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| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Collection Reference Number | GLC09120.408 |
| From Archive Folder | Collection of WWII letters of Sidney Diamond to Estelle Spero |
| Title | Sidney Diamond to Estelle Spero |
| Date | 08 May 1944 |
| Author | Diamond, Sidney (1922-1945) |
| Recipient | Spero, Estelle |
| Document Type | Correspondence |
| Content Description | Diamond writes that, as a result of his position as executive officer, he now gives instructions on Japanese weapons. He also comments that, having "fought and worked…side by side with the negro soldiers", he is "nauseated" by the reports of growing trouble in the "negro-white situation" that he has read about in "Time". He states that men from the South, as well as the North, have come to respect and admire the "negro troops": "It is indeed shameful that upon the return of these men, this community of thought and consideration will be shattered by the narrow minded idiots whose revolting greed or ignorance is more than stomach can stand!!" |
| Subjects | World War II Asia Soldier's Letter Love Letters African American History |
| People | Diamond, Sidney (1922-1945) Spero, Estelle (b. 1924) |
| Place written | Bougainville, Papua New Guinea |
| Theme | World War II; African Americans |
| Sub-collection | The Gilder Lehrman Collection, 1860-1945 |
| Additional Information | Sidney Diamond (1922-1945) enlisted in mid-April 1942, interrupting the chemical engineering degree that he was undertaking at City College. Diamond was sent to the South Pacific in June 1943, where he served as First Lieutenant to the Eighty-Second Chemical Battalion. On January 29th 1945, Diamond was killed by a Japanese knee mortar while acting as a forward observer during an assault on Fort Stotsenburg, north of Manila. Throughout his time in service, Sidney maintained an epistolary correspondence with Estelle Spero, his sweetheart and subsequently fiancée, the letters from which she preserved. |
| Copyright | The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History |
| Module | Civil War, Reconstruction and the Modern Era: 1860-1945 |