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Letter from Smith Green to grandma and grandpaShow simple item record

dc.creatorGreen, Smith Lowry
dc.date.accessioned2024-10-22T19:39:50Z
dc.date.available2024-10-22T19:39:50Z
dc.date.issued1939-11-16
dc.identifier.urihttps://repository.tcu.edu/handle/116099117/66463
dc.descriptionLetter from Smith Green to his grandparents, William and Mary Green, giving updates.
dc.format.medium6.5x10 paper
dc.relationSmith Lowry Green Collection (MS 179)
dc.rightsPrior written permission from TCU Special Collections required to use any document or photograph
dc.sourceBox 002, Correspondence to Grandma & Grandpa 1939-41, 1945-46 (not POW) folder, Item 002
dc.subjectGreen, Smith L.
dc.subjectWorld War II
dc.subjectUnited States Army
dc.titleLetter from Smith Green to grandma and grandpa
dc.typeDocument
dc.description.transcription1 Hw. Co. 31st Infantry Manila, P.I. December 25, 1939 Dear Grandma & Grandpa, I received your most welcome letter last night which was Christmas Eve and it was a s nice a Christmas present as I could wish for. I am in good health, as usual and hope both of you are the same. I was glad to hear that Grandpa's leg was much better, but that was the first time I knew it was bothering him. What was wrong with it? This is Christmas day in the Philippine Islands but it seems more like the Fourth of July. The past few days the sun has been out and is very hot. Its hot even when its raining, though, and that is quite often. Typhoon warnings have gone up twice this month but both of them missed Manila. The first one did lots of damage on the southern part of the island. As you probably know, a typhoon is a tropical hurricane that circles in the manner of a cyclone. On January 2d, we leave Manila and go 2 on maneuvers. Our job is to defend the Island against attack and to delay a mythical enemy until reinforcement can arrive. I am a radio operator in the 2d Battalion communication so will go with them on maneuvers. The 2sBattalion goes about 260 kilometers north to the Lingayen Gulf while the rest of the regiment goes to the southern part of the island. I will be around the town of Lingayen or San Carlos most of the time and may be able to write a letter or two. We come back in about February 7, stay a few days and leave again to fire on the range. In other words, we will be in the field most the time from the 2d of January to May. We have to sleep under mosquito nets the year around. In fact, if one is caught sleeping without a net, he is punished. There are mosquitoes here that carry the germs of various fevers, such as malaria and dengue fever soon after getting here. I've already had it, but not bad. When I get out from Manila I'll be able to see more of the native Philippinos and the way in which they live. I've 3 already been out to Ft. William McKinley which is seven miles from Manila and seen some of the sountry side. The principal crop right around here is rice because rice and fish is about the lower class of natives eat. The beast of burden of the farmers is the carabao or water buffalo. The carabao can be worked, ridden and eaten. They are big, slow beasts of a dark bluish color and a pair of powerful horns. A few are of a yellowish color. A carabao must wallow in the mud and water every so often. And so the country side is dotted with carabao wallows. When the rascal decides to submerge in the cooling water, he does so, ,with so much as a by your leave from the owner. The high class native around here may be of Spanish descent or a mestizo which is a half breed. The lower class is Moro, Itorote, or other tribe. The natives usually speak Tagalog and some speak Spanish. Just about all speak English also. The average hight is about 5'1", so you can see they are a small race. They 4 look a lot like Chinese or Japanese but are brown. As one boy said, they all look as if some one had stepped in their face. The news reels and popular songs over here are away behind times. The news reel I saw last night had in it about the hurricane that swept the East Coast and New England last year. Also the American Legion Convention of 1938 and a lot about the trouble between Germany and Czechoslovakia. So you can see how old they were. I wrote a card to Jewell Dean while in Honolulu but have never gotten an answer. Tell everyone hello for me. Give Joyce Ann my love. I'm sending you a few pictures I got from Virginia and Claude. The pictures we took didn't come out because the camera was no good. Tell Ray and Folks hello for me. Also Olen Bates and anyone else you might see. Well, I must close. Please write soon with a long letter and all the news. Lots & lots of love Smith Rec'd Jan 23 S. GREEN HQ. CO., 31ST INF. MANILA P.I. MR. W.M. GREEN BOX 426 BROWKEN BOW, OKLAHOMA U.S.A. Earlton Burris of Mena Arkansas.


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  • Smith Lowry Green Collection [250]
    Smith L. Green fought in the Pacific Theatre of World War II. He was a prisoner of war from 1942 to 1945. He also fought in the Korean War. Green attended graduate school at Texas Christian University, graduating in 1961.

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