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[RHC-93_Olexa_1945-04-21]
[Page 1]
England
April 21, 1945.
“My Dearest Darling,”
Haven’t written to you in over a week and I hope I am forgiven. We have been very busy and a
lot of times, I started to write but was too tired to finish. I was very surprised “Sweets” to get that
package you sent to me with the watch and fountain pen in it. That was the only thing out of the
package that was not broken or spoiled. Gee! “Darling” I miss you terribly and could stand a lot
of “loving” from you. I keep looking forward to the time when we shall be together. Gosh! I
have so much that I would like to do then. I’m going to squeeze
[Page 2]
you with all my might and never let up. I love you with all my heart “Darling” and waite [sic] for
the day when we shall get married and start our little home, being happy and living an enjoyable
life. Golly! I wish it were now, don’t you? I shan’t be worried about you hugging and kissing me
till I vanished but will love it. I wish you would squeeze me real hard right now. Will you? I’m
glad you liked my flowers I had sent to you. Wish I could’ve been there to see them in full
bloom. I’m sorry to hear about your aunt passing away but we all shall go when the time comes.
It was very saddening news to hear of President
[Page 3]
Roosevelt passing away and of Ernie Pyle the news reporter. I remember him from Africa and
give him a lot of credit of appreciation for what he got for us boys. He was a swell guy. I was
sorry to hear that my folks did not get to see you, but they will when they can get away. I still
haven’t gotten those pictures of you that were taken when you went down to Helen’s and I hope
that I shall receive that. Your small proofs are wonderful and you look very beautiful in every
one of them. How’s your mother and father these days? Don’t forget to give them my best of
wishes, will you. Yes! “Darling” the Lord does wonderful things for us if we are patient and
think of Him always. Thee [?] has brought me through the Valley
[Page 4]
of Shadow of Death not once but many, many times. I thought that I would not make it and I’m
thankful to him. I’m still waiting patiently for my name to appear on orders for that furlough
home. Gosh! What a wonderful day it will be to be with you once again. I’ve missed almost 3
years of loving, so do you think I can make it up in 45 days? I knew you’d say no. Meanie! Ha!
Ha! Well, “Precious” I shall close for now hoping to hear from you real soon.
Always,
With Loads of Love & Kisses
�Your Future Husband
“Joe”
{Signature accent mark}
[Envelope front]
S/Sgt. Joseph P. Olexa (12016893)
6916 Reinf. Co. (Prov.)
6903 Reinf. Bn. (Prov.)
A.P.O.-551 c/o PM. – N.Y., N.Y.
{Postmark}
U.S. ARMY POSTAL SERVICE
APR
22
1945
A.P.O.
Miss Agnes Van Der Weide
1913 Berkley Ave. S.W.
Grand Rapids, 9 Mich.
PASSED BY
56591
U.S.
ARMY EXAMINER
[?]
�
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/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-93_Olexa_1945-04-21
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
1945-04-21
Title
A name given to the resource
Letter from Joe Olexa to Agnes Van Der Weide, April 21, 1945
Description
An account of the resource
Handwritten letter and envelope with transcript by Joe Olexa to Agnes Van Der Weide, dated April 21, 1945. The envelope is sent from 6916 Reinf. Co. (Prov.), 6903 Reinf. Bn. (Prov.), A.P.O.-551, c/o Postmaster New York, New York, dated April 22, 1945. In the letter, Joe writes to Agnes for the first time in over a week, sharing his appreciation for the package she sent him in addition to the news of President Roosevelt and American journalist and war correspondent, Ernie Pyle, passing away.
Subject
The topic of the resource
United States. Army. Infantry Division, 26th
World War, 1939-1945
Soldiers -- Michigan
Correspondence
Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945
Pyle, Ernie, 1900-1945
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