The 4000 letters in this collection center on Gordon T. Kinder (1919-2009) and Ann Cary Stuckey Kinder (1922-88). Both had Ohio roots dating to the 1790s: Gordon in Belmont County along the Ohio River and in Warren and Putnam Counties along the Indiana border, and Cary in Summit and Cuyahoga Counties around Cleveland.
The letters begin in 1941 with Gordon’s graduation from university and his commissioning as an Army artillery officer and with Cary’s second year of college. They take the reader through their meeting in 1942; courtship against the backdrop of war; marriage in 1943; training for the invasion; six months in England; ten months of combat in France, Germany and Austria; and seven months in an Army of occupation.
Both were prodigious letter-writers, as were their families who wrote them regularly. Most letters run more than 600 words.
On the homefront, the Ohio River floods; travel and communication suffer the war’s burdens; childhood diseases come in waves; difficult pregnancies don’t end well; the businesses of law, light manufacturing and coal continue; family gatherings continue but with less and less meat and butter; the casualties mount; and, suddenly, the dreams of peace meet harsh realities.
For the compiler, Gordon & Cary’s oldest son, Peter, reading these letters was like renewing conversations with people long dead. For the most part, the letters read as their writers spoke. Their sensibilities bring back to life family dynamics experienced in the 1950s.
Filters
DATE: 04/19/1944
SENDER: Charlotte Duncan Kinder (CDK) SEND LOCATION: 908 National Road, Brookside, Bridgeport, OH
RECIPIENT: Gordon Thomas Kinder, Jr. (GTK) RECIPIENT LOCATION: Kington, Herefordshire, England
SUMMARY:
Family chatter. A. V. Dix and bride buying Starbuck home in Colrain. Dinner with Bill & Clara Frazier. Twig no longer has food; just sew.
DATE: 06/16/1944
SENDER: Ann Cary Stuckey Kinder (CSK) SEND LOCATION: Gilman House, Phillips Exeter Academy (PEA), Exeter, NH
RECIPIENT: Gordon Thomas Kinder, Jr. (GTK) RECIPIENT LOCATION: England - somewhere
SUMMARY:
Reflections on honeymoon. Chat. #136
DATE: 05/05/1945
SENDER: Gordon Thomas Kinder, Jr. (GTK) SEND LOCATION: Berchtesgaden, Bavaria, Germany
RECIPIENT: Ann Cary Stuckey Kinder (CSK) RECIPIENT LOCATION: Rosemary Hall School, Greenwich, CT
SUMMARY:
Radio orders cease fire. Feels like a let down. Visited Berchtesgaden on 4 May. Explored air raid shelter and tunnels. Took souvenirs: AH cigar box, Japanese box. Lavish furnishings. Unit taking shelter in small village with hospital, theatre. Worried about being sent to Japan. Thinks only 30% chance will be sent home.
DATE: 05/08/1945
SENDER: Gordon Thomas Kinder, Jr. (GTK) SEND LOCATION: Salzburg, Austria
RECIPIENT: Ann Cary Stuckey Kinder (CSK) RECIPIENT LOCATION: Rosemary Hall School, Greenwich, CT
SUMMARY:
Unit in German airfield with all comforts. German planes landing, surrendering. On 7 May, VE Day party. Heard King’s speech. Noticed stammer. Sent CSK souvenirs from Hitler bunker. Night march out of Munich. German soldiers surrendering. GTK in charge of finding entertainment for troops and their exercise. Converting German hanger into theatre/chapel. No word on next post. Salzburg beautiful. Hints at difficult days before.
DATE: 05/08/1945
SENDER: Gordon Thomas Kinder, Jr. (GTK) SEND LOCATION: Salzburg, Austria
RECIPIENT: Family RECIPIENT LOCATION: Brookside, Bridgeport, OH
SUMMARY:
Transcription. VE Day. Reflections on combat. Munich in ruins. Hofbrau House. Three days of snow. Munich to Salzburg, wonderful roads. Berchtesgaden. Beautiful. Berghof magnificent but bombed and burnt by SS. Went into bunker. 25th person in. Souvenirs. French took over, ‘ruined everything’. ‘Not my most favorite people by far.’ Masses of surrendering Germans in hob nail boots which sparked on road. At German airbase. Acting as entertainment & exercise officer. GIs shooting up surrendered planes. No real VE celebrations.