Special Collections Research Center

Scope and Contents The bulk of this collection consists of letters to and from Norman E. Lau, who served as an aviation metalsmith for the U.S. Navy during World War II, and his family. The correspondence was written before and after the war, and concern Lau's search for a job in Chicago during the Depression, his training, his time spent overseas during the war stationed in the Philippines, and his life after the war in California. Many of the letters were written to or by his wife, "Kitty." Correspondence...

Scope and Contents

Letters, 1944-1945, of Howard Ramey, a member of the United States Naval Construction Battalion, also known as the Seabees, and stationed upon the USS New Jersey during World War II. The letters are primarily written to his grandparents, whose names are unknown. Letters primarily concern Ramey's inquiries about life in the United States as well as his feelings about his service in the Navy. In one letter, Ramey mentions that there is much about which he is not allowed to write.