RBC | Last month, we honored our veterans with a special day and this week we’ll remember the anniversary of Pearl Harbor (Saturday, Dec. 7). Every day should be one to thank them for their service.
It was estimated in 2023 that there were 100,000 WWII veterans alive with a median age of 98. During WWII, 16 million American men and women served our country; 73% of them served overseas. It was estimated that the average soldier or sailor wrote six letters a week back home to assure everyone that they were alive and well. For those readers under the age of 20, please refer to an encyclopedia for definitions of “letter,” “film,” and “mail.” Oh, that’s right, Wikipedia on your phone, not encyclopedia book.
It doesn’t take a math wizard to figure out that a mountain of paper went back and forth across the oceans. Transporting mail by cargo ship would take at least four weeks and would take up valuable space that could otherwise be used to transport weapons, ammunition and food that was badly needed to support troops. To tackle the problem, the military started using a system that Eastman Kodak had developed in the 1930’s for two airlines who had trans-oceanic routes and had air mail delivery contracts: Pan Am and Imperial Airways (known later as British Airways).
Eastman Kodak developed a machine called Recordak. It scanned a document, and produced an image on microfilm about the size of a thumbnail. The microfilm was then transported by plane and then printed once again on paper with a 60 percent reduction to save paper on the receiving end. 2,500 pounds (about 37 bags) of normal mail was reduced to 45 pounds of microfilm.
Originally this system was named Airgraph, the US government renamed it V-Mail: short for Victory Mail. At home, the US Postal system gave out printed single sheet forms that were a uniform size, weight, and grain that made the scanning easier. The form was constructed and gummed to fold in such a way as to become letter and envelope with the address revealed in a window.
When V-mail was first used in June 1942, the forms used black ink for borders and instructions. Soon, that was changed to red ink. Perhaps that looked cheerier. Mail from home was considered vital for morale. A person could handwrite or type a whole page of news or some forms were preprinted with simple holiday greetings or funny cartoons. Some newspapers sent an abbreviated overseas version to send local news. Some units overseas made their own customized forms to send home. The form might have a cartoon supplied by a creative soldier or a border naming the branch of service like Seabees.
Before microfilming a letter, it had to be approved and edited by a censor. The censor would redact words or phrases that might offend or might reveal a battle area.
Not having to send a paper letter also reduced the chance that it might be used for espionage. Invisible ink and micro dots could not be concealed.
V-Mail was used up to November 1945. Over a billion V-mails were handled during the war.
I have loaned the Meeker Library some real V-mails received by Sgt. Frank W. Grammer of Baltimore along with a short history of the 89th Infantry Division. Ask someone at the desk.
Sources: nps.gov; Smithsonian National Postal Museum; article suggested by our county Veterans Administration; rarehistoricalphotos.com
By ED PECK
