1950 Letter from Henry Goodrich Thompson (1922 - 2009) to his mother, Jessica HOYT Thompson (1892 - 1983).

Campbells of Nelson, PA

[This 1950 letter from Cpl. Henry Thompson to his mother, Jessica HOYT Thompson, gives a glimpse of the problems faced by married soldiers at that time - wbt]

Image of p1 of a 1950 letter from 
      Henry Goodrich Thompson to his mother, Jessica HOYT Thompson

Click HERE to see the rest of the handwritten pages.

3 Aug 50

 Dear mom et al,

Just a note. I'm very busy again, things aren't going too well in the Btry.1

Ellen and I are much OK and the honeymoon isn't over.

We expect to move in a couple

1. This was at the beginning the Korean War. He was in the army, part of an anti-aircraft artillery unit, protecting the Hanford Works, in WA, where the US produced plutonium. During WW2 he tried to enlist in every branch of the military and the Coast Guard. All turned him down because he was color blind, post-polio, and had had multiple surgeries for hernias. Strangely, just as his draft eligibility was about to expire, he was drafted -- along with a bunch of others who had been 4-F during the war too. All flunked out of basic training except him.


weeks to an apt. with one more room.2

I would really like congress to pass that stuff about 75 bucks a month for a wife and stuff.3

The situation out here is open to doubt. Rumors, etc. Something is cooking. Many more troops coming in, immediately.4

2. They were expecting their first child.

3. At the time of the letter, he was a corporal, but at the end of October was promoted to Sgt. In 1950, military pay was terrible, especially family allowances. Privates pay was $96 to $103/mo. depending on length of service. For Corporals it was $118 to 125. For Sgts. $140 to 147.

For family allowances things were even worse. They stopped drafting married men because the allowances, unchanged since 1943, were too low to support a family  The bill Hank mentioned  passed and went into effect at the at the end of Oct. For privates it raised the monthly family support allotments as follows: Privates with one dependent it was raised to $45/mo. For Privates with two dependents or Corporals & Sgts. with one  or two dependents it was raised to $67.50.

Ellen later described that time to her children: "Before the dependent allowance came in, they were just scraping by. When Hank went out into the field, Ellen sent him with a loaf of bread made into PB&J sandwiches. (Her father sent her the jam, which they could not have afforded.) She subsisted mostly on beans and cornbread (baked in a wood-fueled oven). She always hated beans afterwards. A neighbor who was a nurse fed her some salad, which was a rare treat. She was malnourished and had a difficult delivery and post-partum recovery."

What a shameful way to treat a draftee and his family!

4. The Cold War was well established and the Korean War was just a few weeks old, so security may have been ramped up.


We have had a new 1st Sgt., again, and have lost so many of our old hands that it is quite different and I have been trying to get to a different Bty. but the B C5 won't let me. But I'm dissatisfied now.

Ellen made some bread pudding tonight that would have made dad happy for a week, and there is no doubt about her being a good cook.

5. Base Commander.


and she can manage on less money than seems possible.

Tell me about Tom and Gret. What Tom is doing,

Glad to hear about Bill's doings, He is the one who should have our pup. It's about half grown now.

It came as a shock to me when you so casually mentioned Anne was "in a delicate condition." She was always surprising me tho. Sorry she is having unpleasant times. Two new grandchildren will really give you something to cackle about, won't it.


Glad you don't write cuss words at me.

We are reading aloud quite a bit.6 Right now, at my insistence, it's Alice in Wonderland and the rest. Ellen thinks Alice had reason to be peeved at the Hatter & March Hare. Anyway, the reading is varied.

We save on groceries (starting next week) by getting them from a nearby airbase commissary. A truck goes over for the married men once a week.

6. Reading and fishing were two of his favorite pastimes.


We received today a Sears catalogue and are in the middle of ordering some baby stuff. I want to order a small order first to see how it works the first time.

Guess my note got lengthy.

Anyway - things are wonderfully grand in most respects. We are doing well and feeling well.


All for now
Hank

Got the civilian stuff, Arrived in excellent shape. Thanks a lot ---

Also received Mike's gear.7 He hasn't mentioned whether he likes it or not.

7. My parents nicknamed my eldest brother "Tom" soon after my mother first felt him moving. That baby turned out to be a boy and the name stuck -- even tho his birth certificate says "Walter Frederick Thompson, Jr. So "Mike" may have been Hank & Ellen's nickname for the baby they were expecting. If so, their guess about its sex was wrong. But they did get to recycle it later.


Dear Mother T

I want to thank you for for [sic] the set for Mike.8 It is very sweet and he will certainly be  using it quite a bit. Now the baby will just have to be a boy because of the blue ribbons. Not that I've doubted it for a minute.

I hope Anne is feeling better by now. It's late so I'd better close for now.

Love
Ellen

8. The set may have been a crocheted cap, booties & vest. That was SOP for my grandmother when someone was expecting.

Copyright © 2018 William B. Thompson. Commercial use prohibited.

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