PhotoMail! Otherwise known as V-Mail

(Source: National Archives)

Next to chow, a letter from home is one of the best things a soldier can get. However, getting mail to the soldier is not easy, particularly in times of war. The question becomes, what gets to the soldier? Is it bullets, beans, or mail? During World War II, this question was of the utmost importance, especially considering the amount of manpower deployed by the United States overseas and remote corners of the world.

The solution was V-Mail (Victory Mail) or as the Army called it, "Photomail."

(Source: US Army FM 11-150, Photomail Operation)
(Online Source of Manual: Army Heritage Collection Online)

Technically speaking the process was fairly simple. Using required forms, the letter would be photographed, placed on a roll of microfilm and then shipped overseas. Once arrived, the microfilm would then be printed out on special paper and shipped to the soldier. This also worked in reverse, that is the soldier's letters to home would be converted to V-Mail and then shipped back to the States for processing back into printed mail.

Some interesting statistics can be gathered:

• Mail weight was reduced by up to 98%.
• The printed out letters were approximately 1/4 the size of regular letters.
• During the war over 500 million V-Mail letters were shipped overseas!
  

I've found some good links below that will give you background as well as the actual field manual describing the daily operations of photomail. Have a great day!

See you tomorrow!

Links:

Duke University Libraries Digital Collection (Advertising)

National Postal Museum: V-Mail

Army Heritage Collection Online (search for V-Mail)

Wikipedia link: V-Mail

Piasecki's Helicopters

Hi all,

Frank Piasecki passed last week.

Perhaps not as well known as Sikorsky, Frank Piasecki was one of the founding fathers of helicopter technology in the United States. Some of his designs include:

"The Flying Banana"

(Source: United States Coast Guard)


The H-21 "Shawnee"


(Source: Wikipedia)

His designs focused on heavy-lift capabilities as well as the dual-rotor concept. This can be seen by one of the airframes still in use by the US Army that he helped design:

The "Chinook"

(Source: US Army Fact Files)

In the recent past, his new designs included:

• The Heli-Stat, development of heavy lift capability by marrying multiple helicopters with airship technology.
• X49 developmental vehicle. This includes a propeller at the rear of the aircraft to increase forward speed as well as reduce the torque effect coming from the main rotor.

For more details and in-depth history, try the links below and see you tomorrow!

Piasecki Aircraft Corporation

NYTimes Obit and Background Information

Wikipedia entry: Frank Piasecki

Papermodel of "Flying Banana"
(illustrative purposes)

Boeing's link to Piasecki

Marines & Helicopters (Google link to full book)
(Background on the H-21)

I'm all shook up! That "Sexhibitionist"* Elvis Presley and NARA?

My detective work in NARA continues! Today I have stumbled across a most amazing find. I never dreamed that these things would show up in the official archives, but in a sense I'm glad they do, only because as a historical sleuth, this gives additional insight into American society.

As you know, unlike many of today's figures in popular music, Elvis Presley was drafted into the army and indeed, willingly went. While we can only suppose the impact he truly felt, we can know for certain the impact felt by many who admired him, his work and songs. Truly, it was the teenager who probably felt this most.

Here you will see a letter written to then President Eisenhower by three of Elvis's fans begging Ike to release Elvis from his duties:



To find a readable copy of this letter, hit the ARC search engine. Keyword Elvis followed by a revised search for digital items. There are lots more goodies here, especially if you are a Elvis and Nixon fan.

ARC Search Link: http://www.archives.gov/research/arc/

Wikipedia Search Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvis_Presley

*Note the "Sexhibitionist Elvis Presley" part of the title I came across by searching the Time archive around the time Elvis was drafted...searching for popular reaction. A quick search showed some articles but not too many other than the wacky title above. Maybe I just need to dig more.....here's the link if you have time:

Warning! Many ads!
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,824916,00.html