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| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Collection Reference Number | GLC09120.441 |
| From Archive Folder | Collection of WWII letters of Sidney Diamond to Estelle Spero |
| Title | Sidney Diamond to Estelle Spero |
| Date | 24 June 1944 |
| Author | Diamond, Sidney (1922-1945) |
| Recipient | Spero, Estelle |
| Document Type | Correspondence |
| Content Description | Diamond reports to Estelle that his housewarming party had been a success. He mentions that all is quiet, except for the sound of a radio, and "a whistle blows occasionally at a basketball game - a negro team is playing our team - It's a pleasure to see the gallery - black and white…" He writes that this "onerous service has been a great leveler," and comments on "[h]ow pitiful it is that upon there [sic.] return these boys will find conditions unchanged." |
| 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 |