Description
Richard H. Bryant served in the US Army
in the Pacific theater during World War II, and was awarded the Bronze Star. While serving
overseas, he corresponded via V-mail and regular post with his sisters Wava and Beverly in
Florence, South Carolina, his younger brother James, and numerous other friends and family
members both at home and overseas. The letters include news from South Carolina, especially
the local church, gasoline rations, women in the workforce, media coverage of the war, and
Franklin Delano Roosevelt's fourth presidential campaign.
Background
William H. Bryant served in the US Army in the Pacific theater during World War II, and was
awarded the Bronze Star. While serving overseas, he corresponded via V-mail with his sisters
Wava and Beverly in Florence, South Carolina, his younger brother James, and numerous other
friends and family members both at home and overseas. V-mail, short for Victory Mail, was
used extensively during World War II in order to conserve the weight and size of
correspondence exchanged between servicemen serving in the European and Pacific theaters and
their families on the home front. Soldiers wrote on special V-mail letter sheets, which were
then censored, microfilmed, and shipped. After arriving in the United States V-mail letters
were re-printed at 60% of their original size and sent to their destination.
Restrictions
Copyright for unpublished materials authored or otherwise produced by the creator(s) of
this collection has not been transferred to California State University, Northridge.
Copyright status for other materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials
protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires
the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be
commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any
use rests exclusively with the user.
Availability
The collection is open for research use.