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A Letter from Camp Maxey

Such was life in Paris of the forties. Robert Thornburrow found this letter addressed to his uncle, Sen. A.M. Aikin, Jr., from Pvt. J.D. McIver, Jr., Co. C-1, ASFRTC, Camp Maxey, Texas, penned by hand at Camp Maxey, July 20, 1943:

“Dear Senator Aikin:” he says. “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to take you up on your kind invitation for a real home-cooked chicken dinner last Saturday, but due to the paralysis epidemic, we were restricted to the post.
I hope you were not too inconvienced by my not coming. I tried to telephone you, but since our passes were cancelled at the last minute, practically everyone had to make telephone calls, and I didn’t have a chance to get to a telephone.
“I certainly do appreciate your kind invitation, and it certainly was swell seeing a familiar face so far from home. We are supposed to be here about a month longer, and if we are allowed to go into Paris before we leave, I’ll drop in to see you.
“Please give my best regards to Mrs. Aikin.”

I suppose he meant polio, by “paralysis,” although I didn’t think it struck Paris until the 50’s. As a young child, I don’t remember my parents being unduly frightened, but they must have been. My older brother suffered from malaria, in high school, almost collapsing at band practice and being sent home by the conductor. I had no idea that malaria had flourished in Paris during those years. How far we’ve come. Now we fear West Nile Virus, which has struck victims in Paris and the area.

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