Sepia Saturday 743. Second in a series about 1943 letters from my dad’s brother Frederic Mason Charboneau during year two of his WWII US Army service.

More than 107,000 U.S. troops were stationed in North Africa during WWII . Among them was my dad’s brother Frederic Mason Charboneau, a sergeant in an artillery battery HQ.

Uncle Fred hailed from the Adirondack village of Otter Lake, located in the Town of Forestport, Oneida Co., New York, which in 1940 had a population of just over 600 people. So the chances of him running into someone he knew were remote.

A nurse from back home

Or so I thought until I read a couple of Uncle Fred’s January 1943 letters home describing just such an unexpected meeting near his North Africa duty station. Here’s how Uncle Fred explained it:

“We are…getting passes about once every two weeks when we can go into town for the day,” Fred wrote to his mother, Mary (Owen) Charboneau, on 22 Jan. 1943.

“By the way, do you remember Eleanor Graff, the nurse who joined the army?” he continued. “I found out by accident that she is now near here. I stopped the other day while I was on a pass to see her, but she was off to town shopping, so I missed her. But I expect the next time I go I will see her. I hope so, anyway. It will be good to see somebody that you know.”

Who was Eleanor Graff?

Curious about Eleanor Graff, I did a bit of research and found a news story and photo detailing her entry into the service! (She is at left in the news photo below.)

The accompanying article, titled “Three Nurses Assigned to Active Duty,” said that, “All three nurses have expressed their willingness to accept foreign service, if needed in the field.” It also gave a brief but interesting bio of Eleanor Graff, who was from Rome, N.Y. and worked in Utica, N.Y. (both not far from Uncle Fred’s Otter Lake hometown):

“Miss Graff has been on the general staff of Faxton Hospital [in Utica] since her graduation in 1940. She is a member of the Faxton Hospital Alumnae and the New York State Nurses Association. Miss Graff, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. C.S. Graff of Rome, is not the first of her family to enter the service. She has twin brother who are members of the Marine Corps.”

WWII Army Nurse Corps

Tens of thousands of women like Ms. Graff served as military nurses in the Army Nurse Corps during WWII, according to the National Parks Service.

The U.S. Army Center of Military History has an excellent online pamphlet about The Army Nurse Corps describing their role in military health care, including in North Africa, which reduced casualties and boosted morale among Army troops during WWII.

In a followup letter home, dated 29 Jan. 1943, Uncle Fred wrote that he finally met up with Eleanor Graff in the field — and he was pleased to see “somebody from home.”

Good to see somebody that you know

“Do you remember Eleanor Graff, the nurse from Faxton [Hospital] who joined the army? You know, the one that was in our camp [at the Otter Lake Hotel] with the Decks [a family from Rome, N.Y],” Uncle Fred wrote. “Well, she is over here and stationed right near where I am. I was in town last Tuesday and I went to see her.”

“I didn’t get a chance to see her very long. She was busy. But I hope to see her again when she isn’t on duty and then we can have a real talk,” he continued. “It certainly seemed good to see somebody from home that you know. She left the states after I did, but she beat me in landing in Africa. If you happen to see Bud [Charboneau, a cousin], tell him that she was asking about him and wanted to know when he was going to be drafted. He will remember her, I think.“

Did Uncle Fred eventually have that real talk with Eleanor Graff? We will have to see as his second year in the Army — and a new year of his letters — unfolds.

Up next: More of Uncle Fred’s 1943 letters. Please stop back! Meanwhile, please visit the other intrepid bloggers over at Sepia Saturday

© 2024 Molly Charboneau. All rights reserved.

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