Wartime Memories

"Old Soldiers Never Die"

Gen. Douglas MacArthur (1880-1964) was one of most prominent United States military figures of the first half of the twentieth century.

In World War I he served as chief of staff of the Forty-second Infantry (Rainbow) Division and later commanded one of its brigades. He was twice wounded and received many decorations for bravery.

In 1942 a young John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) entered the United States Navy eager to see action in World War II.

Clare Boothe Luce (1903-1987), playwright, diplomat, wife of Time-Life, Inc., publisher Henry Robinson Luce (1898-1967), and a Republican member of the House of Representatives from Connecticut, knew the Kennedy family well. She sent the young naval officer a good luck coin that had originally belonged to her mother. Kennedy thanked Luce for her thoughtfulness and promised to clip the coin to his military identification tags.

by George G. King

Spanish-American War

was declared by Congress on April 25, 1898.

This is a collection of letters written home by George King, an American soldier who served in the Puerto Rican campaign during the Spanish-American War. At the outbreak of the War, King volunteered in the Sixth Regiment of Infantry formed in Concord, Massachusetts.

World War II Era

Being Questioned by the FBI

By Fannie Prothro nee Terry

My family was living in Louisiana during WW II. Our sons, R.D. (Randolph Davis Prothro) and Jimmy (James Warren Prothro) went in the Army. R.D.'s daughter, Sarah Jane stayed with us for many months until the invasion of Germany during World War II while R.D. was in England and Sarah, his wife, was working in the civil service.