PBA Galleries

Archive of approximately 75 handwritten and typeset letters from Lt. Commander John G. Howell Jr. of the US Navy Reserve to his wife. Howell commanded the Navy Small Craft Training from Pacific Ports: San Pedro, Santa Barbara, Treasure Island S.F. Bay and Seattle.

Most of the correspondence is from Seattle from Sept. 1943 through Dec 1943. Howell was originally stationed at Treasure Island and owned a home in San Francisco on Filbert St. where he writes to his wife. The letters tell in some detail what he was doing officially without any appearance of censorship. He writes about the difficulty in finding housing, rationing, and the Navy red tape and inefficiency.

Includes some correspondence from family members to his wife, a copy of his orders to move from San Pedro to Seattle. Throughout his letters there is commentary about the course of the war and international events.