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Warner, Dudley L. (Second World War correspondence, photographs, and awards)
2023.022.w.r
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Contributing Institution:
Center for American War Letters Archives
Title: Dudley L. Warner Second World War correspondence, photographs, and awards
Identifier/Call Number: 2023.022.w.r
Physical Description:
0.3 Linear Feet
(4 folders)
Date (inclusive): 1942 September 13 - 1946 February 28
Abstract: This collection contains letters from Sgt. Dudley L. Warner, USAAF during the Second World War as well as photographs, medals
and ribbons, and other documents.
Language of Material:
English
.
Container: WWII 43
Container: 11-14
Container: 1-4
This collection is open for research.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Jon Stroosma.
This collection is arranged by material type and chronology.
Sergeant Dudley Lee Warner, United States Army Air Corps (8/21/1922 - 12/8/1986) was born in Grandview, Idaho to Loretta Rachel
"Lora" Isaacs and James D. Warner, along with two siblings, John and Eleanor. On August 2, 1943 he was inducted into the Army
and two days after his twenty-first birthday, on August 23, he entered into active service with the Army Air Corps at Fort
Douglas, Utah (address at that time was in Salt Lake City).
After training to be a flight engineer, he was deployed for overseas duty on January 31, 1944 and served with Headquarters
Squadron, 12th Air Force in Italy until the end of the war. He was later moved to 87th Fighter Squadron, 79th Fighter Group
in Linz, Austria (Linz air field in Hörsching, just outside of Linz) where they were available when a plane landed carrying
former French Prime Minister Pierre Laval, who was promptly arrested by a Corporal Leo Mayer of Texas, apparently in Warner's
unit, who recognized the wanted former premier and arrested him.
During the war, Dudley's brother Mus2/C John Chester Warner, United States Navy (4/12/1918 - 3/1/1942) was "lost in the Battle
of Sundra Strait, WWII, in the South Pacific. Official Gov. documents lists his date of death December 15, 1945; a discrepancy
that caused his family much grief at the time." (information courtesy of findagrave.com, provided by the donor)
After the war, Warner returned to the United States and arrived February 22, 1946. He was honorably discharged at Fort MacArthur,
California in San Pedro six days later. For his service he earned the World War II Victory Medal, European African Middle
Eastern Campaign Medal, and the Good Conduct Medal, as well as the Army Air Force Technician Badge with Mechanic's Bar.
Dudley's listed address after separation was Long Beach, California but he eventually moved to Lakeland, Florida where he
passed in 1986 at the age of 64.
[Item title / description; Box "n" / Folder "n"], Dudley L. Warner Second World War correspondence, photographs, and awards
(2023.022.w.r), Center for American War Letters Archives, Chapman University, CA.
For the benefit of current and future researchers, please cite any additional information about sources consulted in this
collection, including permanent URLs, item or folder descriptions, and box/folder locations.
The awards display was deframed and the awards were kept with their blue cloth background minus the frame and glass.
This collection contains 14 letters from Sgt. Dudley L. Warner, USAAF during the Second World War. Also included are 11 photographs,
one framed display containing three medals and seven ribbons, as well as military and tax documents relating to Warner. Note:
this collection is incomplete, as evidenced by Warner's statement more than once regarding his "weekly" letters; this is only
a sampling that has survived.
Warner's first letter was written on September 13, 1942 from Idaho Falls, Idaho in which he tells his parents that he is quitting
Western Electric to go back to school, specifically the University of Idaho (he refers to as "U of I"). It is followed by
a letter dated October 6 that is self-deprecating and announces that he will not attend school due to the expense and his
own shortcomings.
Warner then wrote two letters in December 1943 and January 1944 from the 302 Training Wing in Greensboro, North Carolina and
the 711th Training Group, Squadron 4 from Seymour Johnson Field, NC, respectively. He was then attached to Headquarters Squadron,
12th Air Force and wrote from "Somewhere in Italy" in May 1944. He wrote that he ran into an officer he knew from Idaho Falls,
Lt. Bob Fisher, as well as two other letters asking about home and apologizing to his mother for telling her not to worry,
and asking about another friend, Jim Wilson.
In February 1945, there were two V-Mail sent by friends of Dudley's, one of which refer's to him as "Lefty," who promised
to write his parents for him after he injured his hand, apparently damaging his fingers and removing one fingernail (mentioned
in a later letter) and informing them of his promotion to private first class. The soldiers are Sergeant Harry Plaster, USAAF
and Corporal M. Bagdasarian, USAAF; both in the same unit as Warner. He was able to type again by April 15, two weeks after
release from the hospital, where he mentions another friend overseas, Allen Stanley, who had returned to the States after
being wounded in an infantry unit.
By July 23, 1945 Warner had been transferred to 87th Fighter Squadron, 79th Fighter Group in Cesenatico, Italy. He asks about
his mother's illness, apparently upset about not being told sooner, and a furlough he took to France (Nice, returning later
because he loved it so much, and from where he wrote another V-Mail; dated September 9, 1945).
In August he wrote from Linz, Austria where his squadron was stationed when just days before French Prime Minister Pierre
Laval was captured and extradited to France (not mentioned in the correspondence but shown and noted in a photograph; see
below). He mentions the change in his work since being with headquarters squadron, "...is not as interesting as it was...About
the only thing that does keep me 'on the ball' with my being a crew-chief on a Fighter-type airplane is that there is a man's
life depending on my maintenance of the aircraft." He asks again about his mother and gives an update on his "tender" finger
and the loss of his fingernail.
The last letter was sent to his father in October 1946 from Idaho Falls, asking for financial help as he had some troubles
with drinking and gambling but assured he had put behind him.
There are 11 photographs, mostly of Warner in uniform. One photograph is a portrait in uniform taken in November 1943, and
also included is one photograph of Warner with his father, mother, grandmother, and a child named Judith Stroosma. Of note
is one photograph of General Dwight D. Eisenhower, USA visting troops in Rome and one photograph of French Prime Minister
Pierre Laval standing next to an American officer (major or lieutenant colonel), with a note stating he was captured by Warner's
unit while trying to escape to Turkey. It is unclear if that information is historically accurate.
Below is a list of the documents included in the collection:
- One return receipt, Los Angeles Post Office, December 1942
- One notice to appear for physical examination, December 1942
- Two notices of change of address, War Department, September 1943
- One income tax statement, with check and receipt, 1943
- One income tax statement, form W-2, 1943
- Two forms, copies of General Power of Attorney, 1944
- One form, tax form 1040 A, 1943
- One record, Enlisted Record and Report of Separation Honorable Discharge, with attached discharge certificate, 1946
- One enlisted man's pass, Fort MacArthur, February 1946
Warner's awards were displayed framed on a blue cloth with a tag, "79th Fighter Group Skeeter Bar."
- Good Conduct Medal
- American Defense Service Medal
- Presidential Unit Citation with Oak Leaf Cluster
- Army Air Force Technician Badge
- 3 ribbons, Good Conduct Medal
- 1 ribbon, World War II Victory Medal
- 2 ribbons, European African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, one with three bronze stars
- 1 ribbon, American Campaign Medal
There are no restrictions on the use of this material except where previously copyrighted material is concerned. It is the
responsibility of the researcher to obtain all permissions.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Correspondence -- World War, 1939-1945
World War (1939-1945)
United States -- Air Force.