V-Mail facsimile letter

This V-Mail facsimile letter was sent by Sergeant Gene Journalist at APO 394 (this APO was located in Naples, Italy as of letter's date April 23, 1944) to “Brothers” at the Norton Fire Department in Connecticut.

Sergeant Journalist recounts his witnessing of the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in a message to his buddies at the hometown fire department

The facsimile, the military’s term for the V-Mail photographic print produced from enlargement of 16 mm microfilm, measured one-quarter the size of the original letter sheet. Depending on the equipment and staffing available at the V-Mail stations around the globe, the facsimiles were either prepared by John Dickinson & Co. machinery (also used for the British Airgraph service) or individually cut, folded, inserted into envelopes, and sealed by hand.

Where this page came from

This page was imported from Smithsonian National Postal Museum. Released by the Smithsonian Institution under CC0 through Smithsonian Open Access.

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