GENEALOGY CHALLENGE 2021 - Wartime Letter II

Poster encouraging use of V-Mail. ¹

GENEALOGY CHALLENGE 2021

Wartime Letter II -  January 23rd entry of a 31-day challenge to post a document, photo or artifact on social media every day in January.  

by Nancy Gilbride Casey

As promised in yesterday's post, I've discovered more about V-Mail and why the letters written to my Grandmother Margaret Kozlina by her friend Kay Kurutz, an Army nurse in WWII, look as they do. And, a second letter from Kay.

V-Mail—or "Victory Mail"—was a wartime invention which enabled massive quantities of mail to be quickly and efficiently delivered both to and from troops overseas.  In 1945 alone, 2.5 billion pieces of Army mail and 8 billion pieces of Navy mail were processed by their respective post offices.²

V-Mail was an innovative system which drastically reduced the space needed to transport mail, and freed up critical space for other supplies. Letters were written on a special form, which was then photographed in microfilm. The small film was then transported to its destination, where it was reproduced and delivered to the recipient.³

Letters were written on special paper which was all the same size and weight, so that they could be easily microfilmed. Troops could obtain two sheets of the paper per day from the Post Office, and civilians could also purchase the paper. One had to either type the letter or write in dark ink - pencil or faint writing could not be filmed correctly. Since the photo prints of the letters were reproduced from microfilm, the resulting letters were about 1/4 the size of the paper they were written on, measuring about 4-1/4" x 5-1/4". They could be difficult to read. It's fortunate that Kay had good handwriting, as her letters are very readable (thanks also to scanning and enlarging!). For letter recipients not so blessed, some stores sold "V-mail readers," magnifiers to help with the task.⁴

The National World War II Museum's blog article "Mail Call: V-mail" discusses the important reasons for enabling mail to flow freely between the troops and their families and friends back home:

“The Post Office, War and Navy departments realize fully that frequent and rapid communication with parents, associates and other loved ones strengthens fortitude, enlivens patriotism, makes loneliness endurable and inspires to even greater devotion the men and women who are carrying on our fight far from home and from friends.”⁵

I am glad that Lt. Kurutz had my Grandmother to write to during this most important time in her life. A second letter from Kay to my Grandmother is transcribed below.⁶

To: Mrs. Thomas Kozlina                                                    From: 1st Lt. K. R. Kurutz, ANC

15809 Waterloo Road                                                                     140th General Hospital

Cleveland                                                                                        A.P.O #519-A c/o PM NY

Ohio

14 July 1945

Dear Margaret: 

     I am still her in England. I am making steps 

towards getting to the U.S. I hope I'll be there

soon. Write to me at R.D. 8, Dunbar, PA. I want to

have some mail at home when I get there. If it

comes after I've left Anne can forward it to 

me. I left the 826 Conval. Center on a Saturday. I arrived

at the 157th General Hospital near Liverpool the same 

day. From there I went to the 140th General Hospital near 

Bournemouth - Monday. I've been here four days.

This seems to be a very nice unit. They're expecting 

to go to the Pacific after a stay in the U.S. They 

have been here in England only 11 months.

    Four of my pals from 826 went to a unit that is

going directly to the Pacific. They're not getting to go

to the U.S. at all. I think that is pretty nasty.

They've been in England 21 months. I'm lucky

to have been sent here. I didn't like the idea of 

leaving 826 all alone, too at that. I hope the 

826 goes home on the same boat we go. I 

would feel much happier about going home if I 

only knew I would stay there and not leave the 

U.S. again. God Bless you. Please write.

                                Love,

                                    Kay

NEXT UP: Wartime Letter III, and What Became of Kay

¹ Bogard, "V-mail--Easy to write - fast - great to get - often", 1944 photograph; digital image, Library of Congress (https://www.loc.gov/resource/cph.3g02750/ : accessed 23 January 2021).

² Kim Guise, "Mail Call: V-Mail," 7 December 2019, The National World War II Museum, (https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/mail-call-v-mail : accessed 23 January 2021).

³ Ibid.

⁴ Ibid.

⁵ Ibid.

⁶ K.R. Kurutz, ANC (England) to "Dear Margaret" [Margaret Kozlina], V-Mail letter, 14 July 1945; privately held by N. Gilbride Casey, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE] Tioga, Texas, 2021. I identified Kay's identity via her memorial on FindaGrave, as well her newspaper obituary.