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| Camp Bowie, Field Artillery Training, Army photo |
Back at Camp Bowie,
John Edward wrote a post script at the bottom of his July 6 letter:
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With typical wit John Edward summed up his frame of mind.
This, and every letter written from Camp Bowie during July,
reveal deepening concern for his ambitions:
promotion, and opportunity to attend Officer Candidate School.
Disregarded and overlooked for promotion over and over and again,
John Edward met once more with cousin Col. Caviness.
He then wrote home:
"We spent almost all of our
conversation on that one subject:" Stuttering.
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| Letter home, July 6, 1941, family scan |
Escalation of John Edward's frustration is apparent in these letters.
And over the months to come we will see how "the Army's
extreme prejudice to this affliction
brought him to one of
his lowest periods."
John Edward Binnion, II, September 22, 2024
And then news reached camp:
Congress voted to extend service beyond the one year enlistment.
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| Letter home, July 11, 1941, family scan |
In earlier letters we alternately saw
anticipation and discouragement.
But now, the threat of three years without promotion loomed
for John Edward with tremendous weight.
At the same time, he was able to keep in mind two things that
were of key importance throughout his life: a sense of humor
and loved ones (at that time Ruth, his girlfriend from Austin).
Letter home, July 11, 1941, family scan
With this wit and humor, he asked about how things were
with his parents: "How is your mouth mother?
Hope you are feeling better.
When do we get the new 'store teeth'?" (11 Jul)
During the following five days John Edward and some of his friends
were out on furlough.
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| Letter home, July 17, 1941, family scan |
Which did not alter his low spirit.
However, training soon absorbed every moment.
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| Letter home, July 22, 1941, family scan |
And the Louisiana Maneuvers were about to begin. The
largest maneuvers in the history of the United States
would soon take the attention of virtually every officer and soldier in the Army.
Sending a mailing address for the next two months, John Edward
also wrote the following note about assistance for his parents.
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| Letter home, July 31, 1941, family scan |
While $20 does not seem like much today, his parents were
still recovering from the Depression, and it would have covered
about $450 (with inflation, over $2,000 today) of the needed dental work.
Once again, whatever the personal exasperation,
his eye was on the larger picture.
Thanks for reading.
Join us for the next post where the 36th Division
takes part in the Louisiana Maneuvers.
