Inside this card from Christmas 1941 is a message from John Downes, Rear Admiral USN, Commanding.
“It it my privilege and pleasure to extend Christmas greetings to the officers and men at the Naval Training Station and to their loved ones at home.
During the coming year we will be bound together even more closely, by the united efforts of all, to defend and preserve our American way of life.
It is my sincere wish that each of you may have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.”
The following page included a menu for the CHRISTMAS DAY DINNER at the US Naval Training Station.
Cream of Tomato Soup
Saltine Crackers
Roast Tom Turkey Oyster Dressing
Baked Spiced Ham
Candied Sweet Potatoes
Giblet Gravy Fresh Cranberry Sauce
Sweet Pickles Stuffed Celery Ripe Olives
Fruit Cake Hot Mince Meat Pie Fruit
Hot Rolls Butter Coffee
Candy Nuts
Cigarettes
The back page listed Christmas Church Services. Those on Christmas Eve, December 24th for the Main Station included Protestant services at 2300: Candlelight Choir and Carol Service followed by celebration of Holy Communion, at the Drill Hall, Building no. 4.
Catholic services were at 2400: Midnight Mass in the Auditorium of Building No. 3.
Services on Christmas Day, December 25th for the First Regiment included Protestant services at 1000: Christmas Service, Drill Hall, Building No. 4. Frank Lash Captain, USN, Senior Chaplain.
Catholic service also at 1000: Christmas Mass, Auditorium of Building No. 3. Additional Christmas Masses to be held at 0715 and 0915 in the Hospital Chapel.
Though no personal note from Lester exists, he evidently was able to celebrate Christmas at the training station with other Navy personnel. The note from the commander echoed the tension felt across the country as troops and sailors readied themselves for battle in World War II. No doubt many prayers were lifted that Christmas season for peace on earth and a quick end to the escalating conflict around the world.
English: A navy photographer snapped this photograph of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on December 7, 1941, just as the USS Shaw exploded. (80-G-16871) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Pearl Harbor in Hawaii was attacked on December 7, 1941, catapulting the US into World War II. All over the country people learned the news with disbelief. They braced for decisive action, and worried more about their sons in military service.
Lester jotted a quick note of reassurance to his family on December 7 and air mailed it home on December 8, with two 3 cent stamps instead of the usual one. He knew they’d be worried, and for good reason. At the time he wrote, nobody knew what to expect in the coming days or weeks. But he wanted to let them know he understood how worried they would be and to tell them that he would be in touch when possible. He had been in the US Navy a total of six weeks.
When the letter arrived, his folks didn’t take the time to release the envelope seal. They dispensed with proprieties and ripped the end off to get his news as fast as they could.
There is no evidence that he was able to keep his planned Christmas leave. All leaves must have been cancelled.
Dec 7, 1941.
Sunday 3:30
Dear Folks:
Anything I am about to tell you may be changed by the time you receive this letter. First, my leave has not yet been cancelled but the chances are that all leaves will be cancelled. The boys who did not make trade school have received notice that they will leave for the coast this Friday. We may have to leave also then but have had no word to that effect. Ernest did not make trade school & must leave Friday so of course he will not get leave. The news of the war has been quite a shock to us here. There is a lot of activity here now. I might call you by telephone if I learn anything but don’t jump every time it rings. Will write more when I learn something. Try not to worry as I may yet get to go to trade school. Don’t write after Wednesday unless you hear from me again.
Lester
Evidently, this is the last letter sent home in 1941. The next envelope would not arrive until mid-January. Perhaps he was able to telephone with news once or twice, but there is no way to know. It was weeks before his regular letter-writing schedule returned to a pre-war pattern. The holiday season in 1941 surely held more anxiety than joy. His family must have agonized about their beloved son and brother and what would happen to him next.
Though none knew it at the time, Lester’s letter home on December 3, 1941 was written on the first day of his last year on earth. It was a routine letter, upbeat and chatty. Nobody suspected that in only a few days, life would change drastically for all of them, or that Lester had only 365 days to live.
December 3, 1941
Dear Folks:
I want to drop you a line to let you know that I am feeling fine. I hope that dad & granddad are better by now. I’m sorry that I can’t find much news to make my letters more interesting but we live very much of a routine life here, one day is just about the same as another. Today we had another bag inspection & this time nearly everyone passed it. Mr. Baker said it was the best bag layout any of his companies had ever had. By the way, that picture of the “other boy” was Mr. Baker. He is our commander or boss. We all like him just fine. He is going to sea when he gets through with us.
The U.S. Navy hospital ship USS Solace (AH-5) circa 1941 in Hawaiian waters. She arrived at Pearl Harbor on 27 October 1941 and handled hundreds of casualties on 7 December 1941 during the Japanese attack there. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
A new officer is working with Mr. Baker so as to be able to train recruits. We call him Bakers’ shadow & “The Little Colonel”. He is a mighty fine fellow too. We joke & have a lot of fun with him. He came into the navy as a petty officer, has been in five months & is drawing $110 per month. Of course he had special training to do that.
I forgot to tell you in my other letters about Mr. Baker. I sent you the little booklet about Navy life but I didn’t know what was in it as the envelopes were sealed when we got them. You asked about the training here. We drill with rifles nearly every day but it is all marching. We haven’t fired a shot & won’t while we are here. I don’t get along with the marching any too well. It is hard for me to keep in step.
Postal card from the U.S. Naval Training Station, Great Lakes, Ill. 1941
We won the red rooster flag this week. It is a flag with a rooster emblem on it which is awarded on points won on drill. There is a blue rooster for next week. Our bag inspection, barracks & personal inspection count on it. We are working for it.
Something To Crow About (Photo credit: cobalt123)
Does the climate agree with me? Well, the last time I weighed I had gained about twelve or thirteen pounds. The grass is still green here & we don’t wear coats or gloves except once in a while. I’ll probably freeze when I come home. It is damp & foggy a good share of the time.
Yes, we will have to pay our own expenses home but I will have enough money & there isn’t anything I need, thanks.
That sounds like a dirty deal about Lillian & her boy friends. Did you go to her program? Ernest is ready to mail a letter so I’ll close & let him take this one too. Write again.
Lester’s memory book included an engraved menu card for the dinner served to Navy personnel on November 20, 1941.
Inside, beside a list of officers–commanding officer, executive officer and commissary officers–was the menu for the day.
Cream of Tomato Soup with saltine crackers
Roast Tom Turkey
Baked Spiced Ham
Apple Dressing
Giblet Gravy
Cranberry Sauce
Sweet Picles
Ripe Olives
Candied Sweet Potatoes
Buttered Asparagus
Hearts of Celery
Pumpkin Pie
Neapolitan Ice Cream
Hot Sweet Rolls
Butter
Coffee
Cigarettes
Perhaps Lester mailed this menu home after the holiday to prove how well the Navy was feeding him and the other sailors.
It sounds like a delicious dinner, with much to reflect on the blessings of the previous year. Little did anyone know that before another month was out–in only seventeen days–the situation would change dramatically with the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Ambassador Bridge at Night between Detroit, Mich. and Windsor, Ont. Photo from postal card, 1942
Lester’s letter from November 18, 1941, less than three weeks before the attack on Pearl Harbor, describes routine life for Navy recruits. Perhaps he did enjoy a “liberty” in town and was witness to a scene like the one in the post card he sent home. He is looking forward to a trip home over the Christmas holidays.
November 18, 1941
Dear Folks.
I have just finished writing to Uncle Loren & I guess I should have made carbon copies as I can’t think of anything that I didn’t tell him. I hope your good weather is holding out as well as it is here. The sun has been shining fairly steady the last few days. It is still warm here. You must have been having some bad weather there. Did you have my anti-freeze tested? Also did you get my battery from Fred? I intended to give you the money to pay for it but forgot to do so. Tomorrow is pay day but by the time we get our bills paid there won’t be much left. I have a little other money so I will have enough to come home.
Lester and the automobile he was proud to own.
We received our grades yesterday but this is the first time I have had time to write to you. Here are my grades: English 87, Spelling 94, Arithmetic 95, Mechanical Aptitude 93, General Classification 93, with an average of 93. I was one of the five highest in our company, So I should get to go to trade school. I don’t know where the school will be but it may be here at the Great Lakes.
We have to go to a show or something tonight so I won’t have much time to write tonight. Did Josephine tell you that I have received the rating of a petty officer? I was made a squad leader as a result of the first bag inspection. We had another inspection today & I made it ok, too. There were about three or four others in the sixty on this floor that had good bags. I didn’t tell you about my rating before because it isn’t permanent & I didn’t know if I could hold the job. I’ve gotten along ok so far so chances are that I will make it now.
We go over to Paradise this Saturday so we will start getting some liberties then. I haven’t found it bad here except that there isn’t anything to do on Sunday afternoons. We’ve walked all over the place where we are allowed to go & we can’t just study or write letters all the time. We usually have time in the evenings during the week to keep up on our correspondence. If there is anything you want to know which I haven’t told you, ask some questions. Frances sent me some papers & Josephine sends me clippings once in a while. She sent me some candy this morning & I didn’t get time to open it until tonight. I didn’t get to read my letters until this afternoon. I got four letters today. Everyone wrote on Sunday, I guess. That means no more until the last of the week which won’t be long at the rate the time is going. We got another haircut today. Just when my hair was getting where I could part it. It will grow some more tho, I guess. I’ve gained almost ten pounds. Paul, I enjoy your letters. Keep on writing to me. I will write you a special letter someday.
I’ve had a challenge to keep up with Lester’s letters over the past week, given a whirlwind race a thousand miles distant to greet my new granddaughter, with three letters dated during the week. But the amazing thing about today’s technology is its availability from almost anywhere you might go. Hours on the road provide ample time to ponder the circle of life, from a peek into history through letters written more than seventy years ago to a peek into the future through a fresh, new life. My new grandchild, Arya LaRue, is Lester’s great-great-niece. Perhaps life is more than a circle. It is more like a spiral, cycling ever upward and onward, built on the foundation of the loops which precede us. The loop which represents each of us starts rather tight and small. With age, it will expand to support more loops as the spiral grows. So Arya, meet Lester. His story is part of your own.
Nov 12, 1941
Dear Folks
I received your letter today just before drill so didn’t get to read it until this evening. Sure am glad that it isn’t raining all the time now. It cleared off here today & the sun shone for the first time in a week.
No, I haven’t had any more boils except the one on my arm which had started when I left. It went ahead & developed & is ok now with no signs of any more. I do have some pimples but I’ll be careful of them. Too bad about Ola, hope she gets along ok. Is Mabel Bruton still working at St. Marys? No, I haven’t been out on the ‘big water’ yet. In fact, I haven’t even seen the lake. Of course, since I haven’t seen the lake, I haven’t been on a ship, either. We sleep in barracks, not ships. The barracks are built in this shape.
Sketch of barracks floor plan.
The ends are where we sleep, sixty on each floor & each end. The toilets, work rooms, showers, clothes dryer & clothes wash room are in the center.
We will have our pictures taken Friday but I think that I will wear my hat. It doesn’t look so good but it is better than the haircut. I watched the clock when the barber cut my hair. It took him one minute & twenty seconds. He was a little slow on me. We don’t think anything about our hair but sure notice the shaggy locks of the new recruits.
Lester F. Harris. (He didn’t wear his hat.)
How much did it cost to get my suitcase? We weren’t allowed to pay for it here. I don’t remember what Ernest had except a bottle of hair oil. Did you get my film from his suitcase?
What’s the matter, can’t Junior get along without his mama? I had heard that Wirsigs were going out there. You don’t need to send me any papers unless I get settled for awhile & that won’t be until after I come home. Josephine has been sending me a few clippings & you might do the same if you want to.
We took a bunch of tests this morning which will help to decide our entrance into trade schools. I think that I made it OK. Sure hope so. If I didn’t, there will be a lot of the others that didn’t pass either.
Yes, I do like it better all the time. When we first came in we were the target of a good many jokes & remarks. The tables are turned now & we are the ones that shout, “rookie.”
Well, Aunt Mabel did have to answer Uncle Loren’s letter after all. I’m sorry if she felt left out. I didn’t mean it to be that way. I wrote to Aunt Nelia the other day so she knows that I am ok. Is granddad ok? I’ll try to get him a letter some time. I have written about fifteen letters so I should have some coming in along.
The boys are sure busy tonight, rolling clothes. We will have a bag inspection tomorrow & most of them haven’t kept their clothes rolled. I just have one jumper to roll so that won’t take long. I had a good bag the other day. Hope I get by tomorrow ok.
I guess that we will probably get off from here Dec. 12 & so will have to be back here Dec. 23. Pretty close isn’t it. That isn’t certain yet but that is the schedule now. If I could get some new recruits I could get an extension on my leave at the rate of one day for each of first three recruits, two days for the fourth & three days for the fifth. If you hear of anyone who wants to join, let me know who they are.
We’ve sure been having good eats lately. Tonight we had chili minus the broth, rice, apple & cabbage salad, butter, two slices of bread, a cookie & cocoa. Usually we have coffee. I haven’t tried to drink it yet. For dinner we had boiled meat of some kind, sweet potatoes, gravy, carrot & raisin salad & cake. The carrot salad was made of shredded carrots, raisins & cream, I think. It sure was good. We have ice cream two or three times a week. If you want to send me anything, make it candy. You don’t need to send anything as we have enough to eat & can buy candy at the canteen if we want to. We aren’t allowed to have much except what they furnish us. I’ll have to get busy now. I’m always glad to hear from you. Hope all is ok with you. Everything is fine here.
(Interestingly, this letter from 1941 clearly indicates that the days of the week this year closely match those of 1941. Here is it Sunday, November 10, 2013. Lester’s long letter postmarked November 10, 1941 was also written on a Sunday. Probably he wrote the letter on November 9. In it he described the daily routine and activities of his experience so far.)
Dear Folks
This is Sunday evening, six-thirty & I have just finished shaving & cleaning up for the evening so I will try to get a letter off before I start to study. It is three hours yet till we have to be in bed though we can go to bed any time after seven-thirty. We have supper about five o’clock on Sunday evening. You asked what we did each day so I will try to go thru an average day for you.
We get up at five-thirty, dress & lash up our hammocks by six o’clock. Then if we are having late chow, we clean up the barracks before eating. We sweep, wash, wax, polish & shine everything. By this time it is seven-thirty & time for late chow. After chow we go to the field to drill or to a lecture. We drill till eleven or twelve then back to the barracks for a little rest before noon chow. The rifles we carry for drill weigh about eight pounds without bayonets. The bayonets add another pound but we haven’t used them yet. About one-thirty we go to drill again until sometime around four. Again we rest before evening chow at five-thirty. After that we are free to do as we please which means that we wash clothes, shave, take showers, get our beds made up, write letters, play cards or study. You see we manage to keep busy.
Keeping busy at the training station. Photo postal card 1941.
Someone has to stand guard all the time. The guards are four hour shifts which is plenty long to walk the floor. My first guard was from midnight till four in the morning. I had to walk back & forth about a distance of seventy-five feet. Four hours of that gets pretty tiresome & monotonous.
This morning everyone except the guards & the Jews went to church. This afternoon we went to a concert by an all-girl band. The boys sure got a kick out of that. I think the girls enjoyed it also. On Monday, Wednesday & Friday nights we can go to shows if we want to go. I have gone twice. They are the same shows which you see at home. Last night we went to a special show & lecture. A Norwegian boy who had escaped from the Nazis in Norway told how they were annoying & fighting their Nazi conqueors.
I had a letter from Aunt Mabel the other day, also one from Frances. I have received several letters, about one every other day, I guess. I’m always glad to hear how you are getting along.
By the way, Wallace, if you had pants like we wear here, you would have to wear gloves to keep your hands warm as you can’t get your hands in the pockets on these. There are only two pockets on the trousers, both at the waistband. There is a flap in the front which requires fourteen (14) buttons to close.
Lester in his US Navy uniform.
When you reach for the pockets, your hands just slide on over a row of buttons. We wear an undershirt, a black woolen sweater & a navy blue jumper which ties tight around the waist above the trousers & then hangs down over the trouser waistband. We carry most of our stuff in this pouch. We have two of these outfits for every day wear & one heavier dress outfit with white braid on the jumper. We have to wear leggings here. They spoil the looks of the outfit but they do help keep the pant legs clean. We have one pair of Sunday shoes & one heavy pair for everyday wear. We have plenty of clothes, especially when it is time to wash them. We have to do this in a bucket & with a scrub brush. We don’t use clothes pins to hang them up with but tie them up with clothes-stops, pieces of trot-line cord. We have a dryer room which we use in bad weather instead of hanging them outside.
We get our mail delivered at noon & again at about four in the afternoon. Practically all of the mail comes in the morning. I got your letter at eleven this morning which is the quickest of any yet. Usually it takes two days. If you have a chance you might send me some envelopes as I am almost out of any that are any good. We received stationery here at the camp but the envelopes won’t stick. You don’t need to send stamps as I can get those here. I would rather have the self-sealing kind if you can get them. Don’t go to any trouble as I can write cards of course.
I’m about pumped dry & really should study some as we are going to have some tests this week & I don’t have time during the week to study so I had better bring this to a close.
We will get twelve hours leave when we transfer to Camp Paradise but I think I will stay here probably & save the money I would spend. We won’t have much left from this first check. Write whenever you can as we are all anxious to hear from home. The mailman is quite popular here.
I hope the rain has stopped for awhile. Paul, I enjoyed your letter a lot, write again. Did you get my stuff from Ernest’s suitcase? I had a roll of film & some other stuff in there. I may want my camera as I hear that we are allowed to have them.
There isn’t much of anything new to write about but I suppose that you would wonder what has happened to me if I don’t write. It started snowing last night & has been snowing ever since but it melts as fast as it falls. It really isn’t as cold here as I had expected to find it. A boy from Kentucky sleeps next to me & he is about to freeze all the time. He says that fourty above is really cold there & two or three inches of snow is the most that he has ever seen. Did I tell you that I have a brother in this company. His name is Loyd Arthur Harris. Just the middle initial is the only difference in our names. He is from Michigan & a very nice boy. The officers have to call us by our full name in order to tell us apart. He is upstairs & I am on the first floor so we don’t see much of each other.
I’ve written so many letters to different people that I can’t remember what I have told you. Did I tell you about the gas drill? We put on gas masks & went into the gas chamber for two or three minutes then took the mask off & went outside. It wasn’t so bad.
Finnish civilian gas mask from 1939. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I had a letter from Frances the other day. It must be getting muddy by now. Is anything new happening? If you could see the way we mob the mailman you would know that we are all anxious to receive letters.
Lester, about age 9, with sister Frances and younger brother Wallace.
I’m going to have to stop without finishing this page. Will write more later.
I won’t have time to write much of a letter tonight as we are really quite busy all of the time. Of course we don’t drill so long each day but we have to do our washing & cleaning up in leisure time. Also I want to do some studying before we take any more exams which will be next week. We took one exam today. It wasn’t bad so I think that I made a fair grade.
Sorry to hear that you are still having rains back there. I hoped that it would dry up some time. It has been nice here since Sunday & probably will stay that way for awhile. I can’t think of very much to write about as life is very much routine here. About the same every day. I’m liking it better all the time as I get accustomed to the new way of doing things.
As I told you, we sleep in hammocks & we have to air our mattress & blankets every day & then make them in the evening. We are learning something new all the time so that keeps it interesting.
Postal card from the U.S. Naval Training Station, Great Lakes, Ill. 1941
We got our first mail Monday & when Earnest got a letter & I didn’t get any I was rather disappointed but the tables were turned today when I received two letters & he didn’t get any. We have been together all the way through so far. He sleeps right beside me. I am number 17 & he is no. 18.
We all have certain duties toward keeping the barracks clean. The jobs are passed around so that no one has a bad job very long.
We went to a show last night but it wasn’t too hot. I think I will stay & study tomorrow night. They have shows on Monday, Wednesday, & Friday. Josephine sent me a clipping from the paper saying that we could attend the roller skating rink, bowling & a few other activities that I haven’t heard anything about here yet.
Keep writing whenever you can & I will do the same.
Lester’s first letter home was post marked November 1, 1941 11:00 a.m. in Great Lakes, Ill. Notice the first-class postage stamp for 3 cents.
Dear Folks:
I have a little time now after dinner so will write a few lines. I am getting along fine so far & like it OK. We have pretty good eats & plenty of it. We sleep in hammocks which are rather hard to get in & stay in, however I haven’t fallen out yet. We are pretty busy most of the time, rolling clothes & etc. We roll our clothes instead of pressing them.
We have been issued clothes, bedding & toilet articles including a comb. After getting my haircut I don’t understand why they included the comb. We have absolutely no use for it. Maybe we will be able to use it someday, before I come home, I hope. We haven’t been vaccinated yet, probably get those this afternoon. If anyone asks about me writing them a letter I probably won’t be able to for the three weeks while in quarantine. Our time starts Friday.
Image from a postcard sent home from training.
There are 120 boys in a company, sixty on this floor & sixty on the floor above. They are a mighty nice bunch of boys, some are full of mischief of course but no bad ones.
I haven’t seen the sun since leaving Kansas City Tuesday evening. We rode all night & didn’t get into Chicago until about nine Wednesday morning. We crossed the Mississippi before daylight. I was awake but couldn’t see much. I think they must have been having a flood as it looked as though the water was all over the lowlands. There were seventeen of us from Kansas City & we had a Pullman car all to ourselves. We had breakfast in the diner at $1.00 per. But we didn’t have to pay it.
I talked to Gentry over the phone a few minutes but it was so noisy I could hardly understand him. I am sending my key in this letter. Will have to close now. Write soon.
The Bridge 