1943 ORIGINAL ARCHIVE OF HANDWRITTEN AUTOGRAPH LETTERS [ALS] DETAILING THE DISASTERS AND DEPRIVATIONS OF BOOT CAMP AND BASIC TRAINING

On offer is a very nice World War II archive of 22 letters, most [19] handwritten by Pvt. (later Ensign) George S. Rountree, Jr. of H. Q. Battery 557th C.A. Bn. (AA), dating from April 7 to October 5, 1943, initially from Camp Lee, Virginia, then Camp Davis, North Carolina and later the Naval Air Station in Jacksonville, Florida (George gets discharged from the army and accepts a naval commission), a couple are typed, 19 have envelopes. Collectors and historians will find very good content concerning his experiences in boot camp and basic training. Here are some snippets: Camp Davis: " ... We had a little excitement out this way yesterday afternoon. Two Douglass Dauntless dive bombers, flying in formation got tangled up and both fell within 30 yards of each other about a half mile away from our building, and on one of the ranges. One pilot managed to parachute to safety, but the others died when both planes caught on fire as soon as they hit. There have been several other crashes around here lately-- most of them fatal..." "... spent most of the day riding around in a jeep-- going from one firing range to another. Even got fired at by accident, but suffered no damage..." The letters are all written to his wife Mary in Johnson City, Tennessee. Folds, some light toning issues, otherwise very good; envelopes have expected wear and tears.; Manuscript; 24mo - over 5" - 5¾" tall; AMERICANA, WWII, WORLD WAR II, ARMY, NAVY, NAVAL, FLORIDA, NORTH CAROLINA, ARCHIVE, BOOT CAMP, VIRGINIA, ROUNTREE, BASIC TRAINING, HANDWRITTEN, MANUSCRIPT, DOCUMENT, LETTER, AUTOGRAPH, DIARY, JOURNAL, LOG, KEEPSAKE, WRITER, HAND WRITTEN, DOCUMENTS, SIGNED, LETTERS, MANUSCRIPTS, HISTORICAL, HOLOGRAPH, WRITERS, DIARIES, JOURNALS, LOGS, AUTOGRAPHS, PERSONAL, MEMOIR, MEMORIAL, PERSONAL HISTORY,