Connecticut Soldiers Collection, Stulpin Family Papers

The Stulpin family of Granby, CT, comprised Lithuanian immigrants Vincenty (1880-1958?), a farmer, and his wife, Alexandria (1883-1956?), their six daughters, Anna (1908?-??), Helen (1912-2006), Lottie (1914?-??), Amelia (1918-2010), Alexandria (1931-2011), and Sophie (??-??), and their five sons, William (1916-2006), Joseph (1920-2015), Edward (1924-1944), Benjamin (1925?-??), and Stanley (1927-2006).

William, Joseph, Edward, and Stanley all had roles in the U.S. Army during World War II. Joseph was the first to join the Army and trained at the Replacement Training Center in Miami Beach, FL, the Army Air Base in Wilmington, NC, and the Hattiesburg Army Air Base in Hattiesburg, MS, in 1942 before serving in England from 1943-1945. Edward Stulpin trained at Camp Blanding in Starke, FL, Camp Robinson near Little Rock, AR, and Camp Rucker in Dale County, AL, in 1943 and served overseas in France until his death in 1944. Stanley trained at Camp Gordon near Augusta, GA, in 1945 before serving in Japan, and William Stulpin also trained at Camp Gordon and at Camp Patrick Henry in Newport News, VA, in 1945 before serving in Italy from 1945-1946.

The young men’s letters are addressed to their sister, Amelia, and her husband, Fred “Spike” Holcombe of Granby, and later Simsbury, CT. After the war ended, the Stulpin family largely remained in the Hartford County area and engaged primarily in farming and industrial work.