Beschreibung:

Approximately 70 items. Collection gathered by a G.I. who landed at Utah Beach on June 7th, after their transport sunk and all the equipment was lost ("morale fair"), and made his way across France and into Germany with his unit. The soldier was PFC Walter E. Goplerud, as indicated by two letters signed by his unit commander certifying that items gathered by Goplerud in Germany were approved. Most interesting is a typescript of his journal of his service in Europe, along with a more general narrative of the action. These entries make an interesting contrast to the earlier diaries which we frequently encounter. In the mid-19th century, most of the soldiers made note of weather conditions in their entries. PFC Goplerud makes note of troop morale each day! Some of the more "fun" items are postcards sent home by PFC Goplerud, most to family members. There are a few black-and-white views of training camps (Van Dorn and Fort George G. Meade, MD), but most are color cartoons poking fun at army life. 14 postcards. There is a letter to his sister, Inga, dated 5 April 1944. He notes: In referring to a couple of articles that were included with the letter (not present): “That one on the ‘Rifleman’ is what we do almost every day – crawling, creeping, running, dodging explosions, etc. Will you keep these for me because after the war I’ll put them in my scrapbook. The other one is about the 105 Howitzer, our plaything in the Cannon Co. “ (from Camp Van Dorn, MS) Cover with military cartoon. Plus four Christmas cards. There are a few "bringbacks" in this group - two German postcards, unused, but PFC Goplerud has put his name and military number and date of Dec. 30, 1844 on each, and three folders with monthly stamps for a German "war bond" fund, the Deutsche Volksgemeinschaft (German National Community). There are three official forms stating that Goplerud is bringing back items that do not include firearms or explosives or any other prohibited objects. The items listed are not those in this collection (they are more 3-dimensional, such as belt buckle, iron cross, goggles, sets of eating utensils, etc.). There are a number of publications issued by the military: War Department Pamphlet No. 21-1, "When you are Overseas." Writing home: Think!...These are ten prohibited subjects / 1. Don't write military information of Army units - their location, strength, materiel, or equipment....Don't write of convoys, their routes, ports..., time en route, naval protection, or war incidents occurring en route....etc.) "Fall-In": Greetings to the men who serve today from your comrades of 1917 and 1918. Presented by the American Legion. 32pp pamphlet with all kinds of information on what you can expect, Army terms, what you need and don't need, Red Cross, and more. Digest of the G.I. Bill of Rights, Prepared for members of the armed forces and veterans by the Yanks Service Bureau of the Chicago Sun. With information such as education benefits, loan benefits, unemployment pay benefits, etc. Two mimeographed and stapled booklets: Personal Affairs of Military Personnel and Dependents (5 April 1944), set up in Q & A format, with answers about War Bonds, dependent allowances, making out a will and power of attorney, etc.; and FM24-9 Basic Field Manual (Dec. 28, 1942), produced by 563rd Sig. Co., 63rd ID. "Restricted. Combined United States-British Radio-Telephone (R/T) Procedure." A Spiritual Almanac for Service Men, 1943-44. 3.25 x 5 in. (appears to be unopened!) More Fun En Route For Our Armed Forces, booklet with everything from word games and puzzles, "magic" tricks, games that can be made up quickly, such as an anti-aircraft dart or coin game, where each type of craft has points associated, with the objective of "taking out" as many as possible and accumulating the points, plus card games, and more. Other items in the collection include a number of newspapers - some field (or "trench") papers, some unit specific. There are several issues of the Stars & Strip