Jump to Content

Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
View entire collection guide What's This?
Search this collection
Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Conditions Governing Access
  • Immediate Source of Acquisition
  • Biographical / Historical
  • Preferred Citation
  • Content Description
  • Conditions Governing Use

  • Contributing Institution: Center for American War Letters Archives
    Title: John P. Grey Second World War correspondence
    source: Gibbons, Minta neé Grey
    Creator: Grey, John Paul, 1922-1997
    Identifier/Call Number: 2022.108.w.r
    Physical Description: 0.01 Linear Feet (1 folder)
    Date: 1945 February 10
    Abstract: This collection contains one letter from John P. Grey, USN to his mother during the Second World War.
    Language of Material: English .
    Container: WWII 157
    Container: 7
    Container: 1

    Conditions Governing Access

    This collection is open for research.

    Immediate Source of Acquisition

    Gift of Minta Grey Gibbons

    Biographical / Historical

    John Paul Grey, United States Navy (4/1/1922 - 1997) was born in Olympia, Kentucky and joined the Navy at 17 years old in 1939, reporting to Naval Training Station Great Lakes in Illinois. While transferring to San Francisco aboard a train he met his future wife. Grey then served in the Pacific aboard the USS San Francisco and participated in many battles including the Battle of the Coral Sea. Grey and his family settled in Palatka, Florida where he lived until his death in 1997.
    According to the donor:
    "My father was not a good correspondent, but when his mother had not heard from him in several months, she contacted her congressman to see if he could find out if John was okay. When the Captain of the ship was contacted about the situation, he called John into his office and told him to write to his mother. This letter is the result of that order. It is short and sweet and just enough to comply with the Captain's order. My father was a man of few words, so I'm sure this was a painful assignment."

    Preferred Citation

    [Item title / description; Box "n" / Folder "n"], John P. Grey Second World War correspondence (2022.108.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.

    Content Description

    This collection contains one letter from John P. Grey, USN to his mother during the Second World War. This letter was written while attending training FFC [sic] school at the United States Navy Rep. [sic] school in San Diego (additional research could not uncover the meaning of the abbreviation or acronym). He asks his mother about people back home and says that he is doing well in school and hopes to return home on leave when he is finished.

    Conditions Governing Use

    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. -- Navy
    Military training camps
    Basic training (Military education)
    Gibbons, Minta neé Grey