“Rocky” Fronk Enroute For An Unknown Port

Mrs. Anna Fronk is in receipt of a letter from her son, “Rocky” Junior Fronk, in which he writes that he is leaving for an unknown port. Rocky was stationed at Camp Claiborne until just recently when he was sent to Fort Dix, N. J. His letter, written February 17, stated that they were leaving there within a day, but due to censorship and probably lack of knowledge of where they were sailing, he was unable to give this information to his mother.

The following letter is typical of those many mothers are receiving these days from their sons in the service who are about to embark on new and unknown experiences:

Dear Mom:

I am writing to tell you why I wired you for that money. We are leaving within a day and an American dollar is worth two of theirs so if I take $10 with me, I will have $20 when I get over there.

I tried to get a transfer to the parachute units and jump from a plane. There is good money in that. They pay a buck private $90 a month, but the major would not sign my papers after I took my examinations and passed it. If I could have gotten in I would have been sent to Georgia for 4 months and I could have come home on a 30-day leave.

I would like to have you come out here to see me but I won’t be here that long. We have got our No. 2 barrack bags packed and sent to New York. They are the bags that we put all our things in that we will not need for several months. Sgt. Lucas just got a transfer to the officers school. I will sure miss him. He was just like a brother to me and one of the best 1st Sgts. That Co. I will ever have. When he left he gave me his rifle and said he would make a bet with me that he could kill more Japs than I could. So when he left he said, “Well Rocky, you take my rifle and every Jap you kill, just shoot him once for me.”

Mom, I hated to see him leave more than I would hate to lose an arm. Without him we don’t know what to do. Everyone is sitting around on their bunks looking at the floor and wondering what to do. They miss him coming through the rooms with a word of good cheer.

I know now how you feel about me leaving. He said that if he did not see us any more that he would always be thinking of the old gang that he started out with in a small town of Sheldon.

He made a speech in the mess hall tonight and he could not finish it. He started to get lumps in his throat.

Well Mom I will close for now. Will write more soon, so goodbye and God bless you and May God watch over you always.

Have you heard that song called “Dear Mom”? I hear it a lot. That will be a little letter from me to you the next time you hear it. I will close now. Write often and tell everybody hello for me.

From your son,
Rocky.

Source: The Spirit Lake Beacon, Spirit Lake, Iowa, Thursday, February 26, 1942 [Dickinson County]

  Rocky Fronk In Africa

Mrs. Anna Fronk has informed us that she had finally received a letter from her son, Rocky Fronk, from whom she had not heard [from] since September 8. The letter arrived December 31 and informs her that Rocky is now in North Africa. He was stationed in Scotland before with the U. S. Army forces.

He writes as follows:

Dear Mom:

Well, I will write to you again and let you know that I am well and still o.k. and doing fine. I can’t write very much because we have only permission to write one page, so that it will be home by Christmas.

I can only tell you that we are still in North Africa and I don’t know when or where we go next. Home, I hope. Maybe next year for Christmas we can all be home with our families.

Did you get a letter from Mrs. Brodie? If you did please answer it as soon as possible. She is really a nice old lady.

I can’t think of a lot to say, only I wish that I was home eating some good old home cooking with you.

Well, I will close for now and see if you get this and maybe they will let me write more soon. I am not going to send anything to you this Christmas because like as not you would not get it any way.

Well, Merry Xmas and a happy New Year and lots of love. Tell everybody hello for me and tell them to write because all of us boys are always glad to get mail from home.

Loads of Love from your loving son, Junior.

P.F.C.Rocky Fronk
Co. F. 1st Ranger Bn.
A. P. O.  302 % Postmaster
New York City, N. Y.
U. S. Army

Source: The Spirit Lake Beacon, Spirit Lake, Iowa, Thursday, January 07, 1943 [Dickinson County]