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[RHC-93_Olexa_1943-09-17]
[Page 1]
Sicily
September 17, 1943
Dear Agnes,
Just a few lines to let you know that I am well and hope you are the same. I think of you often
and still miss you. I’m still hoping that you and I will see each other in the near future. I suppose
by now that your folks are now unpacking and setting the furniture up in your new home. Don’t
forget to give them my regards? [sic] I’ll bet the kids are all excited being in a big city. I have reread your last letter about 5 times already for mail hasn’t been coming in like the
[Page 2]
past. Their probably very busy so a person will just have to waite. [sic] I’ve written you a V-mail
letter yesterday. In fact I’ve written quite a lot lately and here’s hoping you receive all of them. I
got a V-mail letter from Helen and it’s the first time I heard from her in 3 weeks. She said my
Dad was down to her place for a visit. These darn flies almost drive me crazy. Their so thick here
in Sicily that they fly around in bunches. Can’t get no rest from them from morning till dark.
When a person crawls out of his tent in the morning, they zoom down on
[Page 3]
you like dive bombers. Then the fight begins for another day. I sure hate a fly and if he zooms
around my ear more than twice I am out to take hist life. Ha! Ha! Well, “Darling” what do you
think of your new home? The only thing that will be missing is an apple tree. Just think “Sweets”
we didn’t even get to sit under that apple tree in Ash. And it sure makes me mad. Anyway
“Sweets” we’ll sure have a lot to talk about and it ain’t going to be about the war. I haven’t seen
a movie in a long time but who cares. I also haven’t seen Roy and I guess it may be
[Page 4]
Sometime before I do. How’s my girl Beasie? If she don’t hurry up and write, I’m going to get
mad. Well, “Sweets,” I shall close and write soon.
Yours always
With Lots of Love & Kisses
Joe
{Signature accent mark}
[Envelope front]
Sgt. Joseph P. Olexa (12016893)
�Co. “L,” 26th Infantry A.P.O. - 1
c/o Postmaster, New York, N. Y.
U. S. Army
{Postmark}
U.S. ARMY POSTAL SERVICE
1
SEP
20
1943
A.P.O.
U.S. POSTAGE
6¢
VIA AIR MAIL
Miss Agnes Van Der Weide
[text strikethrough] {11 Main Street}
[text strikethrough] {Ashburnham, Mass.}
1832 Berkley St., S.W.
Grand Rapids (9) Mich.
PASSED BY
11147
U.S.
L.T.K. Beau
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Joe Olexa letters
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Olexa, Joseph P.
Van Der Weide, Agnes
Description
An account of the resource
Collection of letters between Joseph Olexa and Agnes Van Der Weide, dating from 1941 to 1946. Olexa fought in the U.S. Army 26th Infantry Division, Company "L", and eventually attained the rank of Staff Sergeant. Over the course of World War II, Olexa was engaged in North Africa, Sicily, France, Belgium, and Germany. He fought in the Invasion of Normandy, the liberation of Belgium, the Battle of Hürtgen Forest, and the Battle of the Bulge. While deployed abroad, Olexa maintained regular correspondence with Agnes Van Der Weide, a young woman he met through mutual friends. Agnes was the daughter of Benjamin and Minnie (Ter Meer) Van Der Weide. The Van Der Weide family lived in Jamestown, Michigan and Ashburnham, Massachusetts until moving to Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1943.
While the letters do not contain details relating to Olexa's military activities, due to heavy censorship of soldiers' correspondence by the U.S. Army, the letters do depict the daily activities of an infantry soldier and illustrate the blossoming romance between the two. Joseph and Agnes were married July 23, 1945, and lived in West Michigan until Agnes's death in 1993. Joseph Olexa died December 3, 2000. They were survived by their son, Karl Olexa.
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
World War II
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941/1946
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/543">Joseph P. Olexa WWII memoir and correspondence (RHC-93)</a>
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
United States. Army. Infantry Division, 26th
World War, 1939-1945
Soldiers -- Michigan
Correspondence
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-93
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Olexa, Joseph P.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943-09-17
Title
A name given to the resource
Letter from Joe Olexa to Agnes Van Der Weide, September 17, 1943
Description
An account of the resource
Handwritten letter and envelope with transcript by Joe Olexa to Agnes Van Der Weide, dated September 17, 1943. The envelope is sent from Co. L, 26th Infantry A.P.O.-1, c/o Postmaster New York, New York, dated September 20, 1943. In the letter, Joe writes to Agnes from Sicily and wonders how her family are settling into their new home in Grand Rapids, MI. He also writes of his experiences with the relentless flies in Italy while keeping a good sense of humor and expressing his adoration of Agnes.
Subject
The topic of the resource
United States. Army. Infantry Division, 26th
World War, 1939-1945
Soldiers -- Michigan
Correspondence
Sicily (Italy)
Flies--1940-1950
Grand Rapids (Mich.)
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/543">Joseph P. Olexa WWII memoir and correspondence, (RHC-93)</a>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
World War II