Quantico, VA
September, 1942
Dear girls,
Well, your son and brother is an officer now – meet Lieutenant Wood of the U. S. Marine Corps! Gosh it sounds good – and everything is wonderful so far. All the quarters and so forth, the food – everything more comfortable, roomier, and more luxurious. And you have no idea how much better it makes one feel, being treated like a gentleman instead of a dog – being served, saluted, and respected. The uniforms are swell looking and feel wonderful. And cost like Hell. Honestly folks, you never saw so many charges and supercharges, extra bits of equipment that you have to get, and aside from my one luxury of a Sam Browne belt, I’ve gotten the smallest amount. I don’t know yet, but I think I’m going to spend about 350 dollars before I’m through.
A few more words Tuesday A.M.
Last night – every night – we have a compulsory study hall. And now I’ll be able to get more letters off to you all. Last night a couple of the fellows – I mean Lieutenants – and myself went over to the senior officer’s club – we can go to that and to the bachelor’s officer’s club, and believe me, it is wonderful. The Union League Club has only a slight edge on it. Very comfortable, and the best Scotch and soda on the market for a quarter, Tom Collinses for 20 cents – walnut paneled reading rooms with easy chairs. I can see that many of my leisure hours, and there will be a few more of them now, will be spent in those delightful surroundings.
I went to Washington over the weekend, had a wonderful time – really cut loose for 24 hours – drank a lot, but not too much – spent more money than I should have, but that’s healthy once in a while, too. We tooted all over the town. Got in at five and slept till almost one. It felt really wonderful to relax. People in general weren’t very impressed with a Second Lieutenant in the Marine Corps. They see plenty of them around here, but we had a good time anyway.
Wednesday
Things are crowded again – I knew that the comfort, ease, etc. couldn’t last more than a day or so. We are at these desks ten hours a day every day now, and after the building up period we’ve been having, you get awfully restless and pent up. But we are learning a Hell of a lot. Everything from Naval Law to map reading.
Love
Phil
The Ninth Candidate's Class graduated on September 26, 1942. Among the newly minted Second Lieutenants of Company K were Endecott Osgood, John Sabini, Howard Schattuck, Frederic Stott, Joseph Swoyer, Roy Wood, and Phil Wood.
To become an officer, one first had to shed one's enlisted man status. Phil Wood received this honorable discharge the day before receiving his gold Second Lieutenant bars.
The official document making one "an officer and a gentleman."
Proudly showing off the new bars after graduation.
The life of a Marine officer, even a junior one, was head and shoulders better than being an enlisted man. Phil, who was apparently possessed of an aristocratic temperament, must have loved his new status and the privileges it afforded - even if nobody in Washington was impressed by a mere second lieutenant, he could count on his college aged cousins to provide admiring friends. Sixty five years later, Sudie Green remembered her friend Frances Wood visiting her Philadelphia home with her dashing Marine cousin, who looked so good in his officer's uniform. Phil also visited cousin Frances at Vassar College, bringing along an officer friend for a double date.
The smart uniform was not government issue. Marine officers were expected to buy their own tailored clothing and keep it immaculate. Additional pieces of gear, like the coveted Sam Browne belts ran extra. (Sam Browne Belts were a fashionable accoutrement for one's dress uniform, consisting a heavy leather belt with a shoulder strap that ran diagonally from the right shoulder to the left waist. Originally, this design was meant to support a sword, though in the 1940s the sword had been replaced by a sidearm. The style was adopted by the Marines after the First World War after - and possibly because - the Army forbade them.) Once one had experienced combat, extraneous or distinctive articles were left in one's trunk or seabag.
In this photograph, probably taken in 1942, Lieutenant Wood is wearing his weapons qualifiation badges (left breast) and Sam Browne belt (crossing right shoulder).
Even though OCS was over, the officers never stopped learning. As a pre-war law student, Phil Wood was likely most interested in his Naval Law courses, which he would soon have cause to use.