Guide to the Private Hubert R. Enders Letter MC 97

Contributing Institution: Sacramento Public Library

Title: Private Hubert R. Enders Letter

Identifier/Call Number: MC 97

Physical Description: .1 Linear Feet

Date: 1942

Abstract: This collection contains a hand-written letter and the envelope it was contained in. It was written by Pvt. Hubert R. Enders from Camp Kohler, Sacramento, California and received by Elsie M. Brown in Brooklyn, New York. Details in the letter contain a description of life at Camp Kohler.

Language of Material: English .

The creator, Private Hubert Russell Enders, was born in Hartford, Connecticut, on February 21, 1917. After graduating high school, he worked as an insurance salesman. Just weeks after the American entry into World War II, Enders joined the United States Army, enlisting Camp Upton, Yaphank, New York, in January 1942. While at Camp Kohler, Enders rose to the rank of Sergeant and actively worked to bring weightlifting and fitness equipment to the base for the benefit of himself and fellow servicemen. Enders married the receiver of the letter, Elsie Mildred Brown, on April 23, 1943, in Brooklyn, New York. After the war, Hubert returned to Connecticut where he spent the next 22 years of his life working for the Aetna Life Insurance Company. He retired in 1977 as the national marketing director for Aetna and having accrued a total of 42 years of work service with the company. Elsie acquired a bachelor of arts degree in foreign languages at Hunter College and a master of arts degree in Spanish at Trinity College of Hartford, Connecticut. The couple settled in Connecticut and had one child, Millicent. Hubert died in 2007, Elsie in 2014.

Before becoming a Signal Depot installation, Camp Kohler was a temporary detention site or "assembly center" known by the name "Walerga," housing up to 4,739 Japanese Americans. It was not until June 15, 1942, that those housed at Walerga would be transported by rail to Tule Lake Relocation Center at Modoc County, California. Soon thereafter, in June of 1942, the War Department gained interest in the land. It contained enough space to provide training for 5,000 Signal Corps troops; however, the camp could only hold a capacity of 2,000 troops due to insufficient housing. It grew, within the next sixth months, to 3,800 acres. In 1943, Kohler was given access to classrooms, dormitories, and cafeterias at the University of California, Davis', College of Agriculture. Both the Davis and Walerga campuses became known as the Western Signal Corps Training Center. By early 1946, the site was forced into closure. Camp Kohler was named in honor of 1 Lt. Frederick L. Kohler who lost his life on March 14, 1942 while flying on an CNAC Douglas DC-2-221 from Kunming to Chungking, China. The plane was reported to have burst into flames in midair due to a mechanical failure, killing its five passengers.

[Identification of item], Private Hubert Enders Letter, MC 97, Sacramento Room, Sacramento Public Library, Sacramento, California.

This collection contains one envelope and a three-page letter with printed handwriting on both sides. The enclosed letter is folders in fourths.

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