{"id":854,"date":"2013-12-26T10:25:32","date_gmt":"2013-12-26T15:25:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/?p=854"},"modified":"2024-06-28T12:16:18","modified_gmt":"2024-06-28T16:16:18","slug":"seasons-greetings-with-flags","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/seasons-greetings-with-flags\/","title":{"rendered":"Season\u2019s greetings with flags"},"content":{"rendered":"

Seven decades ago, Americans fighting World War II in Europe and the South Pacific paused at Christmas to send letters home. They were decorated with the usual symbols of the season, such as evergreens and stockings. But some of them contained something extra: an image of the U.S. flag.<\/p>\n

Most of these messages arrived in the form of V-mails \u2013 victory mails \u2013 which were half-sized letters, shrunk to save weight and space in shipping them thousands of miles. For special occasions, including birthdays and holidays, pre-printed V-mails with images and poems were given to soldiers to send.<\/p>\n

\"Sent<\/a>
Sent from Australia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

An example was sent from Australia by a corporal to a friend in Wisconsin. He signed his name under a poem that began: \u201cMay Christmas bring you joy today,\/fulfilling in the finest way\/the shining promise of the Star\/that brought the Wise Men from afar.\u201d
\n
\nDecorating that message were multiple national flags<\/span><\/a>, representing the Allies who had joined in the war against Germany and Japan.<\/p>\n

Another example was dispatched by a lieutenant in Sicily to his parents in Texas. The letter offered \u201cBest Wishes\u201d and \u201cSeasons Greeting\u201d above a map of Sicily that had Old Glory projecting from the island.<\/p>\n

\"Sent<\/a>
Sent from New Guinea<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Writing from New Guinea to his girlfriend in Ohio, a college graduate told her that he was \u201choping this finds you in good health and wishing you the best of the holiday to come.\u201d His V-mail was circled by holly leaves, an American eagle \u2013 and four flags.<\/p>\n

In his holiday letter from North Carolina to a sergeant in England, a corporal revealed how many of the ready-made Christmas cards were produced. \u201cThere are about 10 different designs of these forms,\u201d he wrote. \u201cWould you care for one of each mailed [to] you?\u201d<\/p>\n

The style he sent showed a Christmas bell, pine cones, candles and twin flags sprouting from a star.<\/p>\n

A very touching reminder of how families were split by the war was captured in a V-mail from Leyte in the Philippines to Peleliu, a Pacific island. A corporal sent it to his brother, also a corporal. \u201cThis isn\u2019t much,\u201d wrote the first soldier, \u201cbut maybe we can be together next year.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Sent<\/a><\/figure>\n

Arrayed on the message were Christmas bells and holly, the image of a cottage in the snow, and two American flags<\/span><\/a>, all symbolic of what the brothers had left behind \u2013 and what they wanted to return to as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n

By\u00a0James Breig<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Seven decades ago, Americans fighting World War II in Europe and the South Pacific paused at Christmas to send letters home. They were decorated with the usual symbols of the season, such as evergreens and stockings. But some of them contained something extra: an image of the U.S. flag. Most of these messages arrived in… continue<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[166,126,112],"class_list":["post-854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history-lessons","tag-christmas","tag-soldiers","tag-world-war-ii"],"yoast_head":"\nSeason\u2019s greetings with flags - Gettysburg Flag Works Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/seasons-greetings-with-flags\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Season\u2019s greetings with flags - Gettysburg Flag Works Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Seven decades ago, Americans fighting World War II in Europe and the South Pacific paused at Christmas to send letters home. 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