F. W. Gleason Jr. Letters, 1943 - 1945

This collection consists of eleven letters, one being a Christmas card, and one being a Mother’s Day card from Lt. F. W. (Wesley) Gleason Jr., U.S.C.G.R. (United States Coast Guard Reserve), aboard the USS Arthur Middleton, out of San Francisco, California, to his parents, Mr. and Mrs. F. W. Gleason, New Orleans, Louisiana. These letters are dated from December 1943 to February 1945. In the June 9, 1944 letter, he states, “Yesterday made nine months since I reported aboard.” He mentions Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, his parents’ birthdays, some of his fellow shipmates, and his wife, Adelaide. He is not able to mention where he is. He mentioned in one letter that he has “heard some talk about the gov’t allowing the distilleries to make whiskey again… next to hearing the war is over, that’s the best news the people could get.” He mentions that they will “start carrying beer. Not to drink aboard but so often we have gotten into . . .ports where drink are impossible to get.” He asks his parents if they are going to the Sugar Bowl; he had heard “over the radio that it is a sellout.” He is also interested in the stock market and banking.