Calisthenics at Bowdoin WW2
When college coaches were sent to war, new athletic managers were recruited.
As teams coaches were sent to war, new athletic managers were recruited from slim pickings
In 1943 Bowdoin College boys were required to take rigorous calisthenics 5 hours a week. It was normal for boys just out of high school to be weak in reading and writing. Ordinarily the college would focus greatly on upgrading writing and math skills, english, foreign language, history, debate, American literature and the classics. But in 1943 best efforts at Bowdoin were strained by the war. Bowdoin’s tradition of liberal arts, Christian morality and intellectualism for the common good, were the formula that created great thinkers to lead democratic society. This unlike a socialist or communist government that requires none but the brute.
Young men like Mose were already heavily burdened with extra classes plus training for sports. Morris played Baseball, Football, Tack, and Basketball. And even though he wasn’t yet enlisted in the navy, he was subjected to an altered curriculum including extra physical ed classes designed to ready boys for war.
As sportsmen aged 18-21 instantly dissolved from Bowdoin’s varsity teams, freshmen like Mose were added on the fly. Mose loved to play ball. And he had a good time of it at Bowdoin.
Morris’s freshman year at Bowdoin in 1942-1943 was a critical time in American history. The college had to comply with the Army-Navy requirement to get the boys fit for war. No part of campus life remained untouched by war. This film gives and idea about military calisthenics.
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Preparing for Notre Dame Navy Training
Excerpt WW2 Letter 6-13-44
Tonight I pulled a letter from Mose at Bowdoin College in 1944. June 13th will be 72 years since it was written. The boys at Bowdoin just saw a film on Midshipman training and “it really inspired the fellows about to leave”. The course curriculum has all been transformed to concentrate the young men’s minds on the needs of war. Morris has reported his grades. He got an A in Naval Strategy. During the war Mose served on an aircraft carrier in the South Pacific.
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Scent of a WW2 Love Letter
Arline sent Morris scented letters during WW2. The collection is stored in a new cedar chest, smaller than the hope chest. I had the box made just for the letters. The hope chest always smelled so good when I would peek into it as a child. The new chest’s cedar scent is fresh, holy, pungent.
Cedar Chest for WW2 Love Letters
Arline as a teen had little money for things like perfume. I asked her a few years ago what perfume she wore. She didn’t remember much about perfume or her make-up. In her photos she doesn’t look made up at all. But Morris mentions her lipstick. She probably did use scented powder in the letters. How wonderful for any person serving overseas to get a scented letter. “Half way around the world” Mose wrote back.
Scented WW2 Love Letter
WW2 Inoculation Cartoon and Poem
In 1943 Morris was a freshman at Bowdoin College. Once enlisted in the U.S. Navy they gave him inoculations. It’s in a letter. Here’s a poem from the ship’s magazine. I don’t think this piece is about inoculation. It does demonstrate the idea of creating and treating sickness. Big sigh ahhh.
WW2 Inoculation Cartoon & Poem
WW2 Radio Dispatcher
George Barrett WW2 Album
I just got back from visiting my mother, Arline, in northern California. She and I were housesitting for my brother. I took Arline to see a neighbor, her friend, Lola. Lola’s 94. It was the first time I’d been next door to Lola’s house. She lives with her son, Richard Barrett in a beautiful hilltop home.
Lola, Richard and I got to talking about Lola’s courtship with her husband. They met after the war. Richard told me his dad, George Barrett, was a radio dispatcher in the South Pacific during WW2. His dad saved many mementos. Richard lent me his WW2 album with privileges.
What a collection! I couldn’t begin to say what I like best and found most interesting.
George Barrett 1940s Vintage
A radio log from Okinawa. August 15, 1945. George was on duty.
WW2 Radio Log Japanese Surrender
My brother told me that Morris told him that right after the announcement of Japanese surrender, he went AWOL. A crew invited him to fly over Japan and tour the damage. “Hey buddy, come check it out!” It’s in his letters. I’m not sure I realized he went AWOl for the chance. He was commander of the ship. His commander was often gone. What did it matter now?
Read MoreFather’s WW2 Love Letter from Subic Bay
It’s Father’s Day today, Summer Solstice of 2015. In October 1945 Mose writes Arline from his ship. WW2 Love Letter below. He’s anchored in Subic Bay. This is fun because I can google and see where he was. Mose is censor for his boat’s mail. Many envelopes from this period bear a navy censor stamp with his initials MAD. It’s probably not urgent to keep secret where he is now, which he otherwise carefully instructed Arline about on the eve of his disembarcation from San Fransisco. He mentions a milestone, one year ago he graduated naval school. In six months he’ll be a lieutenant. I read the letter. I walk my dog. I send love to Mose across time and space.
WW2 Love Letter from Subic Bay
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