Maj. Gillham hears how the family made it home, and talks about his own route home.

Today we find out that Maj. Gillham has finally learned that the family has made it safely home to Atlanta and that they had some trouble just before they made it.  To refresh your memory, the family lost use of the car's headlights on Christmas Eve in Tallapoosa, GA, about an hour east of Atlanta, and the girls were so afraid that Santa Claus would pass them by if they weren't at home.  Luckily, a man at the garage they stopped at was heading into Atlanta, too, so Pop drove close behind him the whole way, using the man's headlights as a guide.  As Maj. Gillham puts it, they "came in with Santa Claus" and made it just in time.

Just to let you know, it's only a few more posts until Frances gets into the act.  Her first letter is from January 14, so I will post that soon.  Stay tuned!

My mother (Monty) remembers seeing the gong that Maj. Gillham refers to in this letter, but she's not sure where it ended up.  Does anyone out in Blogland have any information as to its current whereabouts?

Tokyo
7 Jan 46

Dearest Love,

Yours written Christmas day received, and it was a great relief to know you had gotten to Atlanta safely.  I am sorry you had so much trouble on the home stretch.  You must have come in with Santa Claus.

I was surprised to hear that that box was there.  I didn't think you would get it before spring.  Parcel post must move faster going to the states, as they have a better organized distribution system on the receiving end.

I sent a little box to the children today containing some little odds and ends that might interest them.  Among them are the seashells I picked up a couple of weeks ago.  They are ordinary types of shells, but seem to contain more color, especially when wet.  Notice how some look like they have Japanese writing on them.

I am also sending two big boxes of metal objects from my scrap metal pile.  I haven't cleaned them up but I think they have potential.  If some need minor repairs we can work on them in our metal shop when we get set up again.

See that everybody in the family that wants any of the stuff gets some.  The only things I particularly want to keep are the cymbal and the gong.  That gong has a wonderful tone when struck with a padded object.

You said you were going up to Memphis soon.  I will be interested in your report on things there, but hope you don't overdo yourself.

Cpl. Newton Allen (Seddon Allen's son from Memphis) brought a Sgt. Broadnox by to see me last night.  Broadnox is from Atlanta, Ga. Tech and Camp Callan.  Allen had just finished at Princeton when the Army got him. They are both very fine young fellows.  I enjoyed talking to them very much.  It almost made me feel young again.  They are scheming to get discharged here and hook up with some newspapers and go home via Europe.  If I were a little younger I think I would go with them.  However, I hear there is some possibility of the Army taking some officers home that way, and I may do it if I have a chance when the time comes.

I am anxious to hear all about the Holsenbeck house party.  I know you will have a fine time.  How long since you were all together at the same time?  I hope that you won't be so crowded that you get in each other's hair.  I tried to help a situation like that once by staying at a hotel, and only got myself in the dog house.

I am sorry that my letters which greeted you on your arrival in Atlanta were those where I was fussing about your lack of plans. I trust that you have received some more pleasant ones since.

Goodnight, Sweetheart.

Bill

Two letters sent to the family on their way east, and a stroll down memory lane

Today I finally made a substantial number of scans and retrofitted them into my previous posts.  You are encouraged to go back to those posts and take a look at them.  I have also added some text regarding the new images.  Here is a list of the affected posts:

January 9, 13, 14, 17, 23, 25 and 31
February 11, 12 and 13

Today's first letter is one of my favorites, and one of the family's as well.  In it he takes a stream-of-consciousness walk down memory lane, recounting several incidents that were dear to them both.  I hope I have given you enough background so that you can recognize most of the places he mentions.  If not, just let me know in a comment.

He wrote two letters today:  the first one he wrote to General Delivery in El Paso, TX, for the family to pick up on their trip east.  The second one he wrote to 992 Washita Avenue, Atlanta, GA, the home of Frances' parents and their ultimate destination.

Tokyo
8 Dec 1945

Dearest Lovely,

I am sending this letter on now so it will get to El Pase before you do.  There is not much that I can write in the way of news, but I can say again that I think you are mighty sweet.

I wonder how the trip has been so far.  How you been able to get good places to stay at night?  Is the car running all right?  Be sure to keep the tire pressure right;  about 32 lbs. should be O.K.

It has been nearly five years since you and I were in El Paso before.  We had just been to Carlsbad Caverns and were heading west on a big adventure.  It has been fun, hasn't it?  I think we made the most of it.  When I think back over the past five years, it is interesting to see the scenes that come to mind -- A pane of glass broken out at the foot of my bed in a dirty old barracks at Ft. Monroe -- You in a slick black dress in our room at the Chamberlain -- Washington in the snow -- A patch of green grass by the side of the road in Texas where we ate lunch -- Water running through the streets of San Bernardino -- Red geraniums -- "Our" beach at La Jolla with the breakers coming over the green, green sea grass on the rock -- Sleeping in our sleeping bags in the rain in the mountains east of San Diego -- Riding a troop train across the country -- Climbing the bluff at Callan all out of wind -- Looking at battlefields in Virginia with Glore -- Swimming in a warm lake at Orlando -- Sailing on Buzzards Bay -- Bringing in a Christmas tree, getting holly in the heavy snow -- Walking up a blacked-out street in Boston not knowing where we could spend the night -- selecting wine at the Waldorf-Astoria -- A night at Browns Court before getting to Charlottesville -- The people coming out of church at Charlottesville -- Camping in the misty clouds in the Shenandoah -- Winning at the races in Chicago -- Looking at the zoo -- Putting you and Grandmother on the train -- 63rd Street in the snow and slush -- The keen bite of the zero wind on the Midway -- Searching for Flip-Flop down the alley -- Giving the guard your entrance slip at Gardner General -- the lights of Chicago from aboard the aircraft carrier -- The bright stars in Oklahoma -- The first green valley in California -- Martha in her pretty basket -- A chuck roast cooking on the charcoal -- Going up the hill at the Presidio through the everlasting fog with everything drippy -- Kissing you good-bye in the car at CASA -- Watching men come up the gang plank with their duffle bags on their backs -- The spray of a big wave breaking over the bow of the ship -- Fuji Yama looking just like it was supposed to -- And many, many others.  All in all I think it has been a good five years, don't you?  It has certainly broadened our lives and given us some wonderful memories.

Edward Lang's mother, Cousin Helen, lives at Yesleta, about 12 miles east of El Paso.  I think you go right by there so stop and see her.  I am sure you will enjoy it.  Pass the word conveying my love to all the El Paso relatives.  If you go by Dallas look up cousin Herbert.

I also have many childhood memories connected with El Paso.  I used to climb all over Mt. Franklin, and I frequently went down to Yesleta to spend the week-end with Edward.

The next place that you may be able to pick up a note from me will be Memphis.  I am still writing to Mother's old address there -- 1042 E. McLemore.

Tell Emily and Monty I am looking at their pictures every time I write a letter.  I love them very much.

Take good care of yourself and hold our family together until I get home.

All the love in the world,

Bill

******************

 

Tokyo
8 Dec 1945

Dearest Love,

It is 10 P.M. and I am at the office.  I had to catch up on some work and then went to a picture show here in the building.  Charles Lawton in Capt. Kidd.  It was very good.

After getting my boxes of brass all banded and ready to ship, one of them was a few pounds too heavy to go by parcel post, so I will have to undo it when I get a chance and take something out.

I got a letter this afternoon which exasperated me.  It was from that Transportation Officer at the Presidio.  He thought I hadn't signed those forms on the right line and is holding your things in Monterey until he hears from me in Japan.  In the first place, he is wrong, in the second stupid.  I will sign him some more forms just like I did before and send them in the morning.  I hope you won't be too muchly inconvenienced by the delay.

I will have to work pretty hard for a few days now.  I hope I get another letter from you tomorrow.

My cold is improving.

I surely do miss you, my little sweetie pie.  It would be so nice to have you around.  You are a part of my being now and I feel very bob-tailed without you.  Time is passing and we will be together again before long.

Lots of love,

Bill

**********************

I will have to do a little more digging into the Montagues of Texas that Maj. Gillham speaks of here, but I can pretty much guess that the little boy Monte Lang pictured in a previous post is somehow related to Helen and her son Edward mentioned in today's first letter.

Ysleta, Texas (which Maj. Gillham erroneously refers to as Yesleta in the letter), is a small border town east of El Paso along the Rio Grande.  There is a very old mission there, and the town itself was settled in 1680 and is one of the first European settlements in the state of Texas.

The "Mt. Franklin" he refers to in the first letter is actually a small chain called the Franklin Mountains, and there are two major peaks, North Franklin and South Franklin.  North Franklin Mountain is the highest, at 7,192 feet.

From left to right, North and South Franklin Mountains,

near El Paso, TX

The film Captain Kidd was released in 1945, so it was a relatively new film for a foreign Army outpost.  It starred Charles Laughton ("Lawton" in the letter) in the title role, and also Randolph Scott.

Remembrances of La Jolla, California

This is one of two letters sent by Maj. Gillham to General Delivery for Frances and the girls to pick up on their trip back east.  There is no telling when they actually received the letters, but since we have the letters now it is clear that they did receive them.  This letter was sent to La Jolla, CA, where the Gillhams first lived in California in 1941-42.  The second letter was sent to El Paso, TX, where Maj. Gillham spent summers during his youth with relatives.

Tokyo
6 Dec 1945

Dearest Darling,

So you are in La Jolla!!  Now, isn't that nice, and don't I wish I was with you!  How does it seem to be back there?  I will always remember our two years there as among the best.  I'll bet Emily and Monty are thrilled.  Does it seem like they thought it would?  Does Martha approve?

I can remember every foot of ground around La Jolla and Camp Callan.  I don't think there was a passable path within ten miles that I didn't walk (or climb) over many times.  That is really the way to learn to know and love a piece of country.  My biggest objection to my life here now, besides your absence, is that it is too soft and easy.  I am afraid I will get fat.  I only eat fruit and coffee for breakfast, and I walk to work as often as possible, but that isn't like a good old 15 mile hike up and down the bluffs.

Ask Emily and Monty if they remember that Sunday morning in the spring of 1941 that I took them up on the Scripps grade.  It was the day I took that cute picture of Monty, but it had a stalk of grass across her face.  Do you remember?  I told them that day that they would never see a more beautiful scene or a more perfect day.  I wonder if they remember it or if they were too young.

Be sure and send the Adams and the Mabeys, and Tripps, cards while you are there.

I know you will enjoy your visit in La Jolla.  Give any of our friends that you see my regards.  I hope you have a good trip the rest of the way.  Do be careful; and don't drive on when you get too tired.  That is when accidents happen.  Stop early and then get off early the next day if you must make time.

Remember all the way that I am right beside you in spirit and that I love you very much and am hoping to be beside you in person before too long.

Call at the P.O. again in El Paso.

Bon Voyage,

Bill

*********************

Camp Callan was a rather short-lived Coast Artillery Corps post that was built in 1940 and dismantled in 1946, at war's end.  It was a replacement training center which processed a total of 15,000 new inductees during the war.  Capt. Gillham was stationed here from 1941-43 after his officer training in Ft. Monroe, VA. 

Capt. Gillham after a march with his troops through the hills,

Camp Callan, 1941.

The picture of Monty with the stalk of grass across her face,

which Maj. Gillham mentions in the letter above

Monty and Emily Gillham in Capt. Gillham's jeep,

Camp Callan, 1941

Maj. Gillham standing proudly in front of his jeep,

Camp Callan, 1941

Emily and Monty at their daddy's office in Camp Callan, 1941

Undated postcard showing anti-aircraft artillery at Camp Callan.

While Capt. Gillham was stationed at Camp Callan, the family lived in La Jolla, first in a house on Torrey Pines Road.  In 1942 they moved to a house on Virginia Way, not far from scenic Scripps Park.

Frances Gillham on the patio at the house on Virginia Way, 1943

Capt. Gillham, in full cowboy outfit, on the patio of the house

on Virginia Way, with rubber tree, 1943.