Guide to the Lee W. Mayo Collection, 1941-1945

Special Collections & Archives

Oviatt Library

California State University, Northridge

18111 Nordhoff St.

Northridge, CA 91330

URL: http://library.csun.edu/SCA

Email: oviattsca@csun.edu

Phone: (818) 677-2832

Fax: (818) 677-2589

Overview of the Collection

Collection Title: Lee W. Mayo Collection

Dates: 1941-1945

Identification: SC/LWM

Creator: Mayo, Lee W., 1915-2006

Physical Description: 0.21 linear feet

Language of Materials: English

Repository: Special Collections

Abstract: Lee Mayo enlisted in the US Army in October of 1941, just before Pearl Harbor Day. He kept a diary, titled "My Life in the Service" between July 23, 1944 and December 18, 1945, while moving around the South Pacific. He spent most of that time in the Philippines, fighting in the Battle of Manila in 1945, but also visited and wrote about other locations on Luzon and Leyte. He writes about such things as Japanese suicide bombers attacking his ship, Japanese soldiers committing suicide to avoid being captured, civilian populations on some of the islands they stop on, bartering and attending boxing matches with Australian soldiers, and personal illnesses including "jungle rot" and "yellow jaundice."

Note:

This collection was purchased with funds generously donated by Gus and Erika Manders.

Biographical Information:

Lee W. Mayo was born in 1915, and lived in Baxter, Pennsylvania with his wife, Dorothy. He enlisted in the US Army in October of 1941, and served until 1945.

Access Terms

This Collection is indexed under the following controlled access subject terms.

Genre/Form of Material:

Diaries

Ephemera

Photographic material

Administrative Information

Conditions Governing Use:

Copyright for unpublished materials authored or otherwise produced by the creator(s) of this collection has not been transferred to California State University, Northridge.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.

Conditions Governing Access:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

For information about citing items in this collection consult the appropriate style manual, or see the Citing Archival Materials guide.

Scope and Contents

Lee Mayo enlisted in the US Army in October of 1941, just before Pearl Harbor Day. He kept a diary, titled "My Life in the Service" between July 23, 1944 and December 18, 1945, while moving around the South Pacific. He spent most of that time in the Philippines, fighting in the Battle of Manila in 1945, but also visited and wrote about other locations on Luzon and Leyte.

Mayo starts by listing several of his "Buddies in the Service," and goes on to write about such things as Japanese suicide bombers attacking his ship, Japanese soldiers committing suicide to avoid being captured, civilian populations on some of the islands they stop on, bartering and attending boxing matches with Australian soldiers, personal illnesses including "jungle rot" and "yellow jaundice," his fellow soldiers, K-rations, and the weather. The diary also includes loose and pasted-in ephemera, his "Soldier's Individual Pay Record," and immunization records, with the ending pages filled with pasted-in photographs of a woman and children, many posed in front of a house.

Collection Contents

Box 1, Folder 1

Clippings

Box 1, Folder 2

Correspondence, 1944

Box 1, Folder 3

Diary, "My Life in the Service", 1944-1945

Box 1, Folder 4

Service Records, 1941-1944

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