odd bird, my brother.
The soldiers must have felt appreciated by the entertainment from these stars. Your uncle sounds very down to earth.
Not only hearing in the letter about the Hollywood stars appearance, but finding the very same poster…what a lucky post this was! Can’t wait to see what else the letter was able to talk about.