Just 53 days after the bombs fell on Pearl Harbor, I received a letter in the mail. Inside the envelope was an ordinary piece of blue paper measuring 8 inches wide, 10.5 inches long. It was dated January 26, 1942 (a Monday) and the "Stamp of the Local Board," located in Fergus Falls, Minnesota, was dated January 29, 1942. The letter was quick and to the point. It read as follows:
NOTICE OF SELECTIONTo Howard Wesley Branstner. Order No. 2016
Having been found physically qualified for general military service by Army authorities, you have been selected for training and service under the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940.
You will receive an Order to Report for Induction -- such induction to take place on or about February 1942.
This notice is given you in advance for your convenience, and is not an order to report. If you are employed, you should advise your employer of this notice. The Order to Report for Induction will specify a definite time and place for you to report.
{signed} V.C. Jensen, Member of Local Board
The original copy of the letter that changed my life.
Thursday, February 12, 1942
I am inducted into the Army at Fort Snelling, St. Paul, Minnesota.
A post card I sent to my parents. I ate here at The Covered Wagon, "Home of Properly Aged Sizzling Steaks," located at 114 South 4th Street, Minneapolis, Minnesota, before reporting to Fort Snelling.
Draft inductees going through their physical screening at Fort Snelling. I went through this exact same process, perhaps by these same fellows. [Image courtesy of www.mnhs.org]
Private Howard W. Branstner, pictures taken at Fort Snelling, Minnesota, February 1942. You can see the snow on my shoulder in the picture to the left. The fellow with me in the lower right is Jim Larson.
Fort Snelling as it appears today.
3 comments:
Grandpa was a mighty fine looking man. He's got that certain twinkle in his eye, kind of mischievous. I miss him.
It doesn't seem to me that they gave him all that much notice to say that he would be leaving a few years!
Amazing to look at these pictures and see you kids--especially Dale. This is so very interesting. Thank you Sam for this--you have to be so proud. I sure know this--your mom & dad would be.
Sam this is really great,can't wait to read more
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