(WORLD WAR TWO) Wartime correspondence of soldier Leo Thomas

Sale 2444 - Lot 323

Price Realized: $ 438

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 250 - $ 350

(WORLD WAR TWO.) Wartime correspondence of soldier Leo Thomas Kissell. Almost 300 items (0.7 linear feet) in one box, including letters by Leo while in the Army Specialized Training Program at Stanford University, September 1943-January 1944; 24 letters written by Leo on active duty in Europe, April-December 1945; approximately 150 letters from friends and family, 1943-45; and approximately 100 related family papers, 1917-1950s (including a few World War One letters); various conditions, dampstaining and wear to a few items. Vp, bulk 1943-45

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Leo Thomas "Gate" Kissell (born 1923) of Columbiana, OH attended Wooster College for a year before entering the service in 1943. At first he entered the Army Specialized Training Program based at Stanford University. By July 1944, he was training with the 66th Infantry Regiment in Georgia, and then went overseas to Europe. This collection consists mostly of letters to and from Kissell during his military service, many of them with his family (including mother Grace Messersmith Kissell and brother Kenneth "Flash" Kissell) and others from friends in the service. The letters reflect his deep interest in mechanical matters and photography. Perhaps most interesting was a 28-page letter written to his brother on 16 January 1944 while on furlough. He describes all of the planes he saw while on a road trip in California, including experimental craft, and included several drawings. In a 25 May 1945 letter from Austria, he noted "I missed a lot of rough fighting, but I saw enough to last me for the rest of my life." After the war, Kissell was an artist in Colorado.