Sepia Saturday 781. Sixth in a series about 1943 letters from my dad’s brother Frederic Mason Charboneau during his second year of WWII US Army service.
During 1943, his second year of WWII military service, letters home from my dad’s brother Frederic Mason Charboneau changed from those he wrote the first year — and so did the list of his regular correspondents.
Fred’s 1942 letters to his mother Mary (Owen) Charboneau contained constant queries about men from back home who might have entered service. Where were they stationed? What U.S. camp did they train at? Anybody serving near him in North Africa?
He was also clearly nostalgic about his recent civilian life — the cold Adirondack winters in his Otter Lake , N.Y., hometown, his dad Wm. Ray Charboneau’s annual hunting trip in Canada, his maternal grandfather Frank “Pop” Owen’s annual summer stay at the Otter Lake Hotel, which was run by his parents.
An army of female correspondents
But as 1943 rolled around, he seemed settled at his North Africa base and engaged in more interaction with his army of female correspondents — close relatives, female friends, sisters-in-laws, and even distant cousins who kept in regular touch.
Family connections come alive in reading his letters — a tremendous gift to a family historian like me, which I am sure my Uncle Fred would be surprised about. Almost as surprised as he was to hear from an unknown cousin.
March 6, 1943. “I had another letter from Cleo Owen. It certainly seems strange to get mail from a relation that you have never seen before. She said in her letter that she was going to write Pop in a few days telling him about my letter.“
Fred’s mother (my grandmother) Mary was from a large Welsh-Irish family in Baltimore, Maryland. Cleo (Owen) Riordan was the daughter of her brother Joseph and wife Alma (Mask) Owen. Clearly the word had gone out among family that Fred was in the service, and Cleo decided to write him — something many women were likely doing during WWII.
In the same letter, Uncle Fred mentions other family and in-laws.
“I have written several times that I received all of the boxes but will do so once more. The cookies that you spoke about arrived in fine shape and were very good though they were almost two months old. They didn’t taste a bit stale, but it may have been because we haven’t had anything like that for so long. The cake the Louis and Evelyn sent came several days ago and was very good. Also, the box of Loft’s candies from Aunt Kate.“
Aunt Kate was Katherine (Owen) Negri, one of Mary’s sisters who lived in New York City with husband Caesar. The cake senders were in-laws Louis and Evelyn (Coburn) DesJardins. Fred’s oldest brother Owen Charboneau was married to Louis’s sister, Aline DesJardins.
After the war, my uncles Fred and Owen pooled resources and opened the Charboneau Brothers General Store in Holland Patent, N.Y., and Louis worked there for awhile.
As for the two-month-old cookies? Well, I might not have eaten them — but Fred did and lived to tell the tale.
Family support beyond letters
Besides being a regular correspondent, Aunt Kate provided a New York City crash pad for visiting family members. Uncle Fred describes his newly-enlisted brother Hubert’s visit to Aunt Kate, which she wrote him about.
April 13, 1943. “How about Hubert. Did he get a chance to come home for a few days? I got a letter from Aunt Kate, and she said that he had been over and that he was looking fine. She said that he had lost a little weight but that he was gaining it back.“
His mother also wrote him about Hubert’s visit to New York City — prompting Uncle Fred to express how happy he would be to come home at the end of the war.
April 17, 1943 “In your letter you said that Hubert and another fellow had been over to New York and saw Kate and Ceaser [sic]. I got a letter from Kate telling me that. What I am getting at is this. You said, quote ‘New York won’t be any sight to me after having seen half the world.’ Unquote. Well I beg to differ with you, that will be one of the happiest days in my life is when I see that little old Lady in New York Harbor, as you can well imagine.“
Next month, “Censorship Ends: Where Uncle Fred served during WWII.” Meanwhile, please visit the other intrepid bloggers over at Sepia Saturday.
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