1943

ALVIN E. NUNES (1943)

Alvin Nunes made his eleventh parachute jump at Fort Bragg last Wednesday and it must have been quite a stunt as over a hundred planes and two thousand jumpers were put through the maneuver at one time. Alvin made his leap with 33 pounds of machine gun strapped to his chest plus the rest of his equipment and landed safely — the toughest jump he has had since he began training. General Marshall, the chief of staff, was on hand to view the performance. [01 Apr 1943]

Alvin Nunes writes from Fort Bragg, North Carolina to say that he was sorry he could not be here for a recent family party. But he goes on he bets the party won’t hold a candle to the one he will stage when the war is won. Alvin is anxious to get personally on the job to be done. He finds parachute jumping is plenty safe after getting the hang of it — and eleven jumps have taught him plenty Keep the old smile smiling is his concluding sentence. [22 Apr 1943]

Along toward the end of May, Paratrooper Alvin Nunes was craving action even though he was putting in seven days a week in North Africa learning his trade even more thoroughly than he did in North Carolina. And as the ’chute boys played a prominent part during landing operations on Sicily it is possible that Alvin has seen the action he was anticipating so eagerly. Thinks that he and the other boys will be home sooner than the folks expect. So far only one letter from here had reached him and he was hoping the next mail call would bring the long delayed correspondence which he knew was on its way. Market quotations from Africa: Eggs 60 cents a dozen oranges seven for a dollar. [15 Jul 1943]

Alvin Nunes after his months of paratroop training on the East Coast is now prepared to do his jumping overseas having arrived in North Africa. He had expected to see something but the action had moved on ahead of him But he has seen plenty of barley wheat orchards and gardens in the neighborhood; horses that are almost the Shetland pony type; many ladies whose faces are beautified by being hidden behind cheese cloth veils; and a worm that carries a tail light The latter is about an inch long and the last quarter is a vivid green that can be seen faintly at night.
Alvin is sleeping In a tent and writes that it is equipped with electricity He hung up his flashlight on the ridge pole! [24 Jun 1943]

Way back on May 17th Alvin Nunes penned the letter that arrived last week from North Africa to express surprise that mail was catching up 'with him when he was on the move so much.. Says his outfit of paratroopers were trained to the minute and bearing to go. The sun was really tanning their faces and arms and each day they began to look more and more like Arabs. Some of' the valleys in Africa remind him of the San Joaquin and he notes that most everything is grown. Alvin says he gets along "swell with the natives and his being able to speak Spanish has helped out a lot." Living in tents miles from nowhere a fellow gets to thinking of what a fine place a home in the United States is. Sounding Off was the second letter to arrive in six weeks but he knew many more were on their way.[05 Aug 1943]

Alvin Nunes is getting along OK. Writing on August 2nd from Sicily he said that the excitement was over and that he would like to give the details but advised reading the newspapers which no doubt had a better picture of what had transpired during the invasion than he could give. Alvin’s Sicilian camp is a much better spot than the one he occupied in North Africa and he likes the country very much. Mail is slow in catching up with him and he is looking forward to the bundle that will undoubtedly show up one of these days. Alvin is a paratrooper and while he couldn’t say anything about it, it is presumed that he was one of those who entered Sicily from the air. [19 Aug 1943]

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