V-Letter

Veterans, I honor them all.  They have kept us safe so we can enjoy the freedoms our country was founded on so many years ago. We all have veterans in our family whether it be today, or in the far off past, there have been way too many wars.  Every American knows a veteran in their family, more than one I am sure.

I have honored my father, Robert, my uncle Howard, Philip, my great grandfather, my great uncles Herman and Joseph and others in blogs dedicated to them, their lives and military service.  Today I will tell you a little about my uncle Philip Roesch, my mother's  half-brother, mostly through photographs and letters.  You may remember him, I have done other posts about him. Perhaps you might like to read these if you missed them. Inconsolable   Shopping Saturday - Radio Sales & Repair   NASA and Phillip Osborne Roesch

Phillip O. Roesch WWII

Phil's birth mother, Nellie, died when he was only eight years old.  His father, William Philip Roesch remarried to Florence Sterling and it didn't take long before Phil was calling her mom.  He was more like a son, rather than a stepson to Florence; after all, she raised him.  So even after his father and step-mother divorced and she remarried, he continued to call her mom.

 He joined the Army and he would write her V-mail letters addressed to"Dear Mom".  Sometimes he drew cartoons on his letters.  The v-cartoon became highly popular and used very creatively by the servicemen.

Soldiers wrote their letters on a form the military provided.  It was then photographed, placed on 16 mm motion picture film and transported in a mail sack that carried approximately 136,000 letters.  The film was next enlarged to 4 X 5 wet prints that were dried and sliced into individual letters.  There were a total of 19 military v-mail stations across the United States that provided this service.  This saved storage space for the transport of other necessary items during the war.

These letters are treasured by our family.  They are part of him and history.