Introduction

How to begin any project is always a challenge. I know what my end goal is, I kind of know how to get there, and what the steps are along the way, but truly, how do I start? My answer to this is to begin with an introduction. My introduction will hopefully serve as a road map to what you can expect to see in this space, using the Who, What, When, Where, and Why of it all.

Let’s start with the Who:

Known to me all my life as simply Grandpa Beavers, Vonual Dean Beavers (he never used his first name though) was my great-grandfather on my mother’s side. He joined the Oklahoma National Guard at 16 in Kay, Oklahoma in 1927. Yes, he lied about his age! But in Oklahoma in those days, the National Guard was a guaranteed paycheck, even before the Great Depression. In 1940, his unit was activated to train for a year, though it would prove to be a lot longer than a year before they were deactivated again.

What: From the time he was deployed, first for training, then for war in 1943, Grandpa wrote letters to my Great-Grandmother and my Grandmother. It is these letters that I am now using as the basis for my master's thesis: The Importance of the Role of Field Artillery Units in the Invasions of Sicily, Salerno, and Anzio. Through these letters, we see how being separated from his family affected him, we can see the war from his perspective, we can see what he thought of his surroundings, and we can learn more about how field artillery was utilized in battle.

When and Where: The letters I will focus on, initially at least, are the letters between July 1943 – July 1944. The invasion of Sicily took place in July 1943, and my grandfather was rotated home in July 1944.  We will trace my grandfather’s steps through Sicily, into Salerno in September of 1943, and up through the boot of Italy until January of 1944, when his unit was pulled and sent to support the invasion of Anzio, Italy, which began January 22nd, 1944.

The why of this is simple: to preserve the history to be passed down to future generations. History is lost every day to the garbage, the elements, neglect, disuse, apathy. Digitizing and archiving my Great-Grandfather’s letters preserves not just his history but also a part of the history of World War II and the Thunderbirds.