Mementos from Private Bassler

A while back I obtained a small grouping of personal paperwork items that belonged to a Private John H. Bassler of Martinsburg, Pennsylvania. Pvt. Bassler was in Company G, 23rd Infantry Regiment. I felt that these little treasures from his time spent in Europe during the war would be great to share with any other 2nd Infantry Division enthusiasts out there. So here there are for you to examine and enjoy.

First off is a photo which one can only assume is either Pvt. Bassler or one of his wartime buddies. There were no captions on the back of the photo so the exact date and location of the photo are currently unknown. He is wearing a M-41 Field Jacket and his 2nd I.D. patch is just visible on his left sleeve. He is either wearing a pair of double buckle boots or a pair of cutdown leggings with roughouts in the photo.
Next are a few paperwork items including an Immunization Register and a War Department address card.

Here is the top portion of a newspaper clipping from the Milwaukee Sentinel dated Sunday, January 24, 1943. Pvt. Bassler has circled the 2nd Infantry's "Indianhead" insignia and scribbled some comments above it. It reads: "This is our shoulder insignia - the star for Texas an Indian for Okla. This is what will be on my arm. I will try and send you one home to wear." This must have been the popular story that circulated around the division as to their insignia's origins.
This is a postcard from Pvt. Bassler addressed to his wife back in Martinsburg. The postmark date is Feb. 7, 1944. The card reads: "Darling Wife, Just a line to let you know I am O.K. was at town yesterday got you some souvenirs. I will put some cards in with your letter today. Love, John"

And the last piece of this little collection is a decal from the Carlton Elite Hotel in Zurich, Switzerland. The 2nd Division was never stationed in Zurich during the war, but Pvt. Bassler may have made a trip to Zurich or obtained this decal from a friend.

Paratrooper Sketch

This past Sunday, I spent a couple of hours doing a sketchbook page for the 100 Artists Project. I decided to use the August 14, 1944 LIFE magazine cover as my subject for this one page sketch. I had always wanted to do an illustration of this "now famous" photo. The paratrooper is Lt. Kelso C. Horne on the road to St. Sauveur, Normandy in late June 1944. I thought I did a pretty good job rendering Lt. Horne, his uniform, his equipment and the M-1. I should probably spend more time doing drawings like these because I really did enjoy working on this project although I found the helmet to be particularly challenging!

You can check out what the project is all about by visiting their site at www.100artistsproject.com.