Title: Robert Wetter Papers, Still Images and Maps
Inclusive Dates: 1942-2005

Creator:

• Wetter, Robert

Call Number: WVM Mss 2058

Quantity: 0.8 linear ft. (2 archives boxes and 5 oversized folders) of papers, 1.2 linear ft. (3 archives boxes and 1 oversized folder) [551 photographs] of still images, and 1.1 linear ft. (3 oversize folders) of maps.

Repository:

Wisconsin Veterans Museum
Have questions? Contact the Reference Archivist

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Veterans Museum (Map)

See the catalog entry for current shelf locations and additions.

Abstract:

Papers, still images, and maps pertaining to the service of Robert Wetter, a Milwaukee, Wisconsin, resident who served as a central fire control gunner on a B-29 Superfortress in the 883rd Bombardment Squadron, 500th Bombardment Group, 73rd Bombardment Wing, 20th Air Force, during World War II. The majority of the collection was originally contained in three scrapbooks, which have been dismantled for preservation purposes. One scrapbook contained training and World War II materials, the second contained World War II and Reserves. Also included is a third scrapbook containing post-war, veterans materials, documenting his trip to Saipan and Iwo Jima during the 50th Anniversary of the War. Papers include military orders and correspondence, training materials, personal letters and notes, news clippings, and informational booklets. Of interest is a note written to his mother, which set up a code of corresponding cities in the United States and in other countries to inform his family of his location. Still images are comprised of personal photographs taken during training for World War II, his service, and involvement in the reserves and a return trip to Saipan and Iwo Jima. Of note is a series of photographs from a supply drop on a Prisoner of War camp in Japan. Maps include three maps from his service: a large map of a training camp, a silk (parachute) map of the Pacific islands, and a partial map featuring the Islands of Japan. Other materials include papers from Wetter's time as an employee of the Department of Defense, including service and educational certificates.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.wvm-mss02058

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Robert Wetter was born in 1925 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Florence and Ferdinand Wetter. In 1943, Wetter was drafted into service and attended training camps in Florida, Alabama and New Mexico. During his time in training, he studied to be part of a flight crew on a B-29 Bomber. After training, Wetter was deployed to Saipan and Guam, participating in bombing and supply runs. After the war, Wetter served in the Air Force Reserves, and then went on to work for the Department of Defense.

The Robert Wetter collection has been arranged into three series: Military Service (1942-2002), Return Scrapbook (1995) and Veterans Papers (1949-2005).

Military Service (1942-2002) series is comprised of papers, correspondence, orders, still images and maps taken from two scrapbooks constructed by Wetter. The scrapbooks were dismantled for preservation purposes. Copies of the scrapbook pages and annotations made by Wetter are available in the collection.

Papers include official military documents, such as orders and training materials. Other papers include letters from his flight crew after the war, notes to his parents, and newspaper clippings about the war.

Photographs from Wetter's service include images from various training camps, his movements around the country, to and from the war, and during his service. These images include an obstacle course, flight training, airplanes, bases and nearby cities. Images from his service in the Pacific include bases and quarters on Saipan and Guam, Wetter and his fellow soldiers at various bases. Of interest is a series of photographs taken from his airplane that feature views of the ground on Japan, a sign that reads “PW” and parachutes being dropped off the plane. In his personal memoirs and autobiography, it is explained that Wetter and his crew were tasked with finding prisoner of war camps and dropping supplies there. Also of interest are portraits of the flight crew in their plane with identifications by Wetter. Images from his return home include photographs of a train with “Wisconsin Bound” written on the cars.

Maps from Wetter's service include a detailed map of Lowry Field in Denver, a silk, or parachute, map of the Pacific and a partial map featuring the Japanese islands. The maps in this collection feature notes and markings made by Wetter, indicating important places and buildings on each map, and have been retained with the manuscript collection due to the significant notations.

Reunion and Anniversary Scrapbook (1995) series consists of papers and still images from a 50th Anniversary trip to Saipan and Iwo Jima. These photographs include images of Saipan, Iwo Jima, the flight from the United States to Saipan, and Saipan to Iwo Jima, and ceremonies to memorialize events. The photographs had been arranged into a scrapbook with explanations for each photograph. These explanations have been matched with the photographs and are available with the photographs from each page.

Veterans Papers (1949-2005) is comprised mainly of papers from his training, education and achievements with the Department of Defense. These papers and certificates document Wetter's training in various specialized areas for his job with the Department Of Defense, including graduation and coursework certificates and transcripts. Other papers include certificates for contribution and his retirement. The autobiography written by Wetter includes a family history and his personal memoirs about the war. The autobiography also contains the story Wetter wrote shortly after the war about his experience with dropping supplies on a POW camp in Japan.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Robert Wetter, 2003 and 2005. Accession Number: Mss2003.147 and Mss2005.172.

Processing Information

Processed by Brittany Strobel, in 2015

	Series: Military Service
	Subseries: Papers
Box   1 Folder   1	Army Air Force papers, 1944-1949
Box   1 Folder   2	Correspondence, 1944-2002
Box   1 Folder   8	Note with code, 1944
Box   1 Folder   3	Discharge and pay, 1946-1951
Box   1 Folder   4	Flight log, 1945
Box   1 Folder   5	Memoirs, 1943-1945
Box   1 Folder   6	Military correspondence, 1943-1945
Box   1 Folder   7	News clippings, 1943-1945
Ov   41 Folder   5	Albuquerque, 1944
Ov   44 Folder   3	Guam, 1946
Ov   45 Folder   3	Magazine clippings, 1945
Ov   45 Folder   4	Yank, 1944
Box   1 Folder   9	Notes and notebook, 1943
Box   1 Folder   10	Orders, 1943-1946
Box   1 Folder   11	Passes and identification, 1943-1949
Box   1 Folder   12	Propaganda, 1944-1945
Box   1 Folder   13	Reserves service, 1946-1950
Box   1 Folder   14	Training, 1943-1945
	World War Scrapbooks
Box   1 Folder   15	Copies, 1942-1945
Box   1 Folder   16	Reserves copies, 1945-2002
Box   1 Folder   17	Notes and captions, 1942-2002
	Subseries: Still images	⇧
Box   3 Folder   1-2	Aerial missions [21] , 1945
Box   3 Folder   3	Albuquerque [11] , 1945
Box   3 Folder   4	Flight crew [9] , 1945
Box   3 Folder   5-6	Flight training [24] , 1945
Box   3 Folder   7	Wetter and friends [16] , 1945
Box   3 Folder   8	Crash of a B-29 [4] , 1945
Box   3 Folder   9-10	Flight crew [16] , 1945
Box   3 Folder   11	Fort Meyers, Florida [14] 1945
Box   3 Folder   12-15	Guam [46] , 1945
Box   3 Folder   16	Japan [14] , 1945
Box   3 Folder   17	Maxwell Field, Alabama [12] 1943
Box   3 Folder   18	Flight training [6] , 1943
Box   3 Folder   19	Moving [4] , 1943
Box   3 Folder   20	Portraits [15] , 1943
Box   3 Folder   21	Training [5] , 1943
Box   3 Folder   22	Milwaukee, WI [16] 1943-1945
Box   3 Folder   23	Miscellaneous [9] , 1945
Box   5 Folder   2	Modern fighter jets [6] , 1995
	Deployment and return
Box   3 Folder   24	California to Wisconsin [11] , 1946
Box   3 Folder   25	Guam to Saipan [3] , 1946
Box   3 Folder   26	Saipan to California [12] , 1946
Box   3 Folder   27	Newport, Arkansas [6] 1944
PhOv   52 Folder   15	Plane Crash, New Mexico [1] 1945
Box   3 Folder   28	Postcards [5] , 1942-1945
Box   3 Folder   29	P.O.W. missions [16] , 1945
	Reserves
Box   4 Folder   1	Mississippi [9] , 1949
Box   4 Folder   2	Texas [9] , 1948
Box   4 Folder   3	Aerial [7] , 1948
Box   4 Folder   4	Planes [10] , 1948
Box   4 Folder   20	Reproduction and loose photographs [5] , 1941-1945
Box   4 Folder   5-6	Saipan [22] , 1945
Box   4 Folder   7	Base [9] , 1945
Box   4 Folder   8	Wetter and friends [17] , 1945
Box   4 Folder   9	Sarasota, Florida [9] 1944
Box   4 Folder   10	Camp [3] , 1944
Box   4 Folder   11	Planes [12] , 1944
Box   4 Folder   12	Wetter and friends [11] , 1944
Box   4 Folder   13	Shanghai and China, 1945 [13]
Box   4 Folder   14	Shipping out, 1945 [2]
Box   4 Folder   15-16	Travel, 1944 [21]
Box   4 Folder   17	Troop transport, 1945 [11]
Box   4 Folder   18	Wetter and friends [7] , 1945
Box   4 Folder   19	Union City, Tennessee [8] 1944
OvDw   5 Folder   12	Maps [3] , 1940-1950
	Series: Return Scrapbook	⇧
	Subseries: Papers
Box   1 Folder   18-19	Iwo Jima booklets, 1995
Box   1 Folder   20	Maps, 1995
Box   1 Folder   21	Return and anniversary planning papers, 1995
Box   1 Folder   22	Saipan booklets, 1995
	Subseries: Still images	⇧
Box   5 Folder   1	Hawaii [1] , 1995
Box   5 Folder   3-12	Pages [66] , 1995
Box   5 Folder   13	General and Mrs. Kuribayashi [2] , 1995
	Series: Veterans papers	⇧
	Subseries: Autobiography
Box   1 Folder   23	2003
Box   1 Folder   24	2005
Box   2 Folder   1	Complete , 2005
Box   2 Folder   2-4	Education and certificates, 1959-1993
Box   2 Folder   5	Work papers and certificates, 1949-1994