A World War II Christmas Card

"Best Wishes for a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Stan"

"Peace on Earth

Good Will

Toward Men"

"Guadalcanal"

Designed by

Tech. Sergeant, Victor P. Donahue, U.S.M.C.

Reproduced By - 1st Mar. Div.

Photo- Litho Section

This Christmas card was sent to my grandparents from their son, Stanley Elmer Allen, Jr. on Christmas 1944 from the South Pacific.  He was my mother's oldest brother, who served at the end of the war and during the Bombing of Tokyo at the end of the war.  Although the card mentions Guadalcanal (this campaign was fought between 7 August 1942 and 9 February 1943 in the Solomon Islands) and the Marine Corps, he did not enlist until after Guadalcanal when he turned 18 years old.

My "Uncle Al" served in the 501st Bomber Command under General Curtis Emerson LeMay at the Northwest Field, Guam, in the Mariana Islands.  He was the scanner on board a B-29 Superfortress.  The name of his plane was "Orpen's Orphans" named after Colonel Bud Orpen (Julius H. Orpen).

Nine days after the Atom Bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, one hundred forty three B-29 bombers left from Northwest Field on their secret mission now called "The Bombing of Tokyo".  This was the campaign that led to the Japanese surrender and the end of the war.  And it was the last combat mission flown by the US during World War II.  The Bombing of Tokyo was considered the most destructive action in human history.  Uncle Al never spoke of his service, and I'm sure that this battle was quite traumatic.  After the war ended, the B-29s carried supplies to the Allied POW camps in the Pacific region.

After researching Uncle Al's service, and learning more about the Bombing of Tokyo, the message of "Peace on Earth. Goodwill Towards Men" printed inside this little Christmas card seems so poignant to me.

For the truly curious:

A blog post about my Uncle Stanley Allen, Jr.'s military service:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/05/memorial-day-thank-you-uncle-al.html 

A blog post about the B-29 photos, and a photo of my uncle, I found at a museum in Arizona:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/04/oh-advantages-of-having-my-family-tree.html

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Cite/Link to this post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "A World War II Christmas Card", Nutfield Genealogy, posted December 25, 2020, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2020/12/a-world-war-ii-christmas-card.html: accessed [access date]).