February 6, 2025 • 13 mins
Albert J. Vivier was from Massachusetts and served int eh 235th QM Truck Company in WW2. We catch up with him while serving in Italy, helping to get supplies to the forward troops.
During WW2 women were deployed throughout Europe and the Pacific and their only means to communicate home was through letters, handwritten notes to assure those at home they were alright and waiting for letters from their loved ones to provide semblance of support and normalcy. Over the years I have collected letters with the intention of returning to family - but first I’d like to share who these men were, where were they from and the context of where the soldiers were and what role they played in the War.
Please sit back and get to know these members of the greatest generation. Please visit me on Facebook, or email me at warandfamily@outlook.com and help me get the letters home
Thank you for listening!
During WW2 women were deployed throughout Europe and the Pacific and their only means to communicate home was through letters, handwritten notes to assure those at home they were alright and waiting for letters from their loved ones to provide semblance of support and normalcy. Over the years I have collected letters with the intention of returning to family - but first I’d like to share who these men were, where were they from and the context of where the soldiers were and what role they played in the War.
Please sit back and get to know these members of the greatest generation. Please visit me on Facebook, or email me at warandfamily@outlook.com and help me get the letters home
Thank you for listening!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Welcome back to Warren Family Letters Home. I'm your podcast
host Lauren Muse. On this podcast, we talk about letters
letters written home by US servicemen and women during World
War Two. My mission is to return World War Two
history to families, one letter and one story at a time.
(00:47):
And it's my hope that someone will hear the podcast,
recognize family connections, and contact me because these letters home,
they belong home. I found today's letter at auction and
I have connected with his grandnephew, Jacob. Join me for
this story and here this letter home. The letter for
(01:15):
this week's podcast was written by TFC Albert J. Vivier,
US Army. Albert Joseph Vivier was born January twenty second,
(01:35):
nineteen twenty four, in Ludlow, Massachusetts. He was the seventh
of eighth children born to Edward and Mary Vivier. Edward
in nineteen thirty was a truck driver for a road
construction company, and Albert's older brother Lionel, is shown to
be working as a tester at a jute mill. I
(01:56):
had to look up what jute was, I honestly didn't know,
and I found it is a long, rough fiber that
can be spun into coarse threads and make things like prolapsacks.
In nineteen thirty three, tragedy struck the family when on
March thirtieth, Albert's mom, Mary passed away. Albert was just
(02:19):
nine years old. The Morning Union reported that missus Mary Vivier,
aged eight fifty, died in Mercy Hospital after a short illness.
Some time between nineteen thirty three and nineteen forty, Albert
moved with his dad and his sister Yvonne to Plymouth, Vermont.
(02:40):
Other siblings were old enough to be on their own,
but Albert did have a younger sister, Teresa, who went
to live with her father's brother Solomon and his wife
in Connecticut. In nineteen forty Albert is sixteen years old
and he's left school and was working as a laborer
on a farm in Vermont. In nineteen forty three, Albert
(03:04):
registered for the draft. He's described as eighteen years old,
five foot five and a half inches, one hundred and
thirty pounds, gray eyes, brown hair, with a light complexion.
He seems to have returned to Massachusetts and was living
with his sister Lina, and he was working at the
Stephens Arms Company in Chicapea, Massachusetts, and he listed Lina
(03:28):
as the person that would always know his address. There
are some discrepancies and dates that I find between his
registration card and his letter home, but it's the US
Army enlistment document that I always use as the source
of truth, so I know that Albert was called up
(03:49):
to serve in the US Army on March twelfth, nineteen
forty three. On August twelfth, nineteen forty three, the Springfield
Reported of spring Springfield, Vermont reported that Albert Joseph Vivier
had been transferred from Camp Crofts, South Carolina to Camp Rucker, Alabama.
(04:12):
And I find him overseas in the thirty six thirty
ninth Quartermaster Truck Company, two hundred and thirty fifth Quartermaster
Battalion in Italy. The two hundred and thirty fifth was
primarily responsible for transporting supplies and equipment to the forward troops.
They delivered critical supplies to the troops on the battlefields
(04:36):
like food and medical equipment, and ammunition. In October of
nineteen forty three, the Quartermaster Company was set up in Caserta, Italy,
moving in to the Royal Palace of Caserta. The Palace
is a huge, sprawling, five story palace with a total
of six hundred and fifty seven thousand square feet of
(04:59):
living space. Construction on that palace had begun in seventeen
fifty three and it took fifty years for them to
complete it. After the Allies landed in Italy surrendered, the
British and American troops used the palace as a headquarters
and it became known as the Allied Forces Headquarters. In
(05:21):
late fall and heading into winter, the quartermaster units had
to move mufflers and woolen underwear and overcoats to the
troops as they headed north towards Germany and boots. They
were especially critical due to the weather and the terrain.
If our soldiers weren't properly outfitted, exposure could easily be
(05:43):
a major threat. The quartermaster had to find a way
to get more supplies moving forward faster, so they sent
trucks direct to the port and Naples to get supplies
right off the ships, and they moved them directly back
to the front. Once they were there, they would turn
around and go back to the port for more. As
(06:05):
a member of the two hundred and thirty fifth Truck Company,
Private Vivier more than likely was behind the wheel of
one of those trucks in the convoys. In November of
nineteen forty three, they were able to move triple the
supplies that were moved in October, and in December the
number was double what it was in November. In December
(06:27):
of nineteen forty three, the two hundred and thirty fifth
was located in Capua, doing its best to make sure
that no soldier went cold. And on December twenty third,
nineteen forty three, Private Albert J. Vivier wrote home to
his best friend's parents in Hubbardston, Massachusetts. Dear mister and
(06:50):
missus Wheeler, I received your letter and was glad to
hear from you, and also glad to hear that you
were all in the best of health. I wrote to Orla,
and I was glad to get his address. I told
him about the letter you had wrote him. I haven't
got an answer yet. I haven't got any letters from
(07:11):
the girls, but would like to hear from them. You know,
we like to get mail from home. That is the
thing over here that the boys look for. I will
be down to see you after the war. There isn't
any snow where I am. I hope the war will
be over before long, so all the boys can get
home for next Christmas. From Oran's best pal, Albert v.
(07:37):
So to my regular listeners, you may have noticed a
connection to a previous episode. Private Albert Vivier was a
childhood friend of PFC Orren Wheeler. Private Vivier was writing
to Oran's parents. Private Vivier continued on with the two
(07:59):
hundred thirty fifth through Rome, Florence and ending in Verona
at the end of the war. Verona is famous because
it was the town where, in January of nineteen forty four,
a trial was held to punish the members of the
National Fascist Party, and also that's where Mussolini was removed
from power. After the war, Albert Vivier returned home to Massachusetts,
(08:25):
where he married Louise Whitmore on September one, nineteen forty eight.
On the nineteen fifty census, I find Albert and Louise
are living in Agoam, Massachusetts, with Louise's parents. Albert is
employed as a carpenter with a local construction company. The
couple never had any children, and after retiring, Albert and
(08:49):
Louise moved up to Vermont sadly, Louise passed away shortly afterwards.
In January of two thousand, Albert's and nephew, Jacob, shared
some family memories with me for this podcast. He shared
that he never got to meet his granduncle, but remembers
(09:09):
learning about him from family. His ma Maire was Albert's
sister Teresa, who had indeed gone to live with family
in Connecticut after their mom had passed. It was there
in Connecticut that Teresa met and married her husband, and
they raised their family there, which included Jacob's dad. According
(09:31):
to Jacob, Albert was an avid outdoorsman and mechanically savvy.
Jacob shared that his father had met Albert several times
and had looked up to him for his outdoorsman ways,
and as a result, his dad received a lot of
Albert's fishing gear and tools, which have been handed down
(09:52):
to Jacob. On November thirty, two thousand and one, the
Rutland Daily Herald reported passing of Albert J. Vivier at
the age of seventy seven on November twenty eighth, two
thousand and one, at his home. His obituary reads he
(10:12):
was born January twenty second, nineteen twenty four. In Ludlow,
Mass the son of Edward and Marie Vivier. He worked
as a foreman of the machine shop for Hamilton's Standard
in Springfield, mass for twenty nine years. He served in
the US Army during World War II and earned the
Good Conduct Medal, Victory Medal, and the European African Middle
(10:36):
Eastern Theater Campaign Ribbon. Mister Vivier was a member of
the VFW and the American Legion in Ludlow. He's buried
in the Plymouth Notch Cemetery in Plymouth, and it's asked
that contributions be made to the Plymouth Volunteer Fire Department
in his memory, in addition to the fishing and the tools.
(11:01):
Albert's blue and black flannel jacket was also passed to
Jacob's father, and in fact Jacob still wears the jacket
on most cold winter days. Now, Jacob will also have
a letter written by his granduncle while he was doing
his part in World War Two, Pfc Albert J. Vivia
(11:25):
Thank you, sir for your service to this great country
and your letter is going home. Thank you for joining
me to hear the story of Albert J. Vivier. All
(11:46):
details in this podcast were discovered by research done by
me using public military genealogy and newspaper search sites, and
also some wonderful family members from memories from his career
and nephew Jacob Albert clearly felt a strong bond with
his friend Orrin. Albert never had any children, but Warren
(12:09):
did and he named his son Albert. Warren Family Letters
Home is self funded and we will never ask a
family for any compensation to receive a letter home. If
you'd like to contribute to my mission of returning World
War II history to families, please contact me. You can
(12:33):
find me on Facebook at Warren Family Letters Home, and
I can be reached via email at Warren Family at
outlook dot com. Please support our military, whether active or
veteran status. These men and women sacrifice to serve this
(12:54):
great country, whether in war or peacetime. If you happen
to see a veteran out, I'm about shake his hands
and give him a hearty thank you. Until next week,
This is Lauren Muse and you have been listening to
Warren Family Letters Home
Welcome back to Warren Family Letters Home. I'm your podcast
host Lauren Muse. On this podcast, we talk about letters
letters written home by US servicemen and women during World
War Two. My mission is to return World War Two
history to families, one letter and one story at a time.
(00:47):
And it's my hope that someone will hear the podcast,
recognize family connections, and contact me because these letters home,
they belong home. I found today's letter at auction and
I have connected with his grandnephew, Jacob. Join me for
this story and here this letter home. The letter for
(01:15):
this week's podcast was written by TFC Albert J. Vivier,
US Army. Albert Joseph Vivier was born January twenty second,
(01:35):
nineteen twenty four, in Ludlow, Massachusetts. He was the seventh
of eighth children born to Edward and Mary Vivier. Edward
in nineteen thirty was a truck driver for a road
construction company, and Albert's older brother Lionel, is shown to
be working as a tester at a jute mill. I
(01:56):
had to look up what jute was, I honestly didn't know,
and I found it is a long, rough fiber that
can be spun into coarse threads and make things like prolapsacks.
In nineteen thirty three, tragedy struck the family when on
March thirtieth, Albert's mom, Mary passed away. Albert was just
(02:19):
nine years old. The Morning Union reported that missus Mary Vivier,
aged eight fifty, died in Mercy Hospital after a short illness.
Some time between nineteen thirty three and nineteen forty, Albert
moved with his dad and his sister Yvonne to Plymouth, Vermont.
(02:40):
Other siblings were old enough to be on their own,
but Albert did have a younger sister, Teresa, who went
to live with her father's brother Solomon and his wife
in Connecticut. In nineteen forty Albert is sixteen years old
and he's left school and was working as a laborer
on a farm in Vermont. In nineteen forty three, Albert
(03:04):
registered for the draft. He's described as eighteen years old,
five foot five and a half inches, one hundred and
thirty pounds, gray eyes, brown hair, with a light complexion.
He seems to have returned to Massachusetts and was living
with his sister Lina, and he was working at the
Stephens Arms Company in Chicapea, Massachusetts, and he listed Lina
(03:28):
as the person that would always know his address. There
are some discrepancies and dates that I find between his
registration card and his letter home, but it's the US
Army enlistment document that I always use as the source
of truth, so I know that Albert was called up
(03:49):
to serve in the US Army on March twelfth, nineteen
forty three. On August twelfth, nineteen forty three, the Springfield
Reported of spring Springfield, Vermont reported that Albert Joseph Vivier
had been transferred from Camp Crofts, South Carolina to Camp Rucker, Alabama.
(04:12):
And I find him overseas in the thirty six thirty
ninth Quartermaster Truck Company, two hundred and thirty fifth Quartermaster
Battalion in Italy. The two hundred and thirty fifth was
primarily responsible for transporting supplies and equipment to the forward troops.
They delivered critical supplies to the troops on the battlefields
(04:36):
like food and medical equipment, and ammunition. In October of
nineteen forty three, the Quartermaster Company was set up in Caserta, Italy,
moving in to the Royal Palace of Caserta. The Palace
is a huge, sprawling, five story palace with a total
of six hundred and fifty seven thousand square feet of
(04:59):
living space. Construction on that palace had begun in seventeen
fifty three and it took fifty years for them to
complete it. After the Allies landed in Italy surrendered, the
British and American troops used the palace as a headquarters
and it became known as the Allied Forces Headquarters. In
(05:21):
late fall and heading into winter, the quartermaster units had
to move mufflers and woolen underwear and overcoats to the
troops as they headed north towards Germany and boots. They
were especially critical due to the weather and the terrain.
If our soldiers weren't properly outfitted, exposure could easily be
(05:43):
a major threat. The quartermaster had to find a way
to get more supplies moving forward faster, so they sent
trucks direct to the port and Naples to get supplies
right off the ships, and they moved them directly back
to the front. Once they were there, they would turn
around and go back to the port for more. As
(06:05):
a member of the two hundred and thirty fifth Truck Company,
Private Vivier more than likely was behind the wheel of
one of those trucks in the convoys. In November of
nineteen forty three, they were able to move triple the
supplies that were moved in October, and in December the
number was double what it was in November. In December
(06:27):
of nineteen forty three, the two hundred and thirty fifth
was located in Capua, doing its best to make sure
that no soldier went cold. And on December twenty third,
nineteen forty three, Private Albert J. Vivier wrote home to
his best friend's parents in Hubbardston, Massachusetts. Dear mister and
(06:50):
missus Wheeler, I received your letter and was glad to
hear from you, and also glad to hear that you
were all in the best of health. I wrote to Orla,
and I was glad to get his address. I told
him about the letter you had wrote him. I haven't
got an answer yet. I haven't got any letters from
(07:11):
the girls, but would like to hear from them. You know,
we like to get mail from home. That is the
thing over here that the boys look for. I will
be down to see you after the war. There isn't
any snow where I am. I hope the war will
be over before long, so all the boys can get
home for next Christmas. From Oran's best pal, Albert v.
(07:37):
So to my regular listeners, you may have noticed a
connection to a previous episode. Private Albert Vivier was a
childhood friend of PFC Orren Wheeler. Private Vivier was writing
to Oran's parents. Private Vivier continued on with the two
(07:59):
hundred thirty fifth through Rome, Florence and ending in Verona
at the end of the war. Verona is famous because
it was the town where, in January of nineteen forty four,
a trial was held to punish the members of the
National Fascist Party, and also that's where Mussolini was removed
from power. After the war, Albert Vivier returned home to Massachusetts,
(08:25):
where he married Louise Whitmore on September one, nineteen forty eight.
On the nineteen fifty census, I find Albert and Louise
are living in Agoam, Massachusetts, with Louise's parents. Albert is
employed as a carpenter with a local construction company. The
couple never had any children, and after retiring, Albert and
(08:49):
Louise moved up to Vermont sadly, Louise passed away shortly afterwards.
In January of two thousand, Albert's and nephew, Jacob, shared
some family memories with me for this podcast. He shared
that he never got to meet his granduncle, but remembers
(09:09):
learning about him from family. His ma Maire was Albert's
sister Teresa, who had indeed gone to live with family
in Connecticut after their mom had passed. It was there
in Connecticut that Teresa met and married her husband, and
they raised their family there, which included Jacob's dad. According
(09:31):
to Jacob, Albert was an avid outdoorsman and mechanically savvy.
Jacob shared that his father had met Albert several times
and had looked up to him for his outdoorsman ways,
and as a result, his dad received a lot of
Albert's fishing gear and tools, which have been handed down
(09:52):
to Jacob. On November thirty, two thousand and one, the
Rutland Daily Herald reported passing of Albert J. Vivier at
the age of seventy seven on November twenty eighth, two
thousand and one, at his home. His obituary reads he
(10:12):
was born January twenty second, nineteen twenty four. In Ludlow,
Mass the son of Edward and Marie Vivier. He worked
as a foreman of the machine shop for Hamilton's Standard
in Springfield, mass for twenty nine years. He served in
the US Army during World War II and earned the
Good Conduct Medal, Victory Medal, and the European African Middle
(10:36):
Eastern Theater Campaign Ribbon. Mister Vivier was a member of
the VFW and the American Legion in Ludlow. He's buried
in the Plymouth Notch Cemetery in Plymouth, and it's asked
that contributions be made to the Plymouth Volunteer Fire Department
in his memory, in addition to the fishing and the tools.
(11:01):
Albert's blue and black flannel jacket was also passed to
Jacob's father, and in fact Jacob still wears the jacket
on most cold winter days. Now, Jacob will also have
a letter written by his granduncle while he was doing
his part in World War Two, Pfc Albert J. Vivia
(11:25):
Thank you, sir for your service to this great country
and your letter is going home. Thank you for joining
me to hear the story of Albert J. Vivier. All
(11:46):
details in this podcast were discovered by research done by
me using public military genealogy and newspaper search sites, and
also some wonderful family members from memories from his career
and nephew Jacob Albert clearly felt a strong bond with
his friend Orrin. Albert never had any children, but Warren
(12:09):
did and he named his son Albert. Warren Family Letters
Home is self funded and we will never ask a
family for any compensation to receive a letter home. If
you'd like to contribute to my mission of returning World
War II history to families, please contact me. You can
(12:33):
find me on Facebook at Warren Family Letters Home, and
I can be reached via email at Warren Family at
outlook dot com. Please support our military, whether active or
veteran status. These men and women sacrifice to serve this
(12:54):
great country, whether in war or peacetime. If you happen
to see a veteran out, I'm about shake his hands
and give him a hearty thank you. Until next week,
This is Lauren Muse and you have been listening to
Warren Family Letters Home
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