Description:

WORLD WAR II CORRESPONDENCE OF (SECTION 8?) PVT. GIRARD H. HARRIS
Grouping of 12 war-date letters and covers from Pvt. Girard H. Harris, 593rd Engineers Amphibious Reg., covering his training at Camp Carrabelle (near Panama City, FL), Aug 7-Dec. 7, 1942, most 4pp. 8vo. The content of the letters, along with the fact that Harris has remained behind while his regiment has shipped-out to California, leads us to believe that he may have been in line for a Section 8 discharge, i.e. mental instability. In part: "...Received instructions on what to do before we use the boats... we were preparing for inspection...the general takes the rifle from you, looks it over... then throws it back at you... my knees were knocking... he spotted your two pictures behind my bunk... He said ''You have a very lovely wife''...[at base hospital] we have a fellow that just came in who thinks he''s Napoleon. He looks it too. Something tells me I''m in the right ward... the fellow that tried to cut his wrists was put in another ward... he dove through the window and ran down the road... my outfit is out on Catalina Island... Carrabelle has been condemned but the Army has overruled it...[he encloses a miniature pair of panties and promises to replace them with a larger pair when he returns home]...There is a possibility I might be coming home... I haven''t eaten in a week... Quite a few boys didn''t come back from town last night... when they showed up this morning they were all battered... someone was beating them up and rolling them of their money... it happens every pay day... the men gambled again... a lot of them have gone broke... they were betting as high as $40 a hand... I never saw so much money floating around... bombs, torpedoes and mines might be found on the shores. We were told not to touch them or pick up any fragments... Tomorrow I should know if I''ll get home for Christmas. Of course, a lot may have to depend on the outcome of my session with the Board... the Medical Board won''t meet again ... until after Christmas...". Sold with an unrelated soldier''s letter, 4pp. 8vo., Camp Adair, OR, Oct. 13, 1943 enclosing three photos of a young lady and noting: "...I don''t know what to think about Dot. But she sure in hell seems a little wackie to me. You ought to see some of her letters... Here is some pictures I got from Dot... You can do anything you wish [with] them. Burn them up or throw them away or do what you want with them...". Also with nine war-date A.L.S.''s of Pvt. Alan I. Burnap, each 2pp. or more, all written from the South Pacific, 1942-43 with covers but as Burnap was very careful about content due to censorship restrictions, the content is mundane at best. 22 pcs.

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February 18, 2017 10:00 AM EST
Elkton, MD, US

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