New love begins - July 25 and August 4, 1939

The first correspondence from Johnnie to Lucile was a postcard postmarked from Atlanta on July 25, 1939. It was addressed to Miss Lucile Stacks, College Park, Ga Route 1. There was no return address on the postcard.

Hello, 

Just a line to let you know I haven’t forgot you and I will see you soon. 

Johnnie

P.S. Tell Dot and Nellie hello.

Johnnie's first known postcard to Lucile, July 25, 1939 (click to enlarge)

Johnnie mailed another postcard on August 4, 1939, again postmarked from Atlanta and addressed to Lucile at the same address. Johnnie included a return address of 48 Weyman Avenue, Atlanta, Ga on this postcard.

Hello down there, 

Hoping to see you Sunday week. Demp is still here. But Jimmie left last week. I have been working pretty hard all this week. Please write me to let me know you are getting this card. 

Johnnie 

 

August 4, 1939 postcard

Early family life

The fifth child of John Henry Marston Sr. and Hattie E. Prather, John Henry Marston Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia on February 23, 1920. At the time, his parents lived on Woodward Avenue near Grant Park in Southeast Atlanta. Johnnie’s parents already had three children—daughters Louise and Kate and a son named William. Another son named Curtis, born in 1917, did not survive infancy and had died in 1918. His mother had three additional children after Johnnie—Evelyn, born in 1922, and twins Nellie and Ned, born and died in 1925. 

Johnnie and his sister Evelyn (ca. 1925)

Johnnie's grandfather, also named John Henry Marston, was a carpenter by trade but also a musician. He played tuba in Atlanta concert bands that included “the Atlanta Zouave Band, the Wedemeyer Band, the Fifth Regimental Band, the Elks Band, Capital City Band,” and even twice with John Philip Sousa.

Johnnie's grandfather, John Henry Marston (ca. 1942)

Johnnie attended the sixth grade at Lee Elementary School in Atlanta during the 1934–35 school year. Although he only missed six days during the school year, he struggled with Social Science, Arithmetic, and Language. It wasn’t enough to hold him back though and he was promoted to the seventh grade at the end of the school year. Johnnie quit high school after only two years. Little did he know at the time that he would soon become part of the greatest generation to serve in the United States Armed Forces during World War II. 

Sixth grade report card, Lee Elementary School, 1934-35 school year (click to enlarge)

In 1938, the Marston family lived at 653 Boulevard NE, Apt. B4 in Atlanta. His father worked as a dental technician near Grady Stadium in downtown Atlanta. His mother was a housewife.

Johnnie

Johnnie was 19 years old in 1939, the year he met his future wife Lucile Myrtle Stacks, a pretty young woman living with her parents in Red Oak, Georgia, near College Park. He met Lucile through his friend Dent, a driver for the Coca-Cola Company. Dent delivered Coca-Cola at a country store near Lucile’s house. He met Lucile and her sisters during a delivery and thought enough of them to go home and tell Johnnie he should go meet them as well. Johnnie did and it wasn’t long before he asked Lucile for a first date—to a picnic.  

Lucile was the 5th child of 11 born in College Park, Georgia to Sam William Riley Stacks and Leola Edith Lemons on April Fool’s Day in 1922. Her father worked at the family sawmill in Red Oak. The family consisted of six girls—Frances, Nell, Lucile, Dorothy, Mary, and Betty; and four boys—Cecil, Earl, Geral, and Melvin. In addition to being sisters, Lucile and Nell were lifelong friends.

Lucile

Introduction

The two shoeboxes of letters were tucked away—memories of long ago. Lucile (Stacks) Marston didn’t want to share them with her children until she was gone. They were personal—letters her husband Johnnie lovingly wrote to her, from pre-marriage in 1939 until he came home from Italy at the end of World War II in 1945. This is their love story, as told through Johnnie in over 300 letters he wrote to Lucile. Johnnie’s love for his darling Lucile comes out loud and clear in his letters. That love is what kept him going the years he spent with the U.S. Army during the war.

It was important to Johnnie that he wrote regularly to Lucile. He tried to write every night even though that wasn’t always possible. He wanted her to write him regularly as well. It’s evident that he looked forward to mail call every day. When it was time for mail call, he didn’t want to walk away empty handed.

You won’t find anything earth shattering in these letters. Johnnie was on the frontlines—he couldn’t and didn’t tell Lucile what was happening in the war. Johnnie most often wrote Lucile to tell her how he was doing and to inquire as to her well-being. Johnnie worried about Lucile’s health. He constantly told her to take care of herself. He often asked about family members and wrote about sending money to her. The letters are repetitive. You might read the same thing for days in a row, but it was the fact that Johnnie was thinking about Lucile all the time that was important to him.

Johnnie also exchanged letters with his father and stepmother, his mother, Lucile’s parents Sam and Leola (Lemons) Stacks, as well as several of Lucile’s brothers and sisters. Lucile kept some of these letters with her letters from Johnnie, so they’re included here as well.

Unfortunately, this conversation is one-sided. Lucile’s letters to Johnnie didn’t survive the war so can’t be included. We’ll have to use our imagination to hear her side of the story.

Johnnie and Lucile (Stacks) Marston (1943)

One of two boxes of letters from Johnnie, stored away for 65 years