William Stinson Brown Letter, September 25, 1940
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Description:
Bill reports his corporal friends’ recent promotions, reflects on a Marine Corps pay raise, and asks his parents for a second-hand typewriter for Christmas to help with his correspondence-course lessons and letter writing, noting he has now spent eight months at Pearl Harbor. Accompanied by a full typed transcript for ease of reading.
Additional Notes
Note: The custom Bill describes — new chevrons “sealed on by clenched fists,” leaving his arms bruised — was a rough traditional hazing marking a promotion, applied here to a fellow Marine rather than to Bill himself. His request for a portable typewriter anticipates the correspondence coursework he begins in earnest the following spring and summer, described in several of the 1940 letters in this collection. This letter is accompanied by a full typed transcript, appended to the end of this scan, for ease of reading.