Roger Hertz Letters, MSS.4167

Abstract: Almost daily letters written by Hertz and his family between 1944 and 1946 while he was serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II.Scope and Content Note: This collection contains the almost daily letters written by Hertz and his family between 1944 and 1946 while he was serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II. The letters speak of his various duties including K.P. and guard duty. He also describes learning to identify enemy planes and ships, going to the movies, and mail call. Almost every letter tells how many letters he received or how many days it's been since he received any.One unusual aspect of this collection is that there are a significant number of letters to Hertz from family members written while he was still in the States doing his basic training. This is rare in most wartime letter collections and only possible because Hertz sent his families' letters home before he shipped out to the Pacific Theater.Biographical/Historical Note: Roger Scott Hertz, son of Paul C. and Edna Rothenberger Hertz, was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, on March 8, 1926. After graduating from Reading High School in 1944, he enlisted in the Navy and served as a Navy Seabee during the later part of World War II. He was stationed on Okinawa when Japan surrendered in 1945, but remained in the Pacific until 1946 when his tour of duty was over. At some point after the war, he married Marianne W. Wolfe with whom he had two children. He earned a BS degree in education in 1949 from Kutztown University, a masters (1955) and doctorate (1973) from Temple University. Hertz died in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, on March 3, 2012