November 2010

These letters are posted newest to oldest.




The rest of the story…… To save money, Jim hitchhiked from Los Angeles (where he was discharged) back home to New York City in December 1943. The Navy game him $182.52 to cover his transportation home.  He said that people across the country were more than happy give a ride, meal or lodging to a “boy in uniform”.
He did not tell his mother in the last letter that he had actually been honorably discharged on December 10, 1943.  He had injured his knee playing high school football at Brooklyn Prep. I’m not sure why the Navy took him in and trained him to fly, just to discharge him for a pre-existing condition.
He was hired by American Airlines as a gate agent. By 1967 he was living in Maryland, and was the manager for American Airlines at (Friendship)Baltimore-Washington Intl Airport. He was getting ready to move his family to Tokyo to open the Japanese offices for American Airlines when he became completely disabled by a massive stroke. Although he worked tirelessly to rehabilitate himself, and regain the ability to speak and walk, he was never able to work again.
He moved to Salt Lake City, Utah in 1972 with his wife, Jean Johnson Chellis, and their four children. He died there in 1997.

December 10, 1943

Dear Mom, Pop, Jerry, Mary and Mat,
   Enclosed you will find (I hope) two money orders for one hundred fifty dollars. Hold on to it until I get home.
   No definite time when I will arrive but I will call on the 16th.
                                                       That's all.
                                                               Your loving son, brother and nephew,
                                                                                   Jim

December 7, 1943

U.S. Naval Hospital. Long Beach, California

Dear Mom, Pop, Jerry, Mary and Mat,

   I just received your letter of the 3rd air mail. I am glad to hear that you like that little gift I sent. Long as you appreciated those thins I will keep sending them. You should receive another box I sent last week. I hope you like it.

   About Garraty- I have made a few inquiries to the Marines in my ward. They figure that since he is in the 3rd Marine Service Troop, he must be in the European section. The 1st and 2nd Division are doing the fighting in the Pacific area. If he is overseas he must have an A.P.O. on his address. If it is New York he most likely will be in Europe. One benefit will be sent to St. Albans Naval Hospital , if he is shipped back to the States. That's about the only news I can offer.   Here's a tip though. If her is coming back to the States, he must be O.K. All the boys they send back are convalescent ( I hope that is spelled right.)

   Yesterday I received a letter from Jerry dated Oct10th. Mat better keep hustling.

   Jerry mentioned in his letter that he doesn't want a pen so I won't buy that Parker I mentioned in my last letter.
   I have just heard that my leave is to start on 10th this Friday. Here's the catch- I won't be paid until Thursday so I can't make reservations until Friday. Don't figure on anytime that I will be able to get across the wide continent. There are thousands upon thousands who have the same problem.
  Here's what I am going to do. Bobby's suppose to be home on the 16th. I doubt very much whether I can make New York by that time, but I would sure like to see Bobby.  Where ever I am on the 16th , I will call home and make arrangements to meet him on this way back. If I am not mistaken Chicago would be the best place since Bobby will certainly be held up there for a few hours. I hope you understand what I am driving at. You can be sure I will call the 16th.
  That's about all. By the way Pop said he wanted some nuts. I will send some home tomorrow.
                                                   Your loving son, brother and nephew,
                                                                                   Jim

December 5, 1943 - Sunday

Dear Mom, Pop, Jerry, Mary and Mat,
   They have run out of the other stationary usptairs ( get a load of the way I almost spelled) upstairs.
   Here it  is only 0845 and it seems as if I have been up for days. Believe it or not, for the past week I have been going to 7 o'clock mass every day. Just call me Saint James Chellis. They throw us out of our sacks at 0630 so I might as well go. There's nothing to do around the hospital at that time in the morning.
   I want to warn you. Mom, that I am sending home packages Railway Express "collect".If you take care of the bills, I will square it up with you when I get home. By the way, most of the packages are my gear so just let it stand and I will straighten it out. You will be able recognize the "junk" I am sending to the family.
   My leave is all set. I walked up to the Captain, skipper of this station, and told him I wanted leave. He said, "Sure Jim, anything you want. Take as long as you want. Him and I are like buddies, we run this "joint" ???
   Shhh. Don't repeat this but again it has been raining in California. We had a few drops for five minutes this morning and is wasn't heavy fog. All this Californians hide under the beds and in the closets whenever there is a sign of dark clouds. They can't stand the humiliation.
   Up in ships service, I can buy almost anything from soup to nuts at a much lower price than outside. They have Parker pens us there for $3.75 and I paid $5.65 for mine almost two years ago. I remember that Jerry wanted a good pen so I will pick him up one.
   You know I could send a million things home but the shipping cost a mint as you might have noticed already.
   One of the boys that works down in the Post Office said that I have a letter from my Mammy. I will wait until the mail comes in before I close.
  Did you hear that Spencer is being shipped out? He is going to train on those Higgins landing barges down south some place.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higgins_boat
   I received a letter from Molly and Bub the other day. Bub seems to be getting a kick out of that new job of his. Speaking of the Bourkes it will seem like days of years gone by if we are all around for Christmas again. From every one's letters, I figure Geof will be home soon.
   The boys are having a big argument on a article that read in the papers. A representatives has just started a campaign to award a bonus to all service men who receive medical discharges. Of course this subject is important to most of the boys since they expect medical disch.. Can't blame them in the least.
   Your air-mail letter of December 2nd just came in with Mary's mass card. Thank you very much, Mary.
   I am glad to hear that Bobby will be home. I am afraid that i will not be able to be home on the 16th. My trouble is getting home. There are thousands of boys from Australia who have preference over everyone else. As soon as  I find out definitely when my leave starts I can start looking for reservations.
   I am really disgusted with California as far as the holidays is concerned. There isn't any Christmas atmosphere at all. I guess the cold weather is lacking.
   I took some pictures yesterday and they will be printed on Monday. Can't find anyplace to buy films though. Have no fear, Chellis will think of something.
   Think I had better close now.
               Your loving son, brother and nephew,
                                                        Jim
P.S.   Whew

December 2, 1943

U.S. Naval Hospital, Long Beach, California

Dear Mom, Pop, Jerry, Mary and Mat,

   Mail just came in and what do you think I received. There was a letter from my dear mother written on October 16, 1943. The letter had a hundred different postmarks on it.

   I don't think I have acknowledged your package. It arrived Tuesday in the late mail. Thanks a million for everything. Thank you Mat for those cherries. They certainly made a hit with everyone here.

   I received a letter from Driscoll and he expects to be going across soon. He had just come back from a five day leave.

   I must admit that I didn't see Bob Hope. He was only a few miles away from the hospital at Alimatos Naval Air Station.

   Yesterday traveled into Los Angeles . Walked around a bit and finally ended up seeing Alvino Ray. ( I hope that's the way you spell his name). Boy that Los Angeles is one crumby town at least the business section.

   These Mexican zoot suiters invest every place. Remember, Los Angeles was the scene of the battle between servicemen and the zoot suiters. everything is quiet now, though. There are too many servicemen about. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoot_Suit_Riots

   In Bobby's last letter he mentioned that he might be home for Christmas. That will be swell.

   Someone just gave me a card mailed by Mom on the 26th of Oct. That traveled almost the same route as you earlier letter. Mat you better straighten things out.

                                              Your loving brother, son and nephew,

                                                                                     Jim

November 29, 1943

U.S. Naval Hospital, Long Beach California

Dear Mom, Pop, Jerry, Mary & Mat,
  Just want to scribble a few lines before I go up to the movies.
 Over the weekend I went over to Hollywood, the great Hollywood. To tell the truth I was a little disappointed. If you don't know where to go in Hollywood, it's the same as any other town. Hollywood and Vine is the same as any other town's main street. By the way I didn't see Bob Hope standing on the corner as he claims to do so much. Since I will be home so soon maybe I will leave all my stories to when I get home.
   So far I haven't received your package. It's probably been held up by the Christmas rush.
   I received a letter from Driscoll today. He was home on a five day leave but didn't have a chance to see you. According to all reports he is on his way across.
   I haven't received any more news as to when I can start my leave. Should know within a week. Never can depend on the Navy.
   Did you hear about the Ramblers great victory. Boy Gogs was a proud man.
   I will have to hustle off to see "It ain't Hay"    Adios Amigos
                                     Your loving son, brother, and nephew,
                                                                    Jim

November 23, 1943

U.S. Naval Hospital-Long Beach, California

Dear Mom, Pop, Jerry, Mary and Mat,
   I have just come out of a nice warm shower and suddenly had the urge to do a little more writing.
   Last night after sending my last letter out I dressed up and went down to Long Beach. I roamed around most of the time visiting the famous "Pike". It's the exact same thing as Coney Island except it's about half the size. Same old penny arcades, "freak" shows, pop corn stands and baseball games, jammed together. As you might expect it was over run with sailors. They were throwing salutes at me left and right. It got so bad that I had to keep looking to my side and at the the ground. I sent home some junk but it shouldn't be there for two weeks.  I have a few things here that I bought in Mexico but I don't know how I am going to send them out.
   A Red Cross nurse was in this morning and invited two cadets to someones house for Thanksgiving. I said I would go so it looks like I am going to get a free feed. I don't know what kind off deal this is but there's no harm in trying.
   Every Tuesday Kay Francis comes around with a group of movie starts and distributes smokes to the patients. I was told she was working on a picture at present so wasn't going to be here today. Most of the movie stars aren't too famous. One of the girls I saw though, I remember her in a picture but can't recall her name. If I ever do think of her name, I will let you know.
   I received only one letter today. That was from Mat. My gosh, Mat with all those connections you have you should be boss of the P.O. in no time.
   No kidding Mom this is the life. I only got eight hours sleep last night so I snoozed for a few hours this afternoon. Boy what I wreck I am going to be when I get out of this hospital. All this rest will kill me. Say Mom, if you have any wash you want me to do send it on to me. I have to do something.
   This west coast has the worst transportation I have ever seen. All buses stop at 2430 and you are out of luck for the rest of the night. From 1800 to 2430 they only run every half hour and your can imagine how packed they are. Last night I was lucky enough to get a hitch back to the hospital. Two elderly couples gave me a lift right to the gate.
  Funny part about it all was that five of us in the care and we all came from different sections of the country west-midwest-east-south- southwest. It seems that everyone here in Long Beach comes everyplace but California. The population has tripled since the war started.
   There are millions of jobs out here paying good money. Some plants are paying 90 cents and hour while you go to school. The problem is housing. There isn't a room to be had in all this section of the country.
   California seems to be the land of defense housing projects. There are thousands of these small houses, no larger than our garage, surrounding the defense plants.
   Douglas Aircraft in only five miles down the road and I can see these defense homes from the ward. I hate to think of what's going to happen after the war.
  I had better watch myself. I want to write about five more letters tonight and rambling on like this will never help.
                                          That's all for present.
                                                      Your loving son, brother and nephew,
                                                                                               Jim

November 24, 1943

U.S. Naval Hospital- Long Beach, California

Dear Mom, Pop, Jerry,Mary and Mat,
    This will have to be a short letter. I want to get this letter in today's mail and that only allows me 15 minutes.
   I have some very , very, very, good news. My leave papers came back and were approved. It isn't definite as to what date I will start my leave but it is between the 10th and 15th.
   Didn't do anything last night but write a few letters. Today liberty starts at 1300 so I am going downtown to get a haircut and pick some baggages from railway express.
                              Will have to close now.
                                        Your loving brother, nephew & darling son,
                                                                                           Jim

November 19, 1943 (out of order)

Dear Mom, Pop, Mary, Jerry and Mat,
   Surprised, this is the second letter I am writing you in three days. I guess wonders will never cease.
   I received a letter from Mom yesterday and one from Pop today.  The boys back in Las Vegas are readdressing my mail so it won't have to go to the Selection Board in Los Angeles then here. Probably take a day longer that way.
   Ever since I have gone away, Pop has had his hand in my card parties than Father Linibach. Well, the Chellis family has to make money some way. My Mammy always said that the family first got a start when Pop became an usher in church. - Easy Poppy. Glad to hear Jerry won something- stay in there churching and we'll soon refurnish the house.
   Don't say it too loud, but it is raining here in California. These natives claim it is heavy fog but it is as wet as rain we had in New York. Last night, coming back from Long Beach I ran into a fog. Boy, I could hardly see ten feet in front of me.They tell me at this time of year, Long Beach section has them every night. Don't let it get around that I told you or I would be run out of California by the Chamber of Commerce.
   I went to see some bone specialists today and he has recommended diathrmy (sp?) treatments. What a racket. Please address my mail Chief Goldbricker Chellis, from now on. He didn't say how long I would be here buy I kind of like this place and would enjoy a rest for a week or more, then a nice leave- wishful thinking.
   Last night I went to the wrestling matches down in Long Beach with a few of the other cadets. Boy what a bunch of comedians. They are the biggest phonies going. People go there for a laugh more than anything else.
  I haven't decided what I am going to to do over the weekend but believe me I shouldn't have any trouble amusing myself. I think about the best thing to do is to see Long Beach first. They have an amusement center down there similar to Coney Island called the "Pike". I noticed the roller coaster when I was coming in from Los Angeles.
   The scenery here in southern California must have been real pretty. You should see the outlying districts now. The whole mountain side is covered with oil wells. The are no more than 25 ft apart, and almost black out the ground from a distance. Only one out of three are in use now. I imagine they would be able to beautify Long Beach and Los Angeles a 100% if they tore those structures down.
  A ha the sun has just come out for the first time today. The chamber of commerce can smile again.
   Out here in Long Beach all the homes are of the bungalow type that you might see in the better sections of Rockaway. Palm trees line the residential streets just as maple trees a stringed along our streets in Woodhaven. I must compliment California on their beautiful schools. About six or seven years ago an earthquake tore down all the old structures and these new buildings replaced them. You might have seen some of them in the various movies. All modernistic and will kept campus really could make school enjoyable.
   I had better close now. I almost forgot about chow so I have to hustle if I want to eat. Friday today- what can I eat?
                                   Your loving son, brother, & nephew,
                                                                          Jim

November 22, 1943

U.S. Naval Hospital- Long Beach, California

Dear Mom, Pop, Jerry, Mary and Mat,
   Read this letter and weep. I just come back from show of a delicious, tender steak, boiled potatoes, string beans, tomato juice and peaches. What a life.
   I have been sleeping all morning, trying to recover from a hectic weekend. What a time I had. Saturday morning, three other cadets and myself started out , by car, for Tijuana, Mexico. It's a small town on the border and about 100 miles from Long Beach. It took us three hours before we hit San Diego, a fairly large town just this side of Mexico. One of the fellows had to see someone so I had a chance to look the place over. I never saw a place that was so turned over to the war. Consolidated Aircraft Co is located a few miles to the north of San Diego. I could hardly believe that a factory could be so large. It stretched for miles and miles. All of it covered in nets to camouflage the works. Small wooden houses were built over the nets, streets were layed out and even trees were growing over the entire plant.
   When we finally reached the border we had to change all our money into two dollar bills, our money orders issued by U.S.. The were the only bills expected in New Mexico.
   We had not trouble getting across the border since our I.D. cards were in order. On the other side of the border, you can secure a slip for four gallons of has. Car drivers living in San Diego can go over the border every day if they want to so the have no gas worries
    Here's the payoff- of all the days I had to pick to see Mexico it was Independence day and everything was nailed shut. We couldn't do much more than get our 4 gallons of has and go back to San Diego. It was about 8 o'clock by this time and we were a little tire. Foolish as it seemed we started to look for rooms.
   San Diego is a little larger than Jamaica. A Marine training station, Camp Pendleton with 15,000 men is only ten miles out of town and a Navy training station with 10,000 men is in the town and we were trying to find rooms. Just for the heck of it we stood on the corner and counted the civilians and service men that past by. The average was 28 to 1. Your can't imagine a place with so many service men. Millions of them. After trying about ten places we were going to sleep in the car. One of the boys wanted to take a crack at one more nice place. Him and another cadet went in a were lucky to get a room with double beds. They came out and told us the number of the room. About a half hour later the other cadet and myself leisurely walked into the hotel and up to the room. It was pretty good. The beds weren't big enough for two to sleep in so we flipped to see who slept on the floor. Luckily I---- spent the night using the rugs as a mattress. It wasn't too bad because I had the pillow and the other fellow had none- What a break???
   Sleeping on the floor was comfortable for awhile then it became cold, mighty cold. I got up and put on the heat. I tried to roll up in the blanket but it didn't seem to do much good. It seems I will have to be much more than cold to lose sleep.
   I woke a couple of times during the night, trying to get in better positions to keep warm. My friend on the floor was having the same trouble. When morning finally came we woke the other son of a guns up. No use letting them sleep. Too much might hurt them. Suddenly I noticed the two windows were wide open. The venetian blinds had blocked our view during the night and we had shut them the night before. One of the characters in the bed was a fresh air fiend and had opened them up again. We almost murdered him. One of the other boys and myself went to church while our friends caught a little more  shut eye.
   About ten o'clock we sneaked out of the hotel and due to the shortage of good old (???) we ate breakfast-dinner together.
   Again we were Mexico bound. After crossing the border we picked up 4 more gallons of gas. Tijuana was crowded with Sunday visitors and caliente, another nearby Mexican town overflowed with horse racing fans. There was no sense in going to either one of those places. The only other half way decent town was Ensenada about a hundred miles down the coast. We had heard that further in Mexico we could get all the gas we wanted. A traveling we were - I have never seen such horrible roads called a highway in all my life. They were nothing more than wagon trails.
   We ran across a farm house and thought we had better stop for water. There was smoke coming out  of the radiator and that wasn't good. One of the cadets knocked on the door and a little Mexican stuck his head out and said in his best English " Sorry boys, we no open for business". After arguing in Spanish (out Spanish) we finally got him to give us water. When we went around the back we saw all these gambling tables piled up. I guess someone had some bad luck.
   Later on we hit some good pavement and made Ensenada in two and a half hours. What a disappointment. It was a typical poor peasant village living off the fish from the sea and the visitors from the States. This town has a beautiful hotel that was used by many movie stars when the come down the coast for deep sea fishing. Now it is being used for a  military reservation ( I hope that is what the sign meant). We walked all over the grounds and didn't see a soldier. Someone got the bright idea to get an American flag and run it up the flag pole. Hard as we looked we couldn't find one. Boy that would have started an international affair. About six o'clock we started back to the states. According to Navy regulations were only to be 50 miles away from the hospital. Here we were 200 miles away, so I think it was  best we did make ourselves scarce.
    I think I had better stop here and tell you about my trip back some other time. I don't think I will be able to send this letter air-mail if I use the other heavy paper (please excuse)
   Jerry asked me to get him a sweater. Down here in the hospital they have a store of Navy equipment. If Jerry wants a black sweater and cap like mine, send me his size. I imagine he would like something that is regulation Navy. That can be his birthday present ( his 18th birthday) ( I will give it to him now though)
   By the way, up here in ship's service I can get all the candy and cigarettes I want.  24 bars of Hershey only cost 24 cents. Tooth paste, razor blades, and all other toilet articles are for sale (no ration points). Maybe Pop would want something.
   Do you realize this is the third letter I have written in sic days. Pretty good eh?
   There doesn't seems to be much more to say except that my chances for a leave are increasing.

                                                                 Your loving son brother and nephew,
                                                                                     Jim
P.S. My hand is just about broken.