Link to Family Tree to understand family relationships.
Today we have a letter from G.I. Harry Lowell written at a USO center in Southern California while stationed at the Desert Training Center.
December 30, 1943
Dear Eva,
Three cheers! You saved me from a case of acute flatness of my pocketbook; many thanks for your thoughtful Christmas present. I also want to acknowledge your long letter from the 10th.
My intentions of answering it promptly were good, but as usual something always turned up to interfere with my correspondence. You know, whenever I decide to write to you I bear in mind to word my letter in a “fireside-chat” manner instead of just scribbling the conventional news and unimportant things – as I do in letters to the family. To cut it short, I want to carry on a correspondence with you, that would be equal to informal chats between brother and sister. Ugh, I have spoken.I had a good laugh out of that matter of Turkish translation; don’t you think that the best thing to do was to send the paper registered to Washington with an explaining letter? Well, they’ll probably draft you anyhow; so don’t worry.
I have been kept quite busy with our intensive training for the last few weeks. I had a lot of fun at the anti-aircraft gunnery school in the desert, where I stayed one week and learned the art of shooting down planes, retail and wholesale. During that week I wasn’t able to shave nor to take a shower; oink, oink, what a feeling of dirty comfort that was! (Confidentially, I would have liked a bath.)
As you know, I am “practically on the boat” as we were told by our officers. Tonight, was the last night that we could go to town. We have been issued new clothing and equipment. Well, it won’t be long now.
I am a real, live nephew of Uncle Sam now. Vive L’Amerique! I sent the paper to Tillie for safe-keeping.
I was invited Christmas Day to the house of the former farm advisor of this county; he is a most interesting and intelligent man who’s been all over the world. We had a nice talk and he gave me good advice and offered a few expert suggestions as to farms in California. Your brother gets around, doesn’t he? The day after Christmas I was introduced to some more nice people who have a nice Victrola, a beautiful home – and the lady is a good cook. I met all these people through a schoolteacher who took a liking to me at the U.S.O. and who has made me her “nephew”; she has some more adopted “nephews” in the army.
How is everything in the beautiful city of San Francisco? Did you have a nice Christmas?
As soon as I reach my destination you will be getting a change of address card denoting my mailing address.
When I got my citizenship papers, the judge had to hold a special session just for me. Usually they give talks to a whole bunch of men, but due to hurried circumstances, the court had to open for me; I felt honored, indeed.
Well, I’ll write you soon if they let me write from the port; otherwise you’ll hear from me when I get “there.”
Love,
Harry
Homo AmericanusP.S. Give my regards to the family at “2266.”
In the February 3rd post, we saw a 1944 V-mail letter Harry wrote to Eva, addressed to 2266-22nd Avenue in San Francisco, where she was renting from the mother of a friend from nursing school – see November 7th post. In the latter post, Harry counsels his sister to find a way to get along with the family. She escapes the family dynamics by moving out.
Thanks to enlisting in the army, Harry was able to expedite his citizenship. Despite Harry’s thought, Eva was not drafted and she appears to have given up the thought of joining the Nurses Corps on her own(which would have allowed her to get as far away from the family as possible and likely necessitated translating her Turkish passport). Eva signed the Oath of Allegiance and became a citizen on January 8, 1945, just a few days before her marriage. On the same form, she officially changed her last name from Cohen to Lowell (and just days later would change it to Goldsmith!).