Many Iowa newspapers during the WWII years acknowledged receipt of letters from local military men. Many times these servicemen were able to get letters through that detailed their experiences. These letters somehow got by the Censors, for the most part. You will find that the letters posted on these pages are full of the history of that time. And some of the letters contain quite a bit of humor.
On each page you will note that the Writer of the letter is listed first with his rank (if known) and the date of the letter. The newspaper source and the corresponding Iowa county is documented after the letter.
Some Iowa newspapers did a "series" of letters from the military personnel. As time moves forward, more & more of these "series" letters will be posted on this website. Example series written by Pvt. Jack "Plink" Petrow.
LeMars Globe-Post
Plymouth Co., LeMars, Iowa
February 7, 1944
Those Thin-Skinned Nazis!
Postmaster F. C. Hentges has received Postal Bulletin No. 18687, covering regulations on mail to prisoners of war held by Germany.
The regulation is fairly lengthy. The gist of it is that the Germans are very thin-skinned, and the appearance of American patriotic slogans on the outside of envelopes to prisoners of war causes them acute distress. Such slogans as “V for Victory,” “Buy Bonds,” etc., causes the Nazis to sulk and pout, and even miss meals.
More serious, however, is their threat that they won’t deliver mail to prisoners of war, if it carries such objectionable slogans. Under these circumstances, Americans have to humor them.
Persons mailing letters to prisoners of war are requested to hand them personally to some post office employee, so he can make sure there is nothing on them that might delay or prevent the delivery of the letters.