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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Conditions Governing Access
  • Immediate Source of Acquisition
  • Arrangement
  • Biographical / Historical
  • Preferred Citation
  • Content Description
  • Conditions Governing Use

  • Contributing Institution: Center for American War Letters Archives
    Title: Robert W. Repper Second World War correspondence
    Creator: Repper, Robert Wallace, Lieutenant, 1922-2006
    source: Vandyke, Susannah
    Identifier/Call Number: 2019.001.w.r
    Physical Description: 0.8 Linear Feet (10 folders)
    Date (inclusive): 1942 January 28 - 1946 April 15
    Abstract: This collection contains correspondence written by Lt. Robert W. Repper, USA to his parents during the Second World War. Also included are one diary, one photograph, a graduation program, documents and clippings.
    Language of Material: English .
    Container: WWII 152
    Container: 1-7
    Container: 1-7
    Container: WWII 153
    Container: 1-3
    Container: 8-10

    Conditions Governing Access

    This collection is open for research.

    Immediate Source of Acquisition

    Gift of Susannah Vandyke.

    Arrangement

    This collection is arranged by material type and chronology.
    • Series 1, Correspondence
    • Series 2, Diary and graduation program
    • Series 3, Photograph
    • Series 4, Documents and other materials
    • Series 5, Clippings

    Biographical / Historical

    Second Lieutenant Robert Wallace Repper, United States Army (9/29/1922 - 7/10/2006) was born in the Bronx, New York to Henry Wallace Repper and Lilliam F. Knoetzch Repper. Lt. Repper enlisted in the Army as a private after two years of college on October 28, 1942 at Camp Upton, NY and began training on November 7 at Camp Breckenridge in Morganfield, Kentucky with Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 389th Infantry, 98th Division.
    According to one letterhead, the camp was named after General John Cabell Breckenridge (1821-1875) who represented Kentucky in both houses of congress and served as Vice President of the United States before joining the Confederate Army at the outbreak of the Civil War.
    During his time at Camp Breckenridge, he was promoted to corporal and then earned sergeant on April 26, 1943 shortly after schooling ended on April 16. He then began school at the US Military Academy Preparatory School (USMAPS) with Pratt. 206, Co. D, at Amherst College on September 13.
    Originally eight small schools designated for this purpose after the First World War, and later three civilian institutions, Amherst College in Massachusetts became the primary preparatory school for the United States Military Academy at West Point.
    On June 22, Repper received a rejection notice for West Point due to his physical and left Amherst the next week, arriving in Hattiesburg, Mississippi with a new unit on July 10, 1944. There he worked in the heat and earned a certification as an American Red Cross Life Saving and Water Safety Instructor. He was "frozen" at this location and unable to ship out due to his being considered for officer's candidate school (OCS).
    Repper left for Fort Benning, Georgia to attend OCS on September 14 and began schooling on September 23 with 21st Co., 2nd Student Training Regiment. He graduated as a second lieutenant on January 25, 1945 and spent some free time in Washington, D.C. before heading for Fort Meade, Maryland with Co. D, 9th Bn., 3rd Replacement Regiment. He then went to Camp Shanks in New York before receiving orders to ship out with his new infantry unit; Company H 3rd Platoon. He disembarked Pier 90 aboard the Queen Mary (map included with one letter) on February 19 and reached Scotland on the 24th. After train rides and waiting at the docks, they crossed the channel to Le Havre and arrived in France on March 3, 1945.
    Lt. Repper was briefly attached to 51st Bn. 202 Reinforcement Co., though returned to Company H 3rd Platoon in a letter written just days later. He was then reassigned to Co. A, 65th Div. in Boulay, France and moved to several locations west of the Rhine River before crossing in April, 1945. According to a list in the back of his diary, the towns he passed through thereafter include the following: in Germany; Berka, Waltershausen, Arnstadt, Breitingüssbach, Schnaittach, Altdorf, Velberg, Duerling, Oberndorf, Regensberg, Platting, Furstenzell, and in Austria; Scharding, Raab, Linz, and then his unit was deactivated in Winhöring, Germany. He also mentions that his unit had made the news back in the States for being further into Germany than any other units.
    Lt. Repper remained in Austria for some time after the war, before being deactivated in August and reassigned to an accounting company. He travelled between England and Paris several times throughout the fall.
    In mid-November, 1945 Lt. Repper was considered for promotion to First Lieutenant but became jaundiced and entered a military hospital in Paris, then England. He began to feel better and even went out, but never discharged. He then returned with other patients to the States and entered Rhoades General Hospital in Utica, NY, experiencing other complications, and even becoming "smitten" with the night nurse whom he began to date, until his was released for separation from the Army at Fort Dix in April 1946.
    Lt. Repper passed away in Aurora, Colorado and on July 10, 2006 and is interred at Fort Logan National Cemetery in Denver.

    Preferred Citation

    [Item title / description; Box "n" / Folder "n"], Robert W. Repper Second World War correspondence (2019.001.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 correspondence written by Lt. Robert W. Repper, USA to his parents during the Second World War. Also included are one diary, a graduation program, one photograph, documents, various materials and clippings.

    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

    World War (1939-1945)
    World War (1939-1945) -- England
    World War (1939-1945) -- Hospitals
    World War (1939-1945) -- Christmas
    World War (1939-1945) -- Europe
    World War (1939-1945) -- Newspapers
    Correspondence -- World War, 1939-1945
    Christmas
    World War (1939-1945) -- Germany
    World War (1939-1945) -- France
    Photographs
    Newspaper clippings
    World War (1939-1945) -- Victory in Europe Day (VE Day)
    Vandyke, Susannah