1940 - Page 10 of 10 - WW II Love Story, Letters from Buddy

PART III: I DO

June-August 1940

“Stardust” by Tommy Dorsey & The Pied Pipers with Frank Sinatra:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R81yulORVAM
After Cy’s letter of June 10th, there is no correspondence until December, but that was because Cy and Marty were finally together and no longer needed to communicate by letter. Between June 10 and June 14th, Marty managed to get to Detroit and pick up the new Plymouth Deluxe 2-door sedan and she drove it back to Oak Park. Then she packed and set out on the long drive down to Shreveport, Louisiana. By the 14th, Marty and Cy were posing for pictures with their “new baby”.

Marty in the new Plymouth, June 14, 1940

At this same time, the U.S. government begins shipping military supplies to Great Britain and passes funding legislation for a massive overhaul and modernization program for the U.S. Navy. In Europe, the German army has taken Paris and Hitler is strolling past the Eiffel Tower, surveying his latest conquest.

Against this ominous backdrop, Cy and Marty forge ahead with their plans to marry in the short window of time allowed by army regulations. On June 22nd, with their good friends Tom and Meg Gerrity, they pack into the car and drive the 200 miles from Shreveport to Baton Rouge where they meet up with Cy’s sister Emma (a/k/a “Jack”), who is a nurse with the red cross. Cy and Marty are married in the Presbyterian Church and finally the long wait is over.

Cy & Marty about to drive to Baton Rouge, La. 6/22/40

Tom & Meg Gerrity about to leave for Baton Rouge with Marty and Cy, 6/22/40

They know that Cy will have to continue his training and that they will probably have to move frequently, which is part and parcel of army life. They’ve had to borrow a fair amount of money to pay for the car and expenses to get settled, but their happiness and fearless idealism is plain to see on their faces.

I did not find any evidence that they really had a honeymoon after the wedding, but on June 23rd they moved into their first apartment in Shreveport.

Marty & Cy’s first apartment. Shreveport, La.*

In July, Cy made local news when he had to share his plane with a friendly mouse.

Within two days, France has formally surrendered to Germany leaving Great Britain and the Soviet Union as last serious opponents to the Nazi juggernaut.

On July 7, 1940, Richard Starkey is born in Liverpool, England. Later he will become a musician, change his name to Ringo Starr, and gain world-wide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. “It don’t come easy”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anpjEN9KeJ0

The United States, fearing the rising power of Japan, enacts restrictions on the sale of steel and oil to Japan on July 25, 1940.
In mid-August, the Germans begin heavy aerial bombing of British air force installations in an attempt to diminish British air power as the Germans plan for an invasion of Britain in September. The British retaliate on August 26th with the first bombing raids directly on Berlin.

On August 30th, the Army Air Corps obtains permission to build a base at Hunter Municipal Airfield, Savannah, Ga., which is destined to become the new home of the 27th Bombardment Group.

*A “Googlemaps” photo of Cy & Marty’s first house, as seen in 2014.

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September to December 1940

Editor’s note–Music of the day: “There’s a boy coming home on leave“: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9XZkvZmvL0

Despite the growing threat of war, there was a significant anti-war sentiment in the United States. Eugenics was a popular subject with whites who were looking for pseudo-scientific reasons to justify their racist views—this was the backbone of Hitler’s belief in superior “Aryan race”. Some prominent Americans, like Henry Ford and Charles Lindbergh were outspoken anti-Semites, Hitler supporters, and strongly advocated views of neutrality in the conflict. In September of 1940 they launched the “America First Committee” as a vehicle for persuading Americans to resist becoming involved in the war. Lindbergh would go on to make a number of well publicized speeches espousing his views.

On September 16, the US Congress passes the selective service act to call up 900,000 men between the ages of 20-36 to be drafted each year. (After the U.S. enters the war, the ages cover the span from age 18 to 45).

Meanwhile Germany continued its merciless bombing campaign against Britain, unleashing up to 1000 planes in a single day, but the English were unyielding. Hitler ultimately postponed his planned invasion because the results of his bombing campaign were inconclusive. On September 7 the Italian army invaded Egypt. In mid-September Canada, Great Britain and the Soviet Union all institute a military draft to build up their armies. At the end of the month, the Japanese were invading French Indo-China.

On October 9, another child was born in Liverpool. This boy would also become a musician and would later pair up with Paul McCartney as one of the most influential singer-song writing duos in history. Born in a world bent on self-destruction, he would use his music to call people to imagine that peace and love was the answer to everything. His name was John Lennon.

“Imagine”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVg2EJvvlF8

In October, Cy is transferred with the 27th Bomb Grp. to Savannah, Georgia, where the newly constructed Hunter Field was about to become home for the 48th Bombardment group. They were there a few months and they briefly settled into a new apartment.

Marty saved this post card with note that it was their “would-be ritzy hotel”. I assume this is where they stayed until they found their apartment.

Cy and Marty’s second apartment, Savannah, Ga. fall of 1940

On November 5, 1940, FDR is elected to his third term as President of the United States. The Army Air Corps officially constitutes the 47th Bombardment Group. The British and Italians are exacting heavy losses on each other in Mediterranean naval battles. The Germans are constructing a Jewish ghetto in Warsaw Poland where 400,000 people are confined to an area of 1.3 square miles. From here, they are routinely shipped out to various extermination camps. The British begin the western dessert offensive against the Italians in North Africa.

There is one brief letter from Cy in December 1940:

12/?/40

Hotel Floridian

Tampa, Fl.

Hi Honey:

Be home in a week or so. There isn’t much doing. We’re flying over water all day (5 hrs. ea.) and it isn’t a hell of a lot of fun.

How’s everything with both of you (I hope ?)* Don’t write as I may be home by then.

Lots of love, Your Shavetail.

*This comment suggests Marty may believe she is pregnant.

12/21/40: F. Scott Fitzgerald dies of a heart attack.

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Year: 1940

Part III: “I DO” 1940 June-August

1940 September-December Hunter Field