This collection (0.25 linear feet) contains letters related to the family of Sarah Guy of Negley, Ohio. Guy received around 50 letters from her sons, Fidelis and Gerald McCoy, who served in paratrooper regiments during World War II. Other friends and family members wrote to the McCoy brothers and the Guy family, particularly after January 1945.
Fidelis and Gerald McCoy's letters to their mother, which comprise the bulk of the collection, are mainly dated April 1942-January 1945. The McCoys wrote while training at military camps in the United States, and while serving in Europe during the war; they commented on military life and training activities, such as hiking and parachute training, and inquired about their stepsisters. Fidelis McCoy mentioned a girlfriend, Aileen, who later became his fiancée, and encouraged his mother to correspond with her. He later served in England, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France, and provided some details about his activities, such as building bridges. Gerald McCoy ("Jerry") served in Italy and France, and spent some time in a hospital in England.
Other correspondence includes a letter from Sarah Guy to Gerald McCoy, letters to the McCoy brothers from female friends, and 2 letters to Wayne Guy from Ernest Hughes, a soldier stationed at Fort McClellan, Alabama, in 1945. Postwar correspondence consists of letters Roy Guy wrote to his family during his military training and letters Wayne Guy wrote to his family from Japan, where he was stationed in 1948 and 1949. The collection contains a newspaper article about Fidelis McCoy's death.
Sarah McCoy and her first husband had three children: William, Fidelis Charles (1920-1945), and Gerald E. She married John Guy of Negley, Ohio, before 1940; they had three children: Wayne, Betty Jean, and Rosemary. Fidelis C. McCoy enlisted in the United States Army on March 19, 1942, and trained at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana; Fort Benning, Georgia; and Fort Bragg, North Carolina. In September 1943, he deployed to Europe with the 326th Airborne Engineer Battalion, Company C, and he served in England, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. Fidelis McCoy drowned in France in July 1945.
Gerald E. McCoy also served in the United States Army during the war; after training at Camp Wolters, Texas; Fort Benning, Georgia; and Camp MacKall, North Carolina, he deployed to Europe, where he served in Italy and France with the 551st Parachute Infantry Battalion, Company C. Wayne McCoy was stationed in Japan with the 347th Maintenance Squadron from 1948-1949.
