Search

In his June 5th letter, Barron describes his psychological preparation for D-Day. He often mentions his boredom and theorizes about his standing within the Points system. He is frustrated about the quality of news about the war and believes there is too much "doctoring" done to the reports. He warns against treating returning soldiers like "mental cases." He reveals that he went ashore in Normandy with the First Engineer Special Brigade, but was transferred into the Advance Section Communication Zone after the First Engineers were dissolved. In his June 16th letter he describes being a witness to one of the aerial battles during the Battle of the Bulge. He receives multiple awards, including a Seahorse patch for participating in an amphibious landing, the French Croix de Guerre, a Bronze Arrowhead for participating in a beach landing, as well as his 5th battle star, the Central German star. The Advanced Section Communication Zone is dissolved and he is moved into the 7th Army. He tells his wife to ignore the "propaganda" about the Germans starving, and assures her that the fields are full of people and crops.

In this folder Barron continues to write about his homesickness, boredom, and depression. In the first letter he reacts to news of gas shortages caused by rationing in Florida and Georgia. He spends multiple days in Belfast and Derry.

Barron is anxious about moving into Germany and living "among the enemy." He passes his time by working, writing, and attending USO shows. He is annoyed at receiving letters as many as three months late and repeatedly asks his wife to use air mail and not V-mail. He sees Lily Pons in concert. He once again expresses his disgust that black Americans are being "accepted with open arms" by white Europeans.

In this folder Barron is still struggling with boredom and homesickness.  He is urgent to see the invasion of Europe begin so that he can return home, even suggesting that he would volunteer to be in the first wave to land just to see the war end.  Near the end of May he is moved from Belfast to a location in Britain.

Barron goes to Nice for multiple days on a pass and describes the city, people, and international presence that he sees. He reacts to news of Hitler's death and Germany's surrender. He is opposed to the continuation of the non-fraternization policy now that the war is over. He believes only the Nazi leaders should be punished. Censorship is lifted and Barron describes his combat experiences in his letter of May 23rd. He departed from Southampton for Normandy via a Liberty Ship on D+2, but his landing was delayed a day because the area was not secure. He went ashore on D+3 and made his way to Sainte-Mere-Eglise. He describes seeing wounded soldiers in the hospital there, which he says was his first instance of "feeling sick." As he moved through France he was relatively safe during the day but was threatened at night by strafing German aircraft. In one bombing 13 men were lost, while another saw 113 casualties, both military and civilian. At Soissons he describes a German plane, nicknamed "Bed Check Charlie", which strafed every night. He describes the "incident" which he referred to in January that made him hate the Germans - after hiding from an artillery barrage in Liege, he helped pull survivors from a destroyed building and found the body of a deceased three-month-old child.

In this folder Barron continues to write about his daily work duties and his gradual progress through Europe. He continues to move through Belgium and offers little insight on the war, as most of his letters concern events in Georgia. He is unhappy that Roosevelt was reelected, and he fears the war will drag on because the Nazi party is unlikely to formally surrender. He includes more insight on his attitude toward black soldiers, stating that prisoners of war are both better workers and easier to manage than them.

Barron receives definitive news that he will be home by Christmas. This turns out to be true, and he is in Camp Baltimore in Rheims by the 15th for departure. He mentions that there are black market activities around the camp and includes his observations about it. In the final letter, Barron is in Marseille and expects to be aboard a Liberty Ship within 36 hours.

In this folder Barron writes about his initial experiences overseas in Northern Ireland, though he is subject to censorship and says very little in terms of military news. He describes the Irish environment, climate, and certain architectural features such as cathedrals and countryside cottages. He is dismissive of the Irish people and often remarks negatively about them. He uses both air-mail and V-mail, and asks his wife which she prefers to receive. He describes how difficult it is to buy goods while in town, and spends time in Belfast when he receives passes to do so. He also describes the British monetary system. He describes being busy with his duties as a clerk and is happy to have less "thinking time." He theorizes about when the war will end, and mentions that a soldier in his company bet several hundred dollars that the war would end on March 31st. In late December, he begins describing each man in his company for his wife to keep a file of, so that he can remember them in the future.

In this folder Barron continues to write to his wife about his daily work and his frustration with the war. He is worried that black American soldiers are being treated so well by the French that they will be "more brazen" when they return home, and even vows to join the KKK if he feels that he has to. He is impatient with the war, and would prefer that the army "blast the hell" out of each occupied town they encounter instead of offering ultimatums. In late October he arrives in Belgium. He dabbles in photograph development and includes a list of necessary materials that he needs.

Barron again fills most of his letters with reports on his day and speculation about his return home. He mentions that Polish displaced persons are being sent home, but they are resistant and are sporadically rioting. Barron expects that they will have to be forced onto the trains. He is flatly disgusted and resentful of the Poles. He says that "war has not done this to these people, they were just built this way." He is again passed up for departure on the 8th, this time in favor of men 35 years or older, again regardless of points. He reports seeing men with as few points as 65 departing every day, yet he is repeatedly passed up despite having 77 points. He elaborates on his experience crossing the Atlantic for Ireland two years earlier: he departed from the 34th Street Pier in New York City and during the crossing two ships and one Catalina flying boat were destroyed by German submarines.