Nels Quam Writes to Home Folks
During the weeks since N. E. Quam left the United States for overseas services with the Red Cross, he has written a number of interesting letters to his family and to others in the community. The Review is pleased to be able to publish excerpts from these letters, so that all its readers may enjoy them. It is hoped that soon Mr. Quam will reach his destination (he has been at a stopping off place since arriving in Africa) and will then get letters and papers from home, as at the time of his last letter he had not done so.
On the ship en route to Africa Mr. Quam wrote:
Another Sunday has come to a close. We had church today on the deck. The pews were not comfortable but the soldiers sat where they could find a nook. The only colored Red Cross man with us gave the sermon. He spoke well and to me it was so much worth while because I am led to believe he was sincere.
It is difficult to find anyone who makes but lip service of his christianity.
This trip, inconvenient though it may be, is very very interesting. It is a grand place to see human nature laid bare. Of course there is some shamming here, but no one can stay that way very long. A man’s actions, words, and thoughts lean heavily toward his inclinations, and that makes this place as far as human nature is concerned, a nudist colony . . .
——
Oran, Africa
We are so happy tonight. We had a wonderful supper nicely served and the army has us quartered in some marvelous houses. These are houses that the independent rich used when they were here at the resort.
You should see this floor It is a very colorful tile floor.
We had a fine night’s sleep on a steel cot. There were white sheets, no pillows, but an army blanket. After what we experienced on our trip across, this makes us feel rather ritzy. I have not enjoyed anything like it with the army since I was on leave in the St. Mihiel area in the last war.
——
To Mr. Brekken:
The American Red Cross as I see it operate here, is doing a marvelous piece of work for the soldiers. It seems to me that if it were not for the Red Cross taking care of the free hours of the soldier, life for him would be tremendously monotonous.
He comes to the Red Cross for advice. He comes here for his reading, for his letter writing and for his entertainment, and very often when he needs money, he comes here for a loan. After he has been entertained and after he has read or written his letter, if then he likes something to eat, he goes to the snack bar for a cup of coffee and sandwiches.
If he gathers from his last letter from home that all is not well at home, he comes here and the Red Cross sets all its wheels in motion to get the information about his home that he wants. If he finds out that his family is in want, the Red Cross takes care of that for him and his mind is at ease. This is a very much worth while service and I hope that the people at home, now when the Red Cross drive is coming on, will realize the importance of this work and support it with their dollars. They will not miss the money but the soldier will miss the service that he will not get unless there are sufficient funds to cover such service.
Red Cross served the soldier at the front, behind the front, in the hospitals, at the landing if he has been shipwrecked; or in other words, where the soldier is, there the Red Cross is also.
The only thing that keeps the Red Cross from doing more is lack of funds and men to do the work. I mention these things as I know you have been interested in this work. You have done nice work along this line in the past and now you have an added interest—three boys in the service.
——
To Walter Nelson:
This country is altogether different from what I thought it would be. I had in mind a desert, more or less, but I have seen a lot of olive groves, orange groves, and have even picked figs. The land seems to be quite fertile and we see some very nice farms. . . .
It would amuse you to see the Arabs who live on the land. They either walk barefooted or they wear sandals. When I recall the barelegged girls back in the States and the shoes they wore the last two years, I believe they stole the idea from the Arabs.
The legs and feet of these Arabs are nearly black. Some good soap, lye, or some dutch cleanser might bring out the original color somewhat. Their clothes are very shabby and there is more or less dirt hanging on their persons.
You no doubt have seen movies picturing the life of a shiek in his palace with all his beautiful women surrounding him. Well, I don’t believe those shieks are born yet. In any event, I have not seen anything romantic about the men or women.
If you saw the picture or read the book called “Count of Monte Christo,” it might interest you to know that I visited the castle or the fort in which the plot supposedly was laid. I saw some of the dungeons, too. Rather interesting!
Then one day I thumbed my way inland about fifty miles and visited the main headquarters of the French Foreign Legion. It was extremely interesting to see it, but of course, it is not as glorious as we see it in the movie stories.
One day in company with two Red Cross workers who are Jewish, I attended service in a very elaborate and beautiful synagogue. Their service was rather noisy and somewhat meaningless. The women are not allowed to sit on the main floor—they sit in the gallery. Everybody keeps his hat on during service.
From there we went to the mosque. Before we were permitted to enter we had to remove our shoes as leather is not permitted in the mosque. The main floor is covered with nice carpet.
While we were walking about in the mosque, one army officer said jokingly, “I hope I don’t catch Arabic athlete’s foot.”
There were no women in the mosque; only men, and these men were on their hands and knees praying, always bowing down and touching the carpets with their foreheads. In one place I noticed the carpet was shiny with greasy dirt. Evidently the Arabs had done lots of praying there!
——
I have been in Bizerte and Algiers. I have seen a book where Harold Henryson and Roy Jewell had signed their names. . . .
We have already seen the results of our army being here. We have already realized the tremendous task we have to do in winning this war. If the people back home could see just a little of what we have seen, there would be no grumbling over not having tires, or gas, or having to use ration books. People would not buy luxuries or anything that they absolutely did not need, but they would put all their money into stamps and bonds.
These soldiers who are traveling and living in such adverse conditions are still able to keep in good spirits.
——
To the editor:
While I am sitting warm and comfortable in the Red Cross officers’ club, watching the downpour on the outside, I thought I would let you know that one of your former readers of your good newspaper is perfectly well and happy. I am well housed and well fed by the army waiting patiently for further orders to go to work. We hear the most important news from the states on our radio and read it in the army newspaper, but the news your paper carries is of all the news we are hungry for.
I know we can always count on the people of Randall and Ellsworth to reach down in their pocketbooks when they are appealed to on behalf of a worthy cause. But when I think of the fine work the Red Cross is doing over here for the men and the officers of the army forces, then I can only pray to God that our people will really give to the Red Cross to the extent that it becomes a sacrifice. If they could see the multitudes that come into the Red Cross club for entertainment and homelike comforts, then every person in Hamilton county would say:
“I will give more to the Red Cross this year than I have ever done before because it is looking after my boy and my neighbor boy.”
I see them living in pup tents I see them wet and cold, but I also see the satisfied look on their faces as they get inside of these clubs. We all think we are sacrificing, but it is nothing as compared to what these boys and men are giving up for their country.
Source: Ellsworth News, Ellsworth, IA - Jan. 5, 1944 (from the Randall Review)
Nels Quam Will Speak At Meeting
Nels Quam, suprintendent of the Ellsworth schools and a veteran of 19 months overseas duty as a Red Cross field director, will be guest speaker Thursday evening at the annual Red Cross meeting to be held at the American Legion hall in Webster City.
Mr. Quam is a survivor of one of the worst sea tragedies of World War II, being one of approximately 900 men to escape death in the sinking of the English troop transport, “Rahna.”
More Than 1,000 Lost
Nineteen hundred men were aboard the ill-fated ship on Nov. 26, 1943 when it was sunk during a German bomber attack by a radio controlled bomb. More than 1,000 of the personnel perished.
The Hamilton county field director, however, stayed afloat in the water for five hours during the night and was finally rescued by a minesweepeer.
During his service overseas he was stationed at Oran, Algiers, Tunis, Bizerte, Payne Field near Cairo and Deversoir Field near Ismailia on the Suez canal. He visited Cassablance, Philipville, Tripoli, Bengazi, Tobruk, Sicily, Palestine, and Luxor, the site of King Tut’s tomb, during his stay overseas.
When returning home from Cairo by air he crossed the Atlantic ocean for the ninth time.
Resigned Aug. 20
Mr. Quam resigned from the Red Cross service Aug. 20. Prior to going into the service he was superintendent of Randall where he had been schools head for 16 years. He recently accepted the superintendency of the Ellsworth schools.
As a field director he was serving in his second world war. During World War I he was a soldier with the AEF in France.
The Red Cross meeting, highlight of the year, will open at the Legion hall at 8 p.m. All contributors to the Red Cross during the past year are urged to attend and are eligible to cast a vote during the election of oficers for the coming year.
Reports from the various chapters in the county will also be made during the evening.
Source: Daily Freeman Journal, Webster City, IA - Sept. 11, 1945
NOTE:
Nels Andras Quam was born Dec. 29, 1887 to Samuel H. and Sigrid N. Stodle Kvamme in Norway. He died Jan. 5, 1984 in Pinellas, FL.
Nels served with the Army in France in World War I and was a Red Cross Field Director in World War II for 19 months.
Mr. Quam is a survivor of one of the worst sea tragedies of World War II, being one of approximately 900 men to escape death in the sinking of the English troop transport, Rahna.
Nineteen hundred men were aboard the ill-fated ship on Nov. 26, 1943 when it was sunk during a German bomber attack by a radio controlled bomb. More than 1,000 of the personnel perished.
The Hamilton county field director, however, stayed afloat in the water for five hours during the night and was finally rescued by a minesweeper.
During his service overseas he was stationed at Oran, Algiers, Tunis, Bizarre, Payne Field near Cairo and Deversoir Field near Ismalia on the Suez canal.
Source:
ancestry.com
