World War II

Letters from War – Preparations for a war-time Christmas in England, November 1943

Posted on September 17, 2020September 14, 2020 by Jake Wynn

This is part of our “Letters from Home” series documenting the World War II letters of Irvin Schwartz of Pine Grove, PA. The letters were all published in the West Schuylkill Press-Herald between 1943 and 1945. Read the previous letter here Pfc. Irvin Schwartz had Christmas on his mind when he penned the following letter … Continue reading Letters from War – Preparations for a war-time Christmas in England, November 1943

Letters from War: From Somewhere in England, November 1943

Posted on September 10, 2020 by Jake Wynn

This is part of our “Letters from Home” series documenting the World War II letters of Irvin Schwartz of Pine Grove, PA. The letters were all published in the West Schuylkill Press-Herald between 1943 and 1945. Read the previous letter here In his first letter from war-ravaged Great Britain, Pfc. Irvin Schwartz wrote home to … Continue reading Letters from War: From Somewhere in England, November 1943

Letters from War – At a “Northern Camp” in November 1943

Posted on September 3, 2020September 3, 2020 by Jake Wynn

This is part of our “Letters from Home” series documenting the World War II letters of Irvin Schwartz of Pine Grove, PA. The letters were all published in the West Schuylkill Press-Herald between 1943 and 1945. Read the previous letter here After a brief furlough at home with family in Pine Grove, PA, PFC. Irvin … Continue reading Letters from War – At a “Northern Camp” in November 1943

Letters from War – From the training camps of Mississippi in the summer of 1943

Posted on August 20, 2020August 21, 2020 by Jake Wynn

Private Schwartz writes home to Schuylkill County from training camp in Mississippi in the summer fo 1943.

Letters from War – On the train to Camp Shelby, Mississippi in May 1943

Posted on August 13, 2020August 11, 2020 by Jake Wynn

Irvin Schwartz and five hundred other young American boys shook and rattled their way across America from New Cumberland, Pennsylvania to Camp Shelby, Mississippi in May 1943. The 18-year-old former reporter for the West Schuylkill Press-Herald documented the journey and his first days in a sprawling US Army training camp. This was the first letter that … Continue reading Letters from War – On the train to Camp Shelby, Mississippi in May 1943

Wynning History

Exploring the history of Pennsylvania’s Coal Region

Letters from War – Preparations for a war-time Christmas in England, November 1943

Letters from War: From Somewhere in England, November 1943

Letters from War – At a “Northern Camp” in November 1943

Letters from War – From the training camps of Mississippi in the summer of 1943

Letters from War – On the train to Camp Shelby, Mississippi in May 1943

Letters from War – Irvin Schwartz’s Farewell Column for the West Schuylkill Press in 1943

A Coal Region editorial on the frightening new world created by the atomic bomb – August 1945

A Nazi propaganda magazine from 1945 featured photographs of a Schuylkill County mining operation

“It’s your life at stake all the time” – A paratrooper from the Coal Region on D-Day

A powerful VE Day advertisement by Deisroth’s of Hazleton – May 1945