Finding Aid for the Frank T. Bucior Second World War correspondence and other materials 2020.161.w.r
Zoe Adams
Center for American War Letters Archives
5/31/2022
Leatherby Libraries
Chapman University
Orange, CA 92866
speccoll@chapman.edu
Contributing Institution:
Center for American War Letters Archives
Title: Frank T. Bucior Second World War correspondence and other materials
Identifier/Call Number: 2020.161.w.r
Physical Description:
.03 Linear feet
(2 folders, 1 specimen box)
Date (inclusive): 1943 - 1997 November 11
Date (bulk): 1945 June 12 - November 15
Abstract: This collection contains correspondence from Sgt. Frank T. Bucior, USMC to his family in Hartford, Connecticut during the
Second World War. Also included in this collection are photographs, newspaper clippings, and realia.
Language of Material:
English
.
Container: WWII 160
Container: 22-23
Container: 1-2
Container: Specimen Box 4
Container: 3
This collection is open for research.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Carolyn Bucior
This collection is arranged in chronological order.
Sergeant Frank Theodore Bucior, United States Marine Corps (08/25/1921 - 3/24/1980) was born in Hartford, Connecticut to Katherine
Bucior née Cyzwicki and George Bucior. He had four siblings: two sisters, Irene Bucior and Elizabeth Bucior, and two brothers,
Raymond "Ray" Bucior and Bernand "Bernie" Bucior.
[Item title / description; Box "n" / Folder "n"], Frank T. Bucior Second World War correspondence and other materials (2020.161.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.
This collection contains nine correspondence from Sgt. Frank T. Bucior, USMC during the Second World War to his parents and
sisters in Hartford, Connecticut while he was overseas. Also included in this collection are twelve photographs of Frank in
uniform, with other servicemen, and while at various camps. One photograph of Frank's brother, Bernie, is also included. This
collection also includes one original newspaper clipping, five copied newspaper clippings, and two honorable discharge documents.
Lastly, the collection includes three pins, one button, and one identification tag, which are stored in a specimen box.
The correspondence begins on June 12, 1945 while Frank was stationed at Camp Joseph H. Pendleton in Oceanside, California.
Over the course of the letters, Frank travels from California, to Hawaii, to Japan, to the Palau Islands. He discusses rumors
of peace leading up to the Japanese surrender. After the war officially ends, he describes wanting to go home to become a
civilian again. He also asks about life back home in Connecticut, specifically about his sisters' lives and golf tournaments.
On August 12, 1945, he wrote, "ever since the first peace rumors started, this camp has been on pins and needles." He also
wrote, "we've all been sitting with our ears next to the radio praying for the surrender of Japan to be announced with no
withdrawals."
On August 26, 1945, he asked his family, "What's new there in the States now that this bloody fracas is over? Has any of the
rationing been lifted?"
On September 8, 1945, while in Haiki, Japan, he wrote about the food he and his fellow soldiers were eating. At the time he
wrote the letter, he had been in Japan for seventeen days. He wrote that "The first eleven days found us forcing down the
same canned "C" ration three meals a day."
On September 16, 1945, he discussed getting several vaccinations, saying "if I had as many needles sticking out of me as I've
had stuck into me since joining this outfit, I'd look like a porcupine. Since boarding ship this last time, we've had six
of the damn shots."
Frank's letter on September 26 was written in Sasebo, Japan and includes descriptions of his locations over the past several
months, as censorship had been lifted. He wrote, "Now, for the first time since we left the States in July of 1944, I can
tell you where we are, what we are doing."
The last letter was written on November 15, 1945 from Peleliu, Palau, in which he discusses hoping to return home by Christmas.
The original newspaper clipping is from the Hartford Courant from November 11, 1997. The article discusses Frank's brother,
Bernard "Bernie" Bucior who was killed in action while serving as a paratrooper during the invasion of Normandy on June 6,
1944. Two photocopied clippings also included information about Bernie's service.
Three copied newspaper clippings include information about Frank, including his work at Allen Manufacturing Company and as
an aide to a professional golfer, Dave Campbell. One article includes a quote from Frank about a Japanese soldier who committed
hari kari [sic] (harakiri; also known as seppuku), a ritual suicide practice, in Iwo Jima.
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)
World War (1939-1945) -- Marine Corps
World War (1939-1945) -- Pacific islands
Photographs
World War (1939-1945) -- Campaigns -- Japan -- Iwo Jima (Volcano Islands)