Mar 6, 1944
Dear Mother
Here I am safe and well only hope this letter will find you all the same. Just heard the University of Maine song on the radio and it sure made me think of home. That's the song Rudy Vallee made famous.
Remember I wrote to you about sending one fellow from our outfit to a British camp for two weeks and one of theirs had come to ours? Well, Mom, here I am somewhere in a British camp for two weeks unless something changes. I'm here to observe, learn, and live the way they do, also as it was explained before coming, it all sums up to this - I was being sent as an ambassador of good will to help weld a friendship and fighting team. I know it will make you feel happy to learn I was sent as one. Many things I'd like to write about but you realize how it is.
I have a few pictures of some places I've seen. Will send them later, mostly old churches I've been in, built many years ago.
Well Mother not much to write about but everything is well. The boys here use me great. I find them a grand bunch of fellows, eager to ask questions about America. Many boys dream of taking a trip over someday. If I'm out for some reason and get in late they even make up my bunk. Will close now with love to all. From your Son now living with the British Boys some where overseas.
Good Night Mother
Love Charles
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
'Maine Stein Song' (Rudy Vallee, 1930)
University of Maine School Song
Oh, fill the steins to dear old Maine
Shout till the rafters ring
Stand and drink a toast once again
Let every loyal Maine man sing
Then drink to all the happy hours
Drink to the careless days
Drink to Maine, our alma mater
The college of our hearts always
To the trees, to the sky, to the Spring and its glorious happiness
To the youth, to the fire, to the light that is moving and calling us
To the gods, to the fate, to the rulers of men and their destinies
To the lips, to the eyes, to the girls who will love us someday
Oh, fill the steins to dear old Maine
Shout till the rafters ring
Stand and drink a toast once again
Let every loyal Maine man sing
Then drink to all the happy hours
Drink to the careless days
Drink to Maine, our alma mater
The college of our hearts always
To the trees, to the sky, to the Spring and its glorious happiness
To the youth, to the fire, to the light that is moving and calling us
To the gods, to the fate, to the rulers of men and their destinies
To the lips, to the eyes, to the girls who will love us someday
Oh, fill the steins to dear old Maine
Shout till the rafters ring
Stand and drink a toast once again
Let every loyal Maine man sing
Then drink to all the happy hours
Drink to the careless days
Drink to Maine, our alma mater
The college of our hearts always
Songwriters: Lincoln Colcord / E A Fenstad / A W Sprague / Rudy Vallee - The Stein Song lyrics © Peermusic Publishing
-----------------------------------------------------------------
He was one of the first modern pop stars of the teen idol type. In the words of a magazine writer in 1929, "At the microphone he is truly a romantic figure. Faultlessly attired in evening dress, he pours softly into the radio's delicate ear a stream of mellifluous melody. He appears to be coaxing, pleading and at the same time adoring the invisible one to whom his song is attuned."[1]
He grew up in Westbrook, Maine, USA. In 1917, he decided to enlist for World War I, but was discharged when the Navy authorities found out that he was only 15. He enlisted in Portland, Maine, USA on March 29, 1917, under the false birth date of July 28, 1899. He was discharged at the Naval Training Station, Newport, Rhode Island, USA on May 17, 1917, with 41 days of active service.[2]
[1] "What is the Secret of Rudy Vallee's Success?". Radio Revue. New York: Radio Revue, Inc. December 1929. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
[2] Maine Military Men, 1917–1918 [database online available through. This database was abstracted from "Roster of Maine in the Military Service of the U.S. and Allies in the World War, 1917–1919." Vol I–II. Augusta, Maine, U.S.A., n.p., 1929].
No comments:
Post a Comment