*Inaugural Post*
Victory Mail……Coming to you soon! See (and click on) example at bottom!
During WWII, V-Mail (short for “Victory Mail”) was a method of sending letters between active members of the armed forces and their families. The V-Mail System was developed by the Armed Forces and US Post Office. It was a popular way to manage mail flow and reduce the weight and bulk of correspondence. Messages were written on particular V-Mail forms and then microfilmed to save space. Upon arrival, the microfilm was enlarged and printed on paper for delivery to the recipient. This method saved cargo space for wartime supplies while allowing regular communication.
During the War Years of 1942–1945, the V-Mails from the Saucon Valley Defenders Committee served as community letters to servicemen and women. Many of them had recently graduated from Hellertown High School or left school early to join the service and were now serving throughout the war-torn world.
The Winds of World War II swept through Hellertown and Lower Saucon Township, changing the way your families lived daily and their lives throughout the War Years.
A series of 80 original Victory Mail Letters, commonly known as V-Mail, will be republished here on this blog. Our Saucon Valley Defenders Committee published them and sent them to hometown heroes worldwide who served in our armed forces during the war years. Our armed services encouraged local communities to send each person who entered military service during the war years, thus keeping the distance between the theater of action and home a bit closer.
Our local Saucon Valley Defenders Committee did just that to stay in touch with our hometown heroes in active service from 1942 to 1945. The final letters announcing V-E Day and V-J Day conclude by letting everyone know the committee is intensely proud of their accomplishments and hopes to see them all someday upon their return.
These V-Mails may become very personal to you as you read them over the next few months. Many of your moms, dads, grandfathers, and grandmothers will be mentioned in the letters.
The two Saucon Valley Defenders Committee branches will publish 45 V-Mail letters sent by the Hellertown Defenders Committee and 28 by the Lower Saucon Township Defenders Committee.
If you are wondering where these letters have been for the last 80 years, the answer is in a file that we believe Al Hoppes gave to one of his neighbors to look through and hold. As life goes, the files have surfaced this year. We are making them available to the Saucon Valley Community so they can enjoy and celebrate the Hometown Heroes as they know them. We also hope for your enlightened feedback on this Blog about the Heroes you identify in the letters. There are a few V-Mails around Saucon Valley. The Hellertown Historical Society, Lower Saucon Historical Society, and the American Legion are familiar with the V-Mails. Still, they need access to the volumes that will be presented here. Again, we intend to share these treasures with the Saucon Valley Community and ultimately provide the Historical Societies and the Legion with complete sets of the V-Mails and information we anticipate receiving from readers of the Blog.
We have elected to publish this historical material only on this newly created dedicated blog and not on any Facebook groups! This will allow all feedback/comments to be centrally collected on the Blog - not spread out and become disjointed from related feedback and remarks posted across numerous Facebook groups.
· We intend, however, to announce each new blog entry on local Facebook pages (You Know You’re From Hellertown, Lower Saucon Township Historical Society, Hellertown Historical Society, Edward H. Ackerman American Legion Post 397, Saucon Valley Alumni Association, and others as this rolls out).
· The Blog “Hellertown & Lower Saucon V-Mail archives” will release clear images of these V-Mails routinely over a period of time. However, the complete collection of these communications are immediately available for downloading as one rather LARGE word-searchable PDF (Adobe) file that can be used for targeted searches for names or other pertinent information you may be interested in. The link to this file will appear on the sidebar of this blog - click on the picture REACH YOUR BOY OVERSEAS. The files are printable should you desire copies for family members and friends.
The Greatest Generation speaks to us! We hope that the community will provide personal comments on each release that will further enhance the materials revealed in these documents.
I hope you enjoy our Saucon Valley History!
[Ken Bloss and Danny Ruth]
