In this letter, Roy seems to be reassuring Stella of his friendship by joking that he has "neither died nor gone to France, nor [has he] forgotten [her]." He also indulges in a little flirting by referring to the picture he sent her as "a poor one or rather the subject was a poor one" and asking her if she could send one of her own. After all, "they say a fair exchange is no robbery, though in this case it may not be a fair exchange."
Dear Miss Custer:
I have neither died nor gone to France, nor have I forgotten you as you said you were wondering when you received my last letter. No, I am still at Park Field and think of you many times but being quite busy I do not have much time to write letters. So please do not think that I forgot your "casual acquaintance" for I am sure you would be kept quite busy reading letters if I were to write each time I thought of you.
I suppose you have received the picture I mailed you a few days ago. I mailed it the day before I received your letter and you ended your letter by saying that neither pen ink nor writer were of much account. You did not mean that did you? Or must I tell you that you were wrong, for I know you were.
I worked today but was in Memphis last Sunday and had a fine time. I went in Saturday evening stopped overnight at the Y.M.C.A. and went to Church Sunday morning and accepted an invitation to dinner and had a fine time. I certainly did enjoy it. I was expecting to be on the way to France by this time but am still here and may be here for a month or more. It looks that way to me, anyway. But I do wish they would ship us over, for I am anxious to get into it.
The picture is a poor one or rather the subject was a poor one, but anyway, let me know if you receive it, and also if you have one of yours won't you send me one, please? They say a fair exchange is no robbery, though in this case it may not be a fair exchange. Nevertheless, I should be pleased to receive one in return.
You said Kenneth is at Camp Greenleaf, did you not? One of my tentmates was up there last week on a cross country trip with a lieutenant. They were gone for about a week and did a lot of traveling by airplane in the interests of the Liberty Losin Memphis barely made her quota. It seems to me Memphis is not as patriotic as it might be. There are a lot of slackers in the town. Did you hear what Claysburg did? They more than doubled their quota, and I am beginning to feel proud of the little town. Mother wrote me they had heard from a cousin of mine who is in France and has been in the front line trenches several times and says he would not miss it for anything. I wish I were there. Only one thing gets me and that is the thought that it might end before I get there.
I'll close and hope to hear from you soon. Don't forget the picture
Sincerely,
Roy D.
(This is one of my absolute favorites, all because of this line: "So please do not think that I forgot your "casual acquaintance" for I am sure you would be kept quite busy reading letters if I were to write each time I thought of you." Effusive, compared to the rest of the letters.)
A collection of letters written by Roy J. Diehl to his future wife, Stella, transcribed and annotated by her great-granddaughter...me.
The Letters of Roy J. Diehl (Jay Roy Diehl)
From 1917-1919, Roy J. Diehl, a railroad worker from Pennsylvania, wrote a series of letters to Stella Custer, his future wife, while he was enlisted in the 281st Aero Squadron. Most published letter collections consist of letters penned by men of education, rank, or fame. Roy J. Diehl was neither highly educated, highly ranked, nor famous, but his letters provide an interesting and valuable look at the life of an ordinary enlisted man, untainted by the notion that he may be writing to a wide audience or that anything beyond his relationship with Stella, his future betrothed, rests on what he says. Still, his letters display the usual characteristics of war-time correspondence; Sergeant Diehl omits potentially sensitive information about activities in his Squadron, treats probably disgusting or horrific situations with a certain amount of nonchalance, speaks in cliches of patriotism, and continually thinks of movement and distance.
Roy
Roy J. Diehl was born Jay Roy Diehl in Henrietta, Pennsylvania in 1890. He had three brothers: Edward, Asher, and Jim. Though one might imagine a man just out of his teens writing these letters to a sweetheart back home, Roy was actually 27 when he enlisted and had a career as a railroad worker under his belt. According to his daughter, Jean Dodson, he lived in both Chicago and Philadelphia before settling in Altoona, the town in which he enlisted on December 14, 1917. Shortly thereafter he went to Claysburg, PA, where “the boys” stayed until they were transferred to military bases across the country.
Roy was eventually transferred to Park Field Tennessee, a military base a few miles outside of Memphis. There, he worked as a truck driver, since his education prohibited him from becoming a pilot (Roy completed basic school but did not go beyond the 8th grade—surprising, considering his excellent writing skills). Before shipping out, Roy’s unit, the 281st Aero Squadron, stayed in Garden City on Long Island, New York. After that, it is difficult to determine where, exactly he was, because he could not say anything more than “somewhere in France” in his letters until after the Armistice. Gorrell’s History of the American Expeditionary Forces Air Service, 1917-1919 provides some information, however; according to the section on the 281st, Roy’s unit stayed in Brest, St. Maixent, Colombey-les-Belles, and Behonne. When the military lifted its harsh censorship following the peace agreement, the 281st was in Bar-Le-Duc. When all was said and done, Roy had only been in France for a little over a year and had seen little to no action. America’s late entrance into the war kept him from serious harm, but Roy’s experience certainly instilled a strong sense of duty and patriotism in him.
After he returned from the Great War, Roy worked for a car manufacturer. He and Stella married in 1923 and settled in Philipsburg, PA. They had one daughter: Jean Dodson (born Jean Frances Diehl). Unfortunately, Roy lost his job when the Depression hit, though he did get a very small veteran’s pension. Through the depression he worked out of his garage as an automobile mechanic, fixing neighbors’ cars in return for money and once, according to Jean, a case of bubblegum. The family eventually moved to Johnstown, where Roy worked for a garage as a mechanic until WWII, when he decided to go into defense work after being turned away when he tried to enlist. He moved to York to work in a defense factory, followed by his family a few months later when Jean graduated from high school. He stayed at the factory until the end of the war, when he got a job for Ford Motor Company as a garage mechanic. He worked there until Jean graduated from college. When she married, Roy and Stella moved to Roaring Spring to be close to their daughter and her young family. When Stella died, Roy moved in with his daughter’s family. He lived to the age of 93.
Roy was eventually transferred to Park Field Tennessee, a military base a few miles outside of Memphis. There, he worked as a truck driver, since his education prohibited him from becoming a pilot (Roy completed basic school but did not go beyond the 8th grade—surprising, considering his excellent writing skills). Before shipping out, Roy’s unit, the 281st Aero Squadron, stayed in Garden City on Long Island, New York. After that, it is difficult to determine where, exactly he was, because he could not say anything more than “somewhere in France” in his letters until after the Armistice. Gorrell’s History of the American Expeditionary Forces Air Service, 1917-1919 provides some information, however; according to the section on the 281st, Roy’s unit stayed in Brest, St. Maixent, Colombey-les-Belles, and Behonne. When the military lifted its harsh censorship following the peace agreement, the 281st was in Bar-Le-Duc. When all was said and done, Roy had only been in France for a little over a year and had seen little to no action. America’s late entrance into the war kept him from serious harm, but Roy’s experience certainly instilled a strong sense of duty and patriotism in him.
After he returned from the Great War, Roy worked for a car manufacturer. He and Stella married in 1923 and settled in Philipsburg, PA. They had one daughter: Jean Dodson (born Jean Frances Diehl). Unfortunately, Roy lost his job when the Depression hit, though he did get a very small veteran’s pension. Through the depression he worked out of his garage as an automobile mechanic, fixing neighbors’ cars in return for money and once, according to Jean, a case of bubblegum. The family eventually moved to Johnstown, where Roy worked for a garage as a mechanic until WWII, when he decided to go into defense work after being turned away when he tried to enlist. He moved to York to work in a defense factory, followed by his family a few months later when Jean graduated from high school. He stayed at the factory until the end of the war, when he got a job for Ford Motor Company as a garage mechanic. He worked there until Jean graduated from college. When she married, Roy and Stella moved to Roaring Spring to be close to their daughter and her young family. When Stella died, Roy moved in with his daughter’s family. He lived to the age of 93.
Stella
Stella Custer, to whom Roy writes in this collection of letters, was born in Johnstown in 1899. She was unlike her husband in that she really took to school. She finished her high school education, took up a job teaching 8th grade English after that, and taught until she married Roy. She had one brother—Howard—who married Betty Shaffer, whose mother ran a boarding house in Claysburg. Stella’s daughter, Jean, theorizes that this boarding house is probably where her parents met. After all, Roy stayed for a while in Claysburg before leaving for Tennessee, and probably needed a room to stay in while there. His letters also refer to the Shaffers frequently, suggesting that they are the mutual acquaintances by whom he met Stella.
At the time she met Roy, Stella would have been very young—only 17 or 18—with Roy nine years her senior. Knowing this, it makes sense that they waited until 1923 to marry. Though Roy was certainly old enough to be married by then, Stella was still a young bride.Once they were married, Stella quit teaching English—according to Jean, Stella wasn’t allowed to teach once she had a husband. Stella stayed at home and took care of her daughter, who describes her as a very smart, generous, and strong woman.
Though her writing isn’t represented here, Stella was a great correspondent as well. Jean has preserved all of the letters written to her by her mother while she (Jean) was overseas with her husband. Sadly, Stella died in 1962, many years before her husband, while Jean and her family were living on the other side of the world.
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