WW II letters home, September 1, 1941

~ ValarieC

Envelope postdated 2 September 1941

Mr. and Mrs. K.W. Rhoades
4011 North 30 Street
Omaha, Nebraska

Kenney Rhoades
U.S.S. Colorado Box 14
Bremerton, Wash

September 1, 1941

Dear Folks,

Hi everybody as you all see by the date I missed my annual [I think he meant usual, but definitely says “anual”(sic)] Sunday letter and am writing today instead.  One more month of mess cooking left. 

You see I rated this weekend this last week, thus no letter.  I’ll tell you all about it.  I was flat broke and so was Elsworth, but we hated to miss the weekend being the first we had rated since coming back.  We left the gate with not so much as a penny, went to the locker club and put on our civies [civilian clothes], then we went and got our car and charged 10 gallons of gas till payday, and decided to go for a long ride and see some of the pretty country.  Well, we got about 50 miles out of town and the darn thing stopped, a burnt out set of points is what we discovered.  Along comes a guy and pushes us 6 miles to Shelton, Washington pop. 3,115.  There we were, busted down car and no money 7:30 in the evening.  (SOLUTION) We went to a nice hotel, talked the owner into a swell room and $3.00 cash leaving a Pea coat as surety which we will pick up next week.  We stayed there all night, got up, bought a swell chow, and a set of points.  Got our car running, took in a movie, and then back to the ship.  We had a swell time in spite of our trouble.  The country is really beautiful, all green forests, and logging camps and mills.

The City Center Motel may or may not be the place Kenney and Elsworth stayed, but looks like it could have been around in 1941! Accessed from Google Maps.
Arial view of the U.S.S. Lexington on 14 October 1941. Accessed from Wikipedia

The [U.S.S.] Lexington [aircraft carrier] is pulling in now.  She is really sitting out in the Sound.  We’ll see Hasting in a couple of days.  Yes, dad, when I came back to the ship, and found two letters from you, I thought maybe you had had an earthquake back there, but was sure pleased, though.  Let’s see you do it more often if you can.  Thanks for the whisk broom “mom”.  I got it this morning.  Well, I guess that’s all the news, so will close.

Love to all,
Kenney

Oh, yes.  Your son is Fireman 1st Class today, or Petty Officer 3rd Class, whichever you prefer.

See Washington States scenic highways with more photos from the 1940s and other eras here.

  • Birdseye of Shelton, c. 1940s
  • Downtown Shelton, c. 1940s
  • Hotel Shelton, c. 1940s
  • Drive route today from Bremerton to Shelton today using Google Maps. WA State Route 3 was not built until the 1960s.

Published by ValarieC