]
]
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.
Expand/collapse
Collection Overview
| Size | 1.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 300 items) |
| Abstract | Julian Mixon Hayes, a native of Aurora, N.C., graduated from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C., and worked for the American Tobacco Company in Durham, N.C., before serving as an officer in the United States Army during World War II. The collection includes letters and a few other papers of Julian Mixon Hayes while serving in World War II. Most letters are from Hayes to his parents, Mr. and Mrs. A. B. Hayes of Aurora, N.C., and his sister, Opal Hayes of Norfolk, Va. Frequent, lengthy letters update family members on Hayes's movement through training at Fort Eustis, Va., and Camp Davis, N.C., and then overseas to England, North Africa, Italy, France, Luxembourg, and Germany. The letters focus mostly on camp life, including leisure activities such as baseball and watching movies; celebrity visits; detailed impressions of the people, customs, and scenery of the countries in which he was stationed; requests for favors and supplies; thoughts of home and family; the bond between fellow servicemen; plans related to the 1944 G.I. Bill of Rights; conclusions on the senselessness of war; anger towards the German people; and celebrating V-J Day in Times Square on 14 August 1945. Other materials include a typed transcription of the letters, a photograph of Hayes in uniform, and newspaper clippings. |
| Creator | Hayes, Julian Mixon. |
| Curatorial Unit | Southern Historical Collection |
| Language | English |
Expand/collapse
Information For Users
Expand/collapse
Processing Information
Expand/collapse
Subject Headings
The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
Expand/collapse
Related Collections
Expand/collapse
Biographical Information
Julian Mixon Hayes, an officer in the United States Army during World War II, was born in Aurora, N.C. His parents were Mr. and Mrs. A. B. Hayes. The Hayes family included Julian Mixon Hayes's sisters, Opal Hayes, Margaret Hayes, Ruth Hayes, Ruby Hayes, and Billie Jean Hayes, and brothers, Heber Hayes and A. B. Hayes, Jr., both of whom served in the United States Navy during the war. Julian Hayes attended the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C., and worked for the American Tobacco company in Durham, N.C., before joining the army in 1941. Having completed training at Fort Eustis, Va., and Camp Davis, N.C., he departed for England as a second lieutenant in August 1942. Over the course of his service Hayes was stationed in North Africa, Italy, France, Luxembourg, and Germany, eventually rising to the rank of captain. Most of his time overseas was spent in two units, first the 34th Coast Artillery Brigade (Antiaircraft) and later the 437th Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion, in positions such as mess officer, battery commander, and assistant inspector general. After Germany's surrender in 1945, Hayes returned to the United States. He finished his military service in New York, N.Y., and then returned to Durham, N.C., by January 1946.
Back to Top
Expand/collapse
Scope and Content
The collection includes letters and a few other papers, 1939-1946, of Julian Mixon Hayes, a soldier in the United States Army during World War II. Most letters are from Hayes to his parents, Mr. and Mrs. A. B. Hayes of Aurora, N.C., and his sister, Opal Hayes of Norfolk, Va. Frequent, lengthy letters update family members on Hayes's movement through training at Fort Eustis, Va., and Camp Davis, N.C., and then overseas to England, North Africa, Italy, France, Luxembourg, and Germany. The letters focus mostly on military life, including leisure activities such as baseball and watching movies; celebrity visits; detailed impressions of the people, customs, and scenery of the countries in which he was stationed; requests for favors and supplies; thoughts of home and family; the bond between fellow servicemen; plans related to the 1944 G.I. Bill of Rights; conclusions on the senselessness of war; anger towards the German people; and celebrating V-J Day in Times Square on 14 August 1945. Other materials include a typed transcription of the letters, a photograph of Hayes in uniform, and newspaper clippings.
Back to Top
Expand/collapse
Papers, 1939-1946.
Arrangement: chronological.
Letters of Julian Mixon Hayes to his parents, sister Opal Hayes, and other while serving in the United States Army during World War II. Hayes, who eventually rose the rank of captain, saw little combat and so wrote most often of camp life; observations of foreign people, land, and customs; leisure activities; requests for supplies; the bond between servicemen; and thoughts of home and family.
Early letters detail Hayes's experiences as a new recruit at Fort Eustis, Va., and in officer training at Camp Davis, N.C. His correspondence then shows him as a second lieutenant traveling overseas to England, where he commented on differences between British and American lifestyles, sightseeing trips, and Eleanor Roosevelt's October 1942 visit.
Having been transferred to North Africa in December 1942, Hayes gave lengthy descriptions of the Muslim people and religion; entertainment provided by celebrities such as Bob Hope; movie-watching, baseball, and swimming; word of nearby fighting; and security precautions taken with photographs and letter-writing. Moving northward through Sicily and then to the Italian mainland in the spring of 1944, Hayes wrote in June of the destruction and privation left in the wake of recent heavy fighting and questioned the ultimate meaning of war. While in Italy, he received news of the 1944 G.I. Bill of Rights and pondered the educational opportunities it held for himself and for his brothers.
In March 1945, after passing through France and Luxembourg, Hayes's unit spent time in an occupied region of western Germany. There he expressed feelings of bitterness towards the German people and placed on them the blame for Hitler's rise to power.
With Germany's surrender, Hayes received permission to return to the United States in May 1945. Writing from New York, N.Y., he described the welcome for returning troops and later the experience of being in Times Square on V-J Day, 14 August 1945.
Also included are a typed transcription of the letters; a 1942 photograph of Hayes in uniform; and several clippings, mainly taken from the Stars and Stripes newspaper.
| Folder 1 |
1939-1941 |
Folder 2-3
Folder 2Folder 3 |
1942 |
Folder 4-8
Folder 4Folder 5Folder 6Folder 7Folder 8 |
1943 |
Folder 9-13
Folder 9Folder 10Folder 11Folder 12Folder 13 |
1944 |
Folder 14-15
Folder 14Folder 15 |
1945-1946 |
| Folder 16 |
Typed transcription |
| Folder 17 |
Other materials |
| Image Folder PF-5149/1 |
Photographs |
| Oversize Paper Folder OPF-5149/1 |
Oversize papers |
Expand/collapse
Items Separated
Items separated include oversize papers (OP-5149) and a photograph (P-5149).
Back to Top