Personal stories in documents

Mary Adams about her father Paul Swain, Louisville

During the war the Army recruited jazz musicians to send them to radio school.  They thought musicians would send and translate Morse Code faster than the average Joe. It was true because their flexibility with rhythms.

Being musician, my father, Paul Swain, set up his own ‘Delta’ band.  Actually, Glen Miller tried to get him transferred from Regular Army to Army Air Corps so he could lead his sax section.  The Army said it was too much paper work.

The band photos show his band in France. They would string wire from the front before each battle, maintain them during the fighting, and decode them. The second photo is a Battle of the Bands they had in Arles on VJ day. The Band was sent to Paris to play at the Arch d’Triumph for the VE day celebrations. Then the Band was asked to tour the country for 6 months to cheer up the French.

At the third photo is a badge my mother, Alice, wore during the war to show she had a husband overseas. She lived with her parents at 606 W 41st Street during that time.

Displays

How did we win together?

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