Zone d'identification
Nom et localisation du dépôt
Niveau de description
Folder
Titre
Seven letters by Frederick Goldman - Jewish soldier - Virgin Islands - World War II
Date(s)
- 1942 (Production)
Importance matérielle
7 items
Nom du producteur
Notice biographique
Zone du contenu et de la structure
Portée et contenu
"An archive of 7 letters, one with transmittal envelope, written between October 10 - December 26, 1942, by Frederick Goldman, a Jewish soldier from Brooklyn who is stationed on St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands. In 1927, those who resided in the U.S. Virgin Islands were given U.S. citizenship. The island of Saint Thomas, containing an area of about 32 square miles, has several bays on the southern coast, two of which, Lindbergh Bay and Gregerie Channel, were developed for U.S. Navy use. In 1940, the main east-west runway at Bourne Field was extended to a length of 4,800 feet, the hangar was expanded by 100 feet, and additional buildings were constructed, all of which in order to make the field suitable to house a permanent squadron of 18 aircrafts. An additional concrete ramp, a hangar, and other structures were also built at Lindbergh Bay to expand the seaplane base. On July 8, 1941, additional contracts were granted to expand the air station and to rebuild a submarine base in the Gregerie Channel. In Oct 1941, three new three new 150-foot steel radio towers and a reinforced-concrete transmitter building were built to replace the obsolete WWI-era station. After the United States entered WWII in Dec 1941, patrol flights were regularly launched from Saint Thomas to detect, in particular, Axis submarines. Between 1944 and 1950, the small Water Island of the U.S. Virgin Islands was used by the U.S. Army to test chemical warfare agents, including Agent Orange which would gain notoriety during the Vietnam War. The U.S. Virgin Islands remain a unincorporated organized territory of the United States to this day. Frederick Goldman was in the Coast Guard and these letters, two of which are in manuscript, and 5 typewritten are written to his parents and sister, all of whom live in Brooklyn. They relate everyday events in a soldier's life, some history of the Jewish community on St. Thomas and interest in what is happening in the family jewelry business back home..." --description from Buckingham Books.