Finding Aid for the Roger L. Carroll Second World War correspondence, photographs and other materials 2017.204.w.r

Andrew Harman
Center for American War Letters Archives
5/28/2019
Leatherby Libraries
Chapman University
Orange, CA 92866
speccoll@chapman.edu


Contributing Institution: Center for American War Letters Archives
Title: Roger L. Carroll Second World War correspondence, photographs and other materials
source: Carroll-Poe, Debbie K.
Creator: Carroll, Roger Leroy, Private First Class, 1922-1969
Identifier/Call Number: 2017.204.w.r
Physical Description: 0.2 Linear feet (3 folders)
Date (inclusive): 1940 November 20 - 1969 April 18
Abstract: This collection contains correspondence, photographs, service documents and other materials relating to PFC Roger L. Carroll, USA during the Second World War.
Language of Material: English .
Container: WWII 146
Container: 23-25
Container: 1-3

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Accruals

Added October 26, 2021: One V-Mail and ten photographs. The correspondence was written to Alverta on July 24, 1944 asking for Hersheys candy bars. The photographs include one colorized portrait of Carroll, landscapes of Camp Figi (Fiji), Carroll in Fiji, Carroll with Allen Simmons in uniform, one photo of Carroll taken on a Photomatic in uniform in August 1941, and Carroll in uniform with his future wife Alverta.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Roger L. Carroll and family, via Debbie K. Carroll-Poe.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged by material type. The correspondence and clippings are arranged chronologically and the service documents are arranged by subject; military documents, replacement military documents, personal documents. The photographs are not arranged.

Biographical / Historical

Private First Class Roger Leroy Carroll, United States Army (3/2/1922 - 4/16/1969) was born in Potsdam, Ohio and was a student in high school when he entered the Ohio National Guard on October 6, 1940, with Company M 148th Infantry which was mobilized into the US Army on October 15. Carroll trained at Camp Shelby in Hattiesburg, Mississippi until May 1941 and Amazon Park, California for two weeks until departing the US on May 26 aboard the USS President Coolidge to the Fiji Islands. He later boarded the USS John Penn for Guadalcanal and arrived in New Georgia in July 1942.
PFC Carroll was first under fire while still aboard a ship and then engaged in his first battle on July 10, 1942 on "Starvation Ridge" in New Georgia, so named according to him, because the battalion almost starved to death. The battle lasted 49 days without sunlight due to the heavy foliage. In November 1943, Carroll participated in the Battle of Bougainville, which he remarks in his service record began on November 4 and "Laster 1 complete YEAR." On December 9, 1944 Carroll boarded the USS Admiral Capps on its maiden voyage and arrived a few weeks later in San Diego, California and later San Francisco.
In January 1945 Carroll married Alverta Peffley and continued to serve stateside until mustering out of Company D 15th Battalion in September 1945 at Camp Atterbury, Indiana.
During his service, PFC Carroll worked as a Telegraph and Telephone Lineman and earned the Combat Infantryman Badge, Rifle Marksman, Asiatic-Pacific Theater Ribbon with one Bronze Star, the American Defense Service Medal, and the Good Conduct ribbon.
After the war, Roger and Alverta had three daughters and Roger worked for a Television and Radio Service at Sears and Roebuck until he retired due to poor health. He passed away at the age of 46 in April 1969.

Preferred Citation

[Item title / description; Box "n" / Folder "n"], Roger L. Carroll Second World War correspondence, photographs and other materials (2017.204.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 five letters and one postcard written by PFC Roger L. Carroll, USA to his parents during the Second World War, as well as one postcard written to PFC Carroll from "Bugle Boy" Paul [Hangen?]. Also included is one poem written by Carroll, on obituary for Carroll after he passed, 31 photographs and one negative, six clippings, various service documents and personal documents relating to Carroll, and uniform decorations such as buttons, dog tags with a key, and one Good Conduct Medal. The service and personal documents were folded and housed in blue "Honorable Discharge, Service Record" pouch.
The correspondence from PFC Carroll to his parents, separated into letters to each, was written while in training at Camp Shelby, beginning November 1940 until May 1941. He discussed spraining his ankle and being marked for work duty anyway until another doctor saw it and gave him rest. He also mentioned that he had become a bugler but will need to learn radio operating and work two jobs, and by the second letter he had passed the radio test and is to begin both bugler and radio operator schools at the same time. In that letter to his mother he describes their Thanksgiving dinner and tells his father about how cold the weather is in the South with a detailed description about their daily training routine.
In the third letter, written to both parents, PFC Carroll mentions a disciplinary action for uniform infractions, and the fact that he cannot be a bugler and radio operator at the same time, so he wants to stick to bugler. In a letter to his father, he describes training and the state of Mississippi, including the weather, and hopes for a Christmas furlow. Included with that letter, postmarked December 19, 1940, was a small photo negative with several children and some adults (arranged with the rest of the photographs).
In a V-Mail written to Alverta on July 24, 1944 Carroll asked for Hersheys candy bars, and laments that only this situation could keep them apart and that he feels like he had been away for so long.
The two postcards include colorized photographs of soldiers training at Camp Shelby including one note from Carroll to his mother about a hurting foot, and one note to Carroll from his friend and fellow serviceman Paul [Hangen?] while Carroll is home on furlow in June 1941.
The photographs are black and white approximately 3x5's and include shots of Carroll in uniform, he and his at the time fiancée Alverta, he and other soldiers clearing jungle in Bougainville with explosives and tools, as well as various equipment on base. Also included is one larger photograph of Carroll with the Arcanum, Ohio Freemasons Chapter in ceremonial outfits, and a larger photograph of Carroll and Alverta on their wedding day.
The poem was written by Carroll in June 1943 on the back of an Arimail Bond writing tablet. It is about the censors and having nothing to write in a letter, while describing the conditions.
Service documents contained in this collection include one original Enlisted Record and Report of Separation with Honorable discharge, with certificate on the back, one negative copy of the same form, as well as reproductions of this form and certificate made at the request of Carroll in 1947. At the time of discharge, Carroll also received on Army Separation Qualification Record describing his experience as a Telephone and Telegraph Lineman, and one Special Order for discharge from the State of Ohio Adjutant General for discharge from the Ohio National Guard.
As part of the blue pouch, a small tablet entitled Service Record fit in the front inside and contains specific details of PFC Carroll's service from induction to discharge, including battles and ships in transit. See bio/historical note for this story. It even includes two of his commanding officers, Captain Leroy Stout at Camp Shelby and Captain Henne in the Fiji Islands, whom he refers to as "Worse Officer our Co. Ever Had he's Too Big for pant."
Also included with these documents is one postcard receipt, one Certificate of Eligibility and one National Service Life Insurance certificate, all from the United States Veterans Administration between 1942-1947, as well as on a payment order to Mrs. Alverta P. Gunn (formerly Mrs. Alverta Carroll) from the Department of Social Security Pensions and Overseas Benefit Directorate in 1997.
Personal documents include Roger L. Carroll's original birth certificate, as well as Roger and Alverta's marriage certificate.
Added October 26, 2021: One V-Mail and ten photographs. The correspondence was written to Alverta on July 24, 1944 asking for Hersheys candy bars. The photographs include one colorized portrait of Carroll, landscapes of Camp Figi (Fiji), Carroll in Fiji, Carroll with Allen Simmons in uniform, one photo of Carroll taken on a Photomatic in uniform in August 1941, and Carroll in uniform with his future wife Alverta.

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) -- Pacific islands
World War (1939-1945) -- Pacific Area
Battle of Guadalcanal (Solomon Islands : 1942-1943)
Freemasonry -- United States History -- 20th Century
Postcards.
Obituaries
World War (1939-1945) -- Poetry
World War (1939-1945) -- Photography
Carroll-Poe, Debbie K.