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Object Description
| Title | [Letter from Adeline LaPlante to parents, 1943] |
| Date | 1943-11-13 |
| Item creator's name | LaPlante, Adeline Sears |
| Subject headings |
World War, 1939-1945 United States. Army--Women |
| Era | World War II era (1940-1946) |
| Service branch |
Army--WAAC Army--WAC |
| Item description | LaPlante writes to her parents about her living situation in Ohio, her new roommate. LaPlante discusses her new position in public relations and the publicity materials she is producing. LaPlante speaks of airplanes seen on a recent trip to Patterson Field. |
| Veteran's name | LaPlante, Adeline Sears |
| Veteran's biography |
Adeline Sears LaPlante (1919-2006) of Easton, Pennsylvania, served as a recruiter and as a public relations officer in the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC) and the Women's Army Corps (WAC) from 1942-1945 . Adeline Sears LaPlante (1919-2006) was born in Easton, Pennsylvania, on 19 November 1919. She attended the University of Rochester and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree . LaPlante joined the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC) in September, 1942. She attended Officer Candidate School at the WAAC Training Center at Fort Des Moines, Iowa, and was commissioned in October, 1942. In January, 1943, LaPlante attended recruiter training in Atlanta, Georgia, before being assigned as a WAAC recruiter in Charlotte, North Carolina. While stationed in Charlotte, LaPlante preformed her recruiting duties by traveling to various cities and towns throughout North Carolina. In September, 1943, LaPlante attended Intermediate Officer Training at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, and Daytona Beach, Florida. She was transferred to Patterson Field, Fairfield, Ohio, in November, 1943, and worked in public relations. LaPlante met her future husband, Roy LaPlante, there and they married in March, 1944. She was discharged from the WAC in August, 1945, as a 1st Lieutenant. LaPlante died on 21 November, 2006. |
| Type | image |
| Original format | correspondence |
| Original publisher | [Place of publication not identified] : [publisher not identified] |
| Language | en |
| Contributing institution | Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives, UNCG University Libraries |
| Source collection | WV0395 Adeline Sears LaPlante Papers, 1942-1945 |
| Collection summary | This collection includes letters, postcards and Christmas cards from LaPlante to her parents about her career in the WAAC and the WAC from 1943-1944. The collection also contains a photograph album, and news clippings from LaPlante's time in the service. |
| Box | 1 |
| Folder | 3: Letters, 1943 September-1944 January |
| Finding aid link | https://libapps.uncg.edu/archon/index.php?p=collections/controlcard&id=504 |
| Rights statement | http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
| Additional rights information | IN COPYRIGHT. This item is subject to copyright. Contact the rights holder noted above for permission to reuse. |
| Object ID | wv0395.4.007 |
| Digital publisher | The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, University Libraries, PO Box 26170, Greensboro NC 27402-6170, 336.334.5304 -- http://library.uncg.edu/ |
| Full-text transcript |
P.M. Nov. 13, 1943 Friday nite Dear Mother and Dad' For a change I do not feel so tired tonite. Perhaps I'm getting adjusted to my new life. It's a hard one where it takes so long to get to and from the office' at least ' of an hour. Another girl and I, a Lt. Dayton, have a room in a private home in a good section of town. We have twin beds and they are really good beds which means a lot; a widow (teaches school) lives here alone. $6 per wk. each so that gives us some leaveway[sic] on our $45 quarters. It's funny: I don't know Lt. Dayton very well' she was looking for a room in a hurry and so was I so we combined' she is small and must be in her late 30's. Not married and inclined to act prim sometimes. We work far away from each other and see each other only early in the morning and at nite. At 6:45 (a.m.) when we wait for that bus nobody looks too good to me'. Now' my job. I applied at public relations, special information it's called here, and the Capt. said they wanted someone with experience. That was Tuesday morning. He did introduce me to our acting head, a major. (Our permanent c.o.[commanding officer] is overseas for awhile). I really didn't expect to get the job. At 1:30 Tues. p.m. the WAC[Women's Army Corps] personnel office phoned and told me to report immediately for work. And I've had hardly a free moment since then. My c.o. is a Lt. Ducas, as short as I am' dark wavy hair' reminds me of Roy Bowers in a way. He must be in his late 20's; early 30's. At any rate, he's smart as a whip. My desk is in front of his and I just whiz around in my chair and there we are, face to face! But, he thinks of me only as if I were a piece of office equipment' which is correct in business. He has had to take me as any newspaper takes a beginner and to break me in. Thank goodness I can type! I would really be lost without it. We have a buck private and a corporal with us' one a newspaper man for 15 yrs.; the other for 20 yrs: they tell me what to do and are very helpful. By all rights I should be a buck private. One thing sure' the office does not want any more people it has to train; I am on 30 day temporary duty' after that they can either keep me or say they don't want me. You see that I am very much on the spot. For what I have learned in the three days I've worked I should be paying the government really. Our office is just getting to be correctly organized' we are short on people who can write' that's why they're giving me a chance. They're after WAC officers with background so, unless I improve rapidly before they get here[?]' I'm out. In the meantime I love the work. Our office is at headquarters so we are the hqrs.[headquarters] special information office thruout[sic] the world for the Air Service Command. We have 12 depots in this country and over 300 subdepots in the world. The Air Service Command equips, maintains, and services all Army Air Force planes. Our job at hqrs. s. inf.[special information] is to acquaint the people with ASC and its function. The depots have public rel.[relations] offices but they work thru us. We get stories and pictures into our office from overseas all the time. Some are censored not to be used but they come thru to us for our information. Yesterday a story came in on how the ASC builds landing fields as invasion takes place: there were excellent pictures with the story which we'll try to get to a good magazine. This evening Lt. Ducas left for NYC[New York City] where he'll stay until Sunday; they're fixing up an exhibition of pictures of ASC at the RCA building'. I have learned tons about what ""keeps 'em flying"" Also, I got all the incidental home news junk piled off on me as a starter. Today I was more advanced' I wrote captions for photographs to go in the exhibition. The Cpl.[Corporal] said they were good when he O'K'ed them. Lenthy[sic] descriptions of things I knew nothing about a week ago. Tomorrow I'm to look at the overseas filing system (it's not even a system I've been told); read articles on ASC; interview a man who invented a machine that takes the kinks out of bent propellers; a check another story. It's good work; I get only ' an hour for lunch too'. The first morning I worked was a break for me. Two army non-coms[non-commissioned] from Air Force magazine were to be shown hqrs. bldg. and Patterson Field. I went along. We saw the teletype system in hqrs. where orders for parts come in from all over the world and are filled immediately by contacting one of our depots. In the overseas division each theatre is completely covered. Their lend-lease' hundreds of departments. ASC is the largest single employer of civilians: over 300,000'. We left hqrs. and a staff car took us to Patterson Field. Here we went into the warehouse and saw motors (and engines) ready for shipment ' in pilofilm with treated bags to keep out the moisture. A gauge chart turns red if the temperature is too much for the engine. The parts are loaded onto r.r.[railroad] cars right in the warehouse where the track comes. We saw rooms full of aviators warm fleece-lined clothing'a high altitude battery suit' jungle kits to be used when forced to land in the jungle. Then we went to the hangers. Immense' those huge doors which can be opened just slightly or all the way. And the planes inside! I've never seen anything like those big commandos; they'll hold jeeps and every thing else. One fighter plane had 4 [drawing of a bomb?] and 2 [image of swastika] on its nose. The aviators were all sitting in the ready room waiting for their time to leave'. The whole trip was a fine experience and definitely background that I needed for my work. It's now 9:30 and I must shower and get to bed'. Hank says that if I get just Sat. and Sun. off for Christmas I must come to Chicago. What do you think? I'd certainly love to see him and it's one time in goodness knows how long'. About his present, I don't skimp on him' two pairs of gloves would be about right. They're gray suede or something at Mack Cross[?]. Dixie had 'em. Perhaps you can find something Hank would like more. He's a hard one to buy for. I'm really going to quit now. Much love' Adeline |
| OCLC number | 900817133 |
