Postcard Friendship Friday -Pvt. Burns Part IV

Happy Postcard Friendship Friday! As always, today's PFF posts are hosted by Marie of Voila! Vintage Postcards.

This lovely and colorful image of Bayfront Park in Miami is the fourth of 5 postcards I have that were written during WWII by Pvt. Burns, stationed with the Army Air Force in Miami, Florida, to his wife in Rochester, New York.

The description of the picture reads: Bayfront Park in all its tropical splendor adds to the Miami visitors comfort and relaxation. Here among the beautiful flowers and palms, concerts entertain visiting guests and inhabitants.

The veiw is of the park at Flagler Street which is named for Henry Flagler who had a huge impact on Florida

(Per Wikepedia)

Henry Morrison Flagler (January 2, 1830 – May 20, 1913) was an American Tycoon, real estate promoter, railroad developer and Rockefeller partner in Standard Oil. He was a key figure in the development of the eastern coast of Florida along the Atlantic Ocean and was founder of what became the Florida East Coast Railway. He is known as the father of Miami, Florida and also founded Palm Beach Florida.

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When looking back at Flagler's life after his death on May 20, 1913, George W. Perkins, of J.P. Morgan & Co., reflected, "But that any man could have the genius to see of what this wilderness of waterless sand and underbrush was capable and then have the nerve to build a railroad here, is more marvelous than similar development anywhere else in the world."

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Flagler College, St. Augustine Florida

There is a monument to him on Flagler Monument Island in Biscayne Bay, and Flagler College is named after him in St. Augustine. Flagler County, Florida and Flagler Beach, Florida are also named for him. Whitehall, Palm Beach, is open to the public as the Henry Morrison Flagler Museum; his private railcar No. 91 is preserved inside a Beaux Arts pavilion built to look like a 19th Century railway palace.

On February 24, 2006, a statue of Henry Flagler was unveiled in Key West near where the Over-Sea Railroad once terminated. Also, on July 28, 2006, a statue of Henry Flagler was unveiled on the southeast steps of Miami's Dade County Courthouse, appropriately located on Miami's Flagler Street, the thoroughfare that divides South and North Miami.

A modern view of Bayfront Park

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The postcard reads:

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My Dear Mrs. Burns

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Am Transfering down town today. Hold Mail 'till you hear from me

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Love

Me

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Jan 16, 1943

Based on the address of his next postcard, I know that Pvt. Burns was transferred to the Atlantic Towers Hotel in Miami Beach. Thousands of soldiers were quartered in Miami's hotels during WWII. The Army Air Force and other service branches paid $20.00 a month to house a service person in a hotel, far less than the going rate. However they kept the hotels filled to capacity during the war which was a benefit to the hoteliers.

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I could not find information about the Atlantic Towers Hotel which indicates that it either was demolished at some point or changed names.

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Several hotels served as hospitals for wounded servicemen and some were used for R&R for soldiers returning from overseas.

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Although I have not discovered anything specific about Pvt. Burn's training at the Technical Training School, , air crew needs resulted in the successful training of 43,000 bombardiers, 49,000 navigators, and 309,000 flexible gunners, many of whom also specialized in other aspects of air crew duties. 7,800 men qualified as B-29 flight engineers and 1,000 more as radar operators in night fighters, all of whom received commissions. Almost 1.4 million men received technical training as aircraft mechanics, electronics specialists, and other technicians.