Arnold's Story: October 1, 1944

Ray Swanson writes from Camp Crowder with the announcement of his marriage to Alice and his promotion to Second Lieutenant. 

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Arnold's Story: September 30, 1944

Al Grote writes with news of his personal life and of classmates from Caltech.

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Arnold's Story: 1944 poem

Arnold wrote this poem some time in 1944 on a plane, so possibly when we flew home to California at the end of the summer. 

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Arnold's Story: September 26, 1944 MHN

I find it interesting that the family does not appear to be particularly concerned for Leonard's life in active combat in the Pacific Theater. I can only attribute that to Hazel's supreme confidence in God's plan and the power of prayer. Or, since Leonard wrote more explicitly to his brother about his front-line experiences, he kept the realities of any danger to his life from the rest of the family.

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Arnold's Story: September 26, 1944 John Mason

Caltech classmate John Mason writes with news about other Caltech friends.

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Arnold's Story: September 24, 1944

It looks like Arnie found Dr. Fisher (see letter of September 13, 1944) and got this response from her:

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Arnold's Story: September 18, 1944

Two letters from California arrive on September 18th, one from Arnold's sister Dolly and the other from their mother Hazel. Dolly is worried about being an "old maid" at age 22, and that reminds of something a Nevis cousin once said to me: "Nevises are slow to procreate". Bill Nevis was in nearly thirty when he married Hazel Wolfe; their son Arnold Nevis was thirty-one when he married Newlin Ashmore; their oldest son Leonard Nevis married his second wife Lucille Howard around age thirty-eight and started a family; their daughter Dolly did marry within a year or two of this letter; and their youngest daughter Laura Nevis married later in life as well.

Amelia Nevis Gomes is Bill's sister, so that her daughter Alice Gomes is Bill's niece as well as Dolly's cousin. I get the impression from these letters that Dolly is close to her Nevis cousins. 

Bill Nevis had his tonsils removed only a month or two after his young daughter Laura did. Rally Day is apparently "Sabbath Rally Day", an event apparently involving the children of the church, or perhaps a special day to make offerings to their Sunday school. 

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Arnold's Story: September 17, 1944

I think the guys mentioned here are all pals from Caltech. Johnny is probably John Mason.

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Arnold's Story: September 13, 1944

Hobart Goewey writes from the Harvard-Epworth Methodist Church in response to Arnold inquiring about a certain Dr. Fisher. 

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Arnold's Story: September 11, 1944

The 1944 movie Wilson was a biographical film about the 28th President Woodrow Wilson starring Charles Coburn and Alexander Knox. 

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Arnold's Story: September 9, 1944

Elmer E. Hall writes from McCloud, California, with news about some of Arnold's friends and acquaintances from the lumber camp, though I think Arnold was really friends with his son Elmer.

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Arnold's Story: September 7, 1944

 ETG is the Electronics Training Group of the Signal Corps of the Army Air Force.

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Arnold's Story: August 30, 1944

Hazel reports that merchants are anticipating the surrender of Germany soon, but it does not come until May 1945. In this letter Hazel enclosed a newspaper article about a brush fire near their home in Glendale, about a block uphill. Their property on Mountain Street stretched from Cavanaugh Road to North Jackson street, with the house on the Cavanaugh side and a large patio and fruit orchard on the Jackson side. (In the mid 1960's Bill Nevis divided the large lot in two, built another house on the Jackson side and sold it. They sold the original East Mountain Street house a few years before 1968 and moved to Whittier to be closer to Leonard and his family.)

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