ALL POETRY COM : THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY by GEORGE SMITH PATTON
Just one stanza :
So as through a glass and darklyEVOLS LIBRARY MANOA HAWAII EDU : BEATRICE PATTON'S HAWAII by Nancy J. Morris
This sixteen page paper, part of a longer one, is in a pdf file. And according to it, yes, Beatrice Ayers Patton, General George Patton's wife, loved Hawaii and in the years they were stationed there, 1925-1928 and 1935-1937, she learned much about the culture.
The couple lived a life of luxury in Hawaii, on base during the week, in smart hotels on the weekends. The men played Polo. They sailed, They partied with celebrities'. However, something in Beatrice made her most interested in the native culture, the pre-missionary Pan-Polynesian society, Hearing the old stories of the goddess Pele, ghosts, and so on, she wrote them down and began a serious study of the history and religion of the ancients which she would later use when she wrote books and became a published author.
EXCERPT: (page 80) Beatrice's collection of tales grew. Apueo, the Hawaiian owl said to be a messenger of death, flew into a Queens's Hospital ward. None of the patients were on the critical list, but in the morning, seven of the eleven Hawaiian patients were found unexplainably dead. The black magic arts of the kahuna, according some credence be a plantation doctor acquaintance of the Patton's, especially seized Beatrice's imagination. The doctor told Beatrice that at least six of his patients had been prayed to death.....
(Beatrice began to write poetry, short stories, and a novel, interwoven with Hawaiian themes. Love without End was partially autobiographical.)
Beatrice was given a secret Hawaiian name and came to believe in the power of the Hawaiian gods. In her books she includes the art of black magic and a chant used by Hawaiian sorcerers to pray their enemies to death "MAY THE GREAT WORM GNAW YOUR VITALS AND MAY YOUR BONES ROT, JOINT BY LITTLE JOINT."
Was this the curse she may have used on Jean Gordon?
EXCERPT (page 85-86)
When Beatrice's niece, Jean Gordon, visited (Hawaii), Patton began a flirtation with the girl. Gordon was a recent Boston debutante, pretty, lively, and the best friend of Ruth Ellen, the Patton's daughter. Unwisely Beatrice did not accompany Patton and Jean on a horse buying trip to a neighbor island, and when the two returned, it was clear to Beatrice that the flirtation had become an affair. Beatrice forgave Patton, and the marriage survived.
AUBURN EDU - JULIA RAMSEY THESIS
Auburn University in Alabama offers submitted graduate thesis's online. Julia Ramsey was in the History Department and this is her thesis from 2011. Her paper is called "Girl" in Name Only: A Study of American Red Cross Volunteers On the Frontline of World War II." It's about a hundred pages and worth the read. It's about women using volunteer work as a way to expand out of the home.
I learned that Clubmobiles were vehicles driven by women who visited troops, bringing burgers, donuts, cigarettes, and other items to the men in a show of support. Because they were considered to be non-military, these women sometimes got closer to the action than women had in any capacity before. The volunteers were strong, independent, and capable, able to handle being surrounded by men who might flirt and wisecrack with them, but the Red Cross needed to portray them as Girls, nonthreatening, so that they themselves would not be attacked. (The Red Cross has managed to keep functioning due to its helpful, non-military reputation.)
A "Clubmobile" was thought of as a service club on wheels. The original plan was to provide more - movies, stage performances; think Bob Hope's USO shows to entertain the troops.
Try this on. The troops were likely to see action. These visits were a brief escape from the knowing that they might die.
The first Clubmobile went around the London area in October of 1942. Soon they would go to the European continent. They were jeeps, buses, and trucks. Some carried a movie theatre on wheels. American military leaders such as Dwight Eisenhower saw the goodness in this work and wanted their men to have Clubmobile services.
Page 9 and 10 EXCERPT: (There are photos too!)
The Clubmobile that would be predominantly used on the European continent consisted of a converted 6 X 6 GMC truck equipped in the front half with a doughnut frying machine, six coffee urns, a working sink, running water, a water heater, and a portable field cooking range.
The back half of the truck contained a clubroom with books, a phonograph and speaker, and folding bunks for the women to sleep on when unable to return to their base at night. .... Each vehicle carried a fifteen day supply of doughnuts and coffee and was staffed y three ARC women, who were responsible for driving, preparing and serving the doughnuts and coffee... Before deployment on the continent, the women staffing Clubmobiles endured a rigorous training period in England where they received instruction in driving and repairing their vehicles.
