Sepia Saturday 753. Fourth in a series about 1943 letters from my dad’s brother Frederic Mason Charboneau during his second year of WWII US Army service.
Rising in military rank was important to service members during WWII both for the increase in pay and the recognition it brought.
Shortly after receiving his promotion to Sergeant, my uncle Frederic Mason Charboneau wrote a letter to his mother Mary (Owen) Charboneau in which he mused about how far he had come in the previous three years.
“Sgt. F. M. Charboneau, HQ Battery, 431st Sep CA Bn, APO 302, N.Y., N.Y., 27 March 1943, Dear Mom: As I sit here writing this letter, I can’t help thinking where I was three years ago about this time. From the letters I get from you the roads and weather must be almost the same as they were then.
“I don’t know whether you remember it or not,” he continued, “but it was on the 16th of March that I went to the hospital [for appendix surgery], and it was on the 16th of March this year that I received my promotion. Little did I dream then that I would be in Africa at this time but here I am.”
Significance of rank
Since Uncle Fred had last written home, his duties and digs had changed, which he went on to describe in his March 27 letter:
“The weather has been just grand except for the last couple of days, and they have been kind of rainy,” Uncle Fred wrote. “I am living in a small house and except for a couple of leaks in the roof we can keep quite dry.”
He went on to discuss what might have been the benefits of rank if only he and his fellow officers had a lowly private with them.
“There are three other fellows with me. It is sort of a non-com’s [non-commissioned officers’] house,” Fred said. “There is the Master Sgt., a Tech Sgt., myself and a Corporal, so we haven’t any privates around to clean up, so we have to do it ourselves. But I did it when there was one around and we all do our bit, so it is a small job.”
Detail of duties
At the time of his promotion, Uncle Fred was serving in the 431st Coastal Artillery Battalion, which was part of the 12th Army’s Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment (Special Troops).
In a letter to his oldest brother Owen Albert Charboneau, Fred described his promotion and duties — and joked around about a fellow acquaintance who was newer to the service.
“20 March 1943, Dear Owen: The most important news is that I have just become a Technician Grade 4 or Sergeant as you can see by my address. I am still in the same place, but my duty now is filing. As for Jack Cassidy, those two gold bars mean 2nd Louie [Second Lieutenant] or a Ninety-Day Wonder, as that is the length of time it takes to go through the O.C.S. [U.S. Army Officer Candidate School].“
Some brotherly joshing
Fred also asked Owen about their middle brother Hubert, who had gone into the army, and couldn’t resist some brotherly joshing about his new rank as a non-commissioned officer.
“How is Hubert getting along?” Fred wrote. “Tell him to drop me a line the first chance he gets, telling me how he likes the army, etc. I suppose by this time he is getting to be a regular soldier. Tell him to ‘get on the ball’ or when I come home I will make him step. Me a non-com and him a buck-ass private. He will have a good chance, however, in signal corps work with his training as a lineman [for the telephone company] and all.”
And with that, we will leave our newly-promoted Tech 4 Sgt. Frederic Mason Charboneau until his next letter home.
Up next: More of Uncle Fred’s 1943 letters. Please stop back! Meanwhile, please visit the other intrepid bloggers over at Sepia Saturday
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