John A. Butler First and Second World Wars correspondence, photographs and other materials

This collection contains one correspondence, one school program, seven postcards, three photographs, and a WWI Victory Medal relating to the service of Pvt. John A. Butler, AEF during the First World War. Also included are eight ration books, three ration book certificates, three OPA Red Points, and one application for special mileage belonging to his family during the Second World War.

The postcards are from various towns where Pvt. Butler stayed in France, with short descriptions. The photographs include one of Butler in a suit, one as a child with his sister, and one of the family in 1917, with him in uniform.

The ration books and OPA points belonged to Ethel, her husband Albert, and daughter Barbara. The application was filled out by Ethel for extra mileage points in February 1944 due to her parents' illnesses and needing to care for them in Monterey Park.

Pvt. Butler's correspondence is written to his sisters Ethel and Thelma, and one of their babies, on June 16, 1918 to give a description of Army life at Camp Bowie. He gives a complete breakdown of a typical day while he works in the infirmary, from reveille to mess call, to sick call in the morning, all the way through the day of drill, inspections, and going to town. The sick call brings in a lot of "gold bricks," people who are always trying to get out of duty by pretending to be sick. He feeds them pills and salts until they becoming tired of the ruse, though the infirmary continues to get around 50 soldiers claiming to be sick every morning. He spent some time in the base hospital recently because of his tonsils, which they treated with "nitrate of silver" to burn them out for five mornings in a row.

He continues describing the typical day, noting that his unit gets to finish up earlier than the rest of the regiment because the rest have horses to water and groom. He says that the medical detachments do not do as much as the other branches of the service, noting, "guess when we cross the pond we will get our share of the work." He also notes that he expects to leave for France soon, a few weeks or a month. He then describes a regimental inspection of pup tents and packs, with detailed descriptions of each item they carry.

Lastly, he mentions his girl "Marjorie" Miller, eluding to the fact that she is not the only girl he has "gone with" while there but she is the only one to ask him to dinner and church.