WWII

I've been going through some of my dad's stuff. During the war, he was with the 308th Airdrome Squadron. Their job was to move into a (more or less) secure area and either establish a new airfield or repair one damaged. Once operational, they moved on to the next. They ended up in Laoag, Philippines, where they repaired, refueled, and rearmed B17's, 24's, 25's, and various fighter planes based in the area. I can recall a couple of stories about ‘Pappy’ Boyington and the black sheep squadron.

The matchbook is from May, 1960:

A few coins he brought back:

I believe these shells were used locally as infomal currency.

My dad once told me what they were called, and where from. Unfortunately, I don't remember either. I suspect Papua New Guinea, or Malaysia. Knowing my dad, it's likely he took them in exchange for US currency. There are 45 of them.

The 308th Airdrome ended up in Morotai in Sept. 1944. This document is one from there. 

Sorry this is ascue. Translation is challenging as it is apparently a local dialect of Dutch Malay.

spauldingph

…Translation is challenging as it is apparently a local dialect of Dutch Malay.

As an exercise, I dropped this in to an online translator [ openl.io ], which produced the following:

I WILL MAINTAIN (on the arms at the top)

PAY ATTENTION TO THIS GOVERNMENT ADVICE!
 

OUR WARSHIPS AND AIRPLANES HAVE CLOSED THE ROUTES TO JAPAN. WAR EQUIPMENT, AS WELL AS FOOD, CAN NO LONGER BE SENT TO THE JAPANESE SOLDIERS ON THE COASTS. SO THEY ARE FORCED TO LIVE ON THE FOOD OF THE BROTHERS.

IT IS EVEN WORSE IF THE JAPANESE STAY IN THE BROTHERS' VILLAGES!
IF THE BROTHERS LACK FOOD, VARIOUS DISEASES THAT CANNOT BE TREATED WILL ARISE THERE.

FOR THIS REASON, GIVE THIS LETTER TO THE JAPANESE PERSON. IF HE WANTS, GO TOGETHER WITH THE BROTHERS. TAKE HIM TO OUR TROOPS. HE WILL BE TREATED WELL BY US. WHILE THE BROTHERS WILL BE PAID.

Many thanks, Hibernia. I had struggled with Google translate without making much headway.

There is another document, which I won't attempt to open yet. The paper is extremely fragile. I know a paper conservator, and will try to get advice. 

I have most of my dad's letters in more or less chronological order. It's been difficult, as he often didn't bother to write the date

Unfortunately, only two letters survived from all of 1944. I will attempt to chronical some of the more interesting parts.

That's a wonderful piece of history! thanks for sharing! 

A reminder that history is not made by the men in power, but by the men on the ground.

The round shells are called cats eyes, I have some that I or my sisters picked up on the beach in the Marshall Islands in the 1960s, together with a great many other shells. Can't seem to put hands on them right now tho.

google says 

Cat's eye is the name for the lid or operculum of the common sea snail Turbo smaragdus . 

edit to add: the Marshallese people did indeed work them in to ornamental belts and clothing items, so they were valued.

Thanks, Mr. Midnight. That's exactly what he called them. There was also a local term which I probably wouldn't recognize. It would be nice to know where they came from, but concede it's not likely.

From a letter, he mentioned that Dutch currency was used at Maffin Bay, New Guinea, but no mention of cat's eyes.

Another possibility was Morotai, Malaysia. Again, no mention from the one letter I have.

An outside possibility are the Philippines. Here, colonial and US currency were in circulation. But when the 308th arrived in Feb. 1945, the population was in dire straits after 3 years of war. So who knows?

In 1999, my dad turned the farm/homestead over to my brother, and then moved into an independent “old folks” home. As family historian, I received all his WWII stuff. This included about 20 letters, 50 photographs, a box with two documents, 45 cat's eyes, a few military buttons, a bar medal, and aviator pin. (Propeller and wings. He didn't earn this and was probably a gift).

On receiving the photos, I sent them back requesting labels. Most were jungle scenes with locals. Unfortunately, only about 20 came back identified.

At any rate, the stuff I'm uncovering is at least interesting. I'll try to do updates.

 Jan, 1943, James E. Spaulding enlisted in the US Army Air Corps. After 8 weeks basic training at Miami Beach, his first letter home was dated March  9th from an unknown origin. An excerpt:

“This field is ok.--it would have been a perfect spot to sweat out the duration”. 

APO was listed as 70.

The next letter is undated, but likely April, 1943 from Lowry Field, Colorado. He is now attached to the 33rd T.S.S. This is a long letter, 4 pages. A lot of technical stuff , and I'll need to decide how much, if any to include.