Based on the letters of Earl Philip Reinhalter (1922-1953). Edited by his son, Earl Philip Reinhalter (1950-).

THIS IS A COMPANION PAGE TO THE NARRATIVE ON
POSTWAR: 1945-1953

Returning Home Honorably discharged November 21, 1945. Earl in front of the family home after returning from the war. Earl and his father after the war. Here he is wearing his Purple Heart. Loretta Loretta in 1946 December As a teenager, Loretta attended Saint Stanislaus Kostka Roman Catholic Church (“Saint Stan’s”) on South Ann Street. This is a still frame from a video that I shot in 1990, when my mother showed me some of the early sites. The church was closed in 2000. Mike in September 1949 Marcella in 1949 Billy in 1949 Loretta and Billy in 1947. They appear to be exiting Hochschild-Kohn department store. Loretta and Earl in 1947. Loretta and Earl at Essex Seaplane Base on Back River in Essex, Maryland, 1947. Essex Seaplane Base - July 20, 1947. Loretta and Earl in 1948. Earl and one of his model airplanes. Notice the engine in front. Wedding Earl and Loretta’s wedding ceremony. Loretta’s sister Marcella is on the right. Earl and Loretta’s wedding. Earl and Loretta on their wedding day. Loretta on her wedding day. Best man James F. (“Jim”) Snyder, Earl and Loretta, maid of honor Marcella (Loretta’s sister). Earl and Jim later had a falling out. Loretta’s parents, wedding officiant, Earl and Loretta, Earl’s parents. Earl and Loretta on their honeymoon at Aunt Ginny’s in Washington, DC. (October 31, 1948). Earl and Loretta on their honeymoon at Aunt Ginny’s in Washington, DC. (October 31, 1948). Loretta on her honeymoon in Washington, DC. Loretta in her wedding dress, at the Reinhalter family house at 4408 Frederick Avenue. Not clear if this was before or after the wedding. Early Marriage Loretta and Earl at 4408 Frederick Avenue, summer of 1949. The inscription on the rear of the photo says, “Earl and the car” (June 1949). The vehicle appears to be a 1937 Plymouth two-door sedan. Across the street, at a playground behind Mount Saint Joseph High School, was a plaque which honored the local men who served in World War II. Earl’s name can be seen in the cropped close-up below. The plaque photos are from 1949. Loretta with Earl’s plaque. According to a representative of the school, there is no longer a playground, and the fate of the plaque is unknown. A Place of Their Own Loretta at Augusta Avenue in 1952. She appears to be hosing down the porch. 220 South Augusta Avenue as it looked in 1990. This is a still frame from video. A composite of several frames of video that I shot at the side of the house on Augusta Avenue, panning from ground level to the second floor. I believe my parents lived upstairs, in the back. The house at 212 Helena Road in Essex in 1953. Notice the antenna on the roof. In those days, a television would have been an extravagance the young couple could ill afford. More likely, the antenna was for Earl’s ham radio hobby. (There is a brick house at this address now, built in 1994.) Eastern Airport in 1954. It was a very simple airport - two intersecting grass air strips, an administrative building with snack bar, and some hangars. Because of the cars, I suspect that this was the rear of the admin building, with the air strips just beyond it. Cars were not allowed on the air strips. One time a car drove there, and police were called. On the left is our family dog, Sport, who I recall was a Dalmation. A hillbilly band performs in front of the Eastern Airport snack bar. Jim Snyder (left) and Earl, with the Globe Swift plane that they co-owned. They later had a falling out over this partnership. According to Yvonne, Earl had found a buyer to assume his half of the plane, but Jim would not agree to it. Interestingly, there was an article in the July 1946 issue of Flying in which the writer flew this very plane, tail number NC-80551, in order to review it for the magazine. You can read it at Google Books. The story begins on page 38. “Little Earl” Loretta and “Little Earl” shortly after his birth, 1950. “Little Earl” on his christening day, October 1, 1950. The rite was performed at the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, 4211 Vermont Avenue, a few blocks north of the Reinhalter family home. That church is still in operation. Earl Sr. and Earl Jr. That appears to be the Globe Swift plane behind them. Loretta and the two Earls in 1952, in front of the Reinhalter house in Irvington. The two Earls, 1952. My father and me. Possibly our last photo together. Tragedy Obituary from the Baltimore Sun, June 29, 1953. Phyllis and Loretta at Earl’s grave, clearly grief-stricken. When I visited the gravesite as a child, I thought that the inscription on the headstone said world war eleven. I had not yet studied Roman numerals in school. The gravesite as it appears today. The rear of the headstone indicates that this is grave number 2419 in section N of the cemetery.

NOW AVAILABLE AS A KINDLE BOOK! The Kindle book includes Earl Reinhalter’s World War II letters; all 23 issues of the unit’s wartime newsletter “The Squadron Pulse,” which was originally edited by Leonard Stringfield; all 12 issues of the “Pennant Parade” newsletter that Stringfield published while sailing home after the war; complete text of the U.S. government booklet “Pocket Guide to Australia,” which soldiers heading Down Under were given to read; more than 200 photos; pre-war and postwar family history; and over 700 explanatory endnotes.

BACK TO POSTWAR LIFE: 1945-1953

BACK TO HOMEPAGE