Bryant Service Club

Received your letter of April 11 recently & as you can see it took its time getting here.

I am in touch from time to time with Ray Smith & Gene Schmidt and with the aid of your letters I can keep track of many of the fellows of "39" & "40."

I met Al Stanwood in Australia on one of our rest leaves & he told me at that time he was on his way home after two years out here. I have known Al all my life & you can't imagine how good it is to meet someone, you've known all your life, half way around the world.

There isn't much I can say about life out here & what everyone is doing as I believe the press covers it pretty well. We continue to go [government censored] & they get the worst of the deal all around in just about everything.

Pilots camps are about the same at every base with the exception of better chow at one, or a little more mud at another. Our free time is spent swimming, playing volley ball or soft ball but for some reason I guess you might say that the sack (cot, bunk or what have you) never has much of a chance to cool off it's quite a past time.

I'm on my last tour now & if all goes well I hope to drop in to Bryant in the early Fall to see some of the old faces.

I was glad to hear that "Bus" wasn't killed but a Prisoner of War that is if it had to be either. I know several Prisoners of War over there now & I hope they are luckier than the prisoners the Japs take.

As I've said there isn't much to say & couldn't if I wanted to so till next time thanks for your letter & I hope to hear from you again soon.

Sincerely
Bob Marshall
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87 Hilltop Avenue
Providence, R. I.

November 2, 1943.

Bryant Service Club
Bryant College
Providence, R. I.
Gentlemen:-

Our son’s address has again been change and is now as follows:-

Capt. Robert W. Marshall, Jr. U.S.M.C.R.
V. M. S. B. 243
%Fleet Post Office
San Francisco, California.

Will you kindly change your records accordingly.

Very truly yours

Jessie W. Marshall
(Mrs. R. W.)

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Bryant Service Club,

Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year to you way back there state side. I am fortunate enough to have a quart of good scotch, which by the way I could sell for fifty dollars, that I have carried with me from the states over twelve months ago; yes I think I'll have a Merry Christmas way out here.

I can imagine it's pretty nice to see all the old gang paying visits to the college & also great for them to be back. As for myself it will be July before I expect to be back in Little Rhody just two years since I left.

Out here its business as usual with strikes every day, to date I've been on nine strikes or raids as some people call them & several flights aiding ground troops. Don't forget for a minute that these ground troops are really going through hell up against japs who are experts in really digging in & making themselves invisible.

As far as dive bombing goes its still as much fun & exciting as it ever was only now we have a new added attraction & that's the stuff thrown up to greet us AA & there is plenty of it. You go into your dive with your two trusties blazing away right into your target all the way from fifteen to twenty thousand feet & straight down then drop your bombs & get out [fast] & I do mean fast unless you want a tail full of arrows & they can really burn. All this sounds wonderful nothing to it but don't forget you've got a target to hit that is about twenty to forty feet across such as a gun position. Sometimes your [sic] on your target & sometimes your not but you do your damndest for its either you or him.

The chow is fair nothing to brag about, plenty of dust when it's dry & plenty of mud when it's wet, bugs not to [sic] bad, rats plentiful in fact every night we have the well known rat race up & down in the hut chewing everythng they can get into.

This isn't much of a letter just a few odds & ends of our life out here & what dive bombing is like. No you don't feel too good at times in fact your [sic] scared stiff but it all happens so fast you don't have time to sit around & worry about it.

My regards to Mr. Naylor & any of the other teachers still around right now its me for the sack & a good night's sleep undisturbed by nuisance raids I hope.

Sincerely
Bob Marshall

P. S. Thanks for the letter & information on some of the Bryant Alumnus.
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July 4, 1943

Letter Writing Committee

Was very glad to receive your letter the other day for it sure is great to hear from the old gang now + then. As I said once before I am in contact with Ray Smith, Gene Schmidt, Erle Forrest + a few of the other fellows.

I am in hopes of meeting Al Stanwood out here for I understand he is located in this area that I’m in at present. I was glad to hear of the additional honor bestowed upon him.

Note what you say about Bill Lambert being called soon, he is one of the best please give him my regards when you see him also to his wife.

Was sorry to hear Mrs. Dow had been ill trust she is feeling much better now.

It was a shock for me to hear of Dr. Forrest passing away I knew him well and it mush have been a terrible blow to Erle his mother + sister. Speaking of exams it sure is a relief not to have to look forward to them at this time of year.

Things are about the same with me kept quite busy and plenty of good hunting now. Its fun to hunt but not so fun to be hunted. There is still plenty of heat left down here + if you ever need any I’ll be more than glad to send you some. Give me the good old cold climate + change of seasons you can’t beat it. This is one part of the world where, when it rains it rains + when the moon is full you can’t beat it any place on the globe.

The fellows who have been all over the world will really have something to talk about after the war, it’s too bad we can’t take pictures of some of these places but they are banned.

Once again I thank you for writing.

Sincerely
Bob Marshall [Transcription ends]

April 16, 1943

To the Members of the Club:

Your very welcome letter of March 14 was received in a little over a month due to distance & the very slow mail service out here.

By out here, I refer to a pin head, somewhere in the Pacific, that they call an island where all you can see is water coral & palm trees. To walk entirely around the island in about three hours you can see it’s pretty small. We have an occasional ship stop now & then & it’s a welcome sight.

We have a long working day & are on call twenty-four hours a day. When we do have a few hours to ourselves we can play tennis, basketball, handball, swim, fish, sail in the lagoon or go shell hunting. Believe it or not shell hunting is the most popular and I guess you might say the most dangerous, for coral is the worst thing I ever ran up against for cutting a person. Shells known as “Cat Eyes” are obtained beyond the reef which surrounds the island & it is necessary to swim under the breakers through the coral to reach comparatively calm water beyond where the water will be anywhere from ten to fifty feet & deeper. The shells are found clinging to coral shelves in this water and with the aid of underwater glasses you look out at fish of all colors & shapes including sharks which don’t exactly make one feel too much at home. It is something you read & dream about but very seldom think you will try. Sharks come within easy reach at times & they are not to be trusted so we usually make a cautious exit from their vicinity.

We have movies every night & a black out room in the barracks where we can read, write, play cards, drink beer and fruit juices also liquor if you are fortunate enough to have had the forthought [sic] and brought your own personal stock. No lights including cigarettes are allowed outside after dark and unless there is a bright moon out luminous dial wrist watches act more or less as a means of avoiding bumping into people in the dark.

The weather is ideal & your [sic] not here long before you acquire a dark tan. I have been out here a little better than three months now & on the way out I stopped at Pearl Harbor where I was shown around the island of Oahu by none other than Eddie Krvock a well known alumnus of Bryant College.

I am in contact with Gene Schmidt who is a Pvt. in the Army based in Texas also S/Sgt. Ray Smith in California & both of them love the life they are leading even if it is quite a let down after being a civilian.

When I was stationed back in the states it sure was nice to receive packages of cigarettes, candy, etc. from the Service club & I really appreciated it. Out here we can get cigarettes without any trouble & as far as food goes I’m afraid it would get stale on its way out besides they try to give us everything that is possible in the line of candy etc. & with the mails being heavy we are asked not to send for packages. Thanks for wanting to do something in the line of those welcome packages but I suggest that in many cases where you cannot send them letters will always be welcome. In return you will receive mail from the boys which will be newsy at first but later after they have given you all the news they have to cut down due to censoring. I hope this letter will give you a general idea in brief what life is like on a Pacific Isle, all but the details that cannot be told for obvious reasons.

I was very sorry to learn of Ben Scuda’s being missing in this part of the globe & I hope he will turn up safe & sound very soon. I believe he was operating off a carrier & having operated myself from one I know that every inch of credit coming to him he deserves for it is just about the toughest assignment in the navy but it’s also one of the best.

It isn’t like me to talk so long but I did want to show my appreciation & if I ever return to Prov. you’ll see me on the hill until then write letters to the boys over-seas plenty of them they are always welcome.

A Bryant Alumnus
Bob Marshall

U. S. Marine Corps
VMF 211 Fleet P. O.
San Francisco, Calif.

1st Lt. Robert W. Marshall Jr. U.S.M.C.

Please return to
Clara Blaney
Bryant College Providence
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January 7, 1943

Gentlemen:

Once again I wish to thank you for cigarettes which I received shortly after Christmas. The Bryant Service Club has been doing a great job in keeping track of its alumni and sending them gifts from time to time.

My new address from now on will be:

Lt. Robert W. Marshall, Jr. U.S.M.C.R. A.V.C.
2nd Mar. Aircraft Wing F. M. F.
c/o Postmaster
San Francisco California
M. A. G. 24

My wishes along with my fellow flyers has finally come true for by the time this letter reaches its destination we all hope to be on our way toward the goal any sane service man wants these days. Japs bomed [sic] and more dead Japs to the credit of old Uncle Sam.

Thanks again for everything.

Lt. R. W. Marshall, Jr.
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June 24, 1942

NAVAL AIR STATION
JACKSONVILLE

Chairman :

Again I wish to thank you for the cigarettes which I received the other day. It means a lot to know that the old gang at home is thinking of us fellows in the service. Not only that but those cigarettes sure do come in mighty handy now and then.

I have a new address, Bldg. 710 Room 131, due to another promotion in the Cadet ranks. Soon I hope to receive a still larger one. This time the real thing. I will be through my training next Wednesday and hope to be commissioned Friday, July 3, if my orders come in on time. We have been having a lot of poor weather and that has held up the flying schedule on bombing and gunning.

I hope to drop into Bryant when I get home, that is if I get any leave, and I’m looking forward very much to a trip back to the good old North where the dam [sic] Yankees live. They don’t know the war is over down here.

Back to the squadron for some night flying, so once again I’ll say thanks for the smokes.

Sincerely,
Bob Marshall

[Typewritten postscript]:
NOTE: Since writing this, Bob has won his Wings and is now 2nd Lieutenant. He visited Bryant a few days ago on his way to a new post, at San Diego, Cal.
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NAVAL AIR STATION
JACKSONVILLE

Chairman Bryant Service Club,

I’m sorry in being so late acknowledging the cigarettes you sent to me but they have a bad habit down here of keeping us busy just about all the time. Things have speeded up since this war started and they are rushing us right through.

I am through ground school and in my advanced squadron as well as Ben Scuda who has gone to Miami for his advanced training in fighters. If everything goes the way it should from now on I should receive my commission around the first of July.

I could write forever telling you about the south and this base and what I think about them so I’ll try to hit a few high spots just in case you are interested. There are six swimming pools on the base and three movie houses, tennis courts, horseback riding, golf driving range, archery range, bowling alleys and a cadet club where cadets can bring guests to drink and dance. That’s the sports and social angle.

A cadet goes through three squadrons before he enters his final one in which he will receive instruction in the work he will actually do on active duty. Ground School is a pretty stiff course especially the navigation subjects. There are cadets washing out every week either for failure in ground school or for flying. Roy Smith had some tough luck but I hope he will like his work in the Army. There are about 1500 cadets here and many more enlisted men and marines in a boot camp here also. The base here is so large we travel around in busses from one place to another.

As for the south well you can have it, possibly it would be nice to spend a week or so down here but for a home I’ll take the good old north. The heat here takes all the pep right out of you.

Well that isn’t very much but you’ll have a faint idea what it’s like down here.

It’s very nice of the Bryant Service Club to send things to its men in the service and I’m sure they will all appreciate it. Bryant should be proud of Al Stanwood and his encounter with the Japs.

Once again I want to thank you for the cigarettes. I sure do appreciate it.

I have been promoted to a Sub Commander and I am now in a new room in the same building. Bldg. 710 Room 143

Remember me to the old gang.

Sincerely,
Bob Marshall
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