Randall A. McLeod Papers, WWII 76
Abstract
The Randall A. McLeod Papers is composed of correspondence, college speeches and essays,
miscellaneous school materials, telegrams, business letters, church missionary newsletters,
construction records, WWII ship launch invitation and passes, school club records,
military records, handwritten service histories, artwork, Indian currency, and miscellaneous
materials, documenting the undergraduate career, World War II military service, and
the post-World War II business and educational career of Randall A. McLeod Jr. of
Maxton, N.C. McLeod served during WWII in the U.S. Army, and was stationed at various
Army camps for training-including Fort Belvoir and Camp Peale. When he was sent overseas,
McLeod served in the China-India-Burma Theater (CBI Theater) from September 1945 to
April 1946, with assignments in Kanchrapara, India, and later in Shanghai, China,
with the Headquarters of the U.S. Forces, China Theater.
The bulk of the collection is composed of letters written by Randall McLeod to his
mother from April 1943 to April 1946, while he was training at various Army camps
in the U.S., and during his overseas service in India and China. McLeod discusses
such topics as camp life, money issues, going on furloughs, his many hospitalizations,
his impressions of local communities, and rank promotion opportunities. Of particular
interest are the letters McLeod wrote while he was stationed in India and China. They
give his impressions of the local people, and describe his activities in the CBI Theater
of the war. McLeod discusses the customs and cultures of the local peoples during
this period.
The collection also is composed of a large set of records for Randall McLeod while
he served as the Chair for the Committee on Speakers for the International Relations
Club at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. There are letters to and
from various U.S. politicians and foreign dignitaries, inviting them to speak at the
club-all from 1940 to 1941 before the U.S. entered WWII. The correspondence includes
letters to and from the Japanese and German ambassadors' offices in Washington, D.C.,
as of 1940. The collection also contains correspondence and materials from the life
of Lucy McLeod, Randall's mother, as it related to the McLeod family's finances, her
sons' college careers, her sons' military careers, and miscellaneous family matters
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- Randall A. McLeod Papers
- Call Number
- WWII 76
- Creator
- McLeod, Randall A. (1921-2017)
- Date
- 1930, 1932, 1934, 1936-1953, undated
- Extent
- 1.600 cubic feet
- Repository
- State Archives of North Carolina
Restrictions on Access & Use
Access Restrictions
There are no restrictions on accessing this collection.
Use Restrictions
The State Archives of North Carolina does not own the copyright to the letters within this collection, as they were written after 1923. Copyright remains with the author and/or the author's family under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Researchers are responsible for obtaining permission from the copyright holder(s) to use materials beyond the "fair use" clause of the U.S. Copyright Law.
Preferred Citation
[Item name or title], [Box Number], [Folder Numbers], Randall A. McLeod Papers, WWII 76, WWII Papers, Military Collection, State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh, N.C.
Collection Overview
The collection is composed of correspondence, college speeches and essays, miscellaneous
school materials, telegrams, business letters, church missionary newsletters, construction
records, WWII ship launch invitation and passes, school club records, military records,
handwritten service histories, artwork, Indian currency, and miscellaneous materials,
documenting the undergraduate career, World War II military service, and the post-World
War II business and educational career of Randall A. McLeod Jr. of Maxton, N.C. McLeod
served during WWII in the U.S. Army, and was stationed at various Army camps for training-including
Fort Belvoir and Camp Peale. When he was sent overseas, McLeod served in the China-India-Burma
Theater (CBI Theater) from September 1945 to April 1946, with assignments in Kanchrapara,
India, and later in Shanghai, China, with the Headquarters of the U.S. Forces, China
Theater.
The collection is arranged in four series and four subseries based on the creator
and chronology of the records. The series are as follows: Series I: Pre-World War
II Material; Subseries IA: Personal Correspondence; Subseries IB: UNC International
Relations Club Materials; Series II: WWII Military Service Materials; Series III:
Post-WWII Materials; Subseries IIIA: Randall McLeod Personal Correspondence; Subseries
IIIB: UNC International Relations Club Materials; and Series IV: McLeod Family Papers.
Arrangement Note
The collection is into four series based on format, creator, and time period of the
materials, then arranged chronologically within folders. The series are as follows:
Series I: Pre-World War II Material; Subseries IA: Personal Correspondence; Subseries
IB: UNC International Relations Club Materials; Series II: WWII Military Service Materials;
Series III: Post-WWII Materials; Subseries IIIA: Randall McLeod Personal Correspondence;
Subseries IIIB: UNC International Relations Club Materials; and Series IV: McLeod
Family Papers.
Biographical Note
Randall A. McLeod Jr. was born on September 19, 1921, in Fayetteville, N.C., to Randall
A. and Lucy Worth Currie McLeod. In 1927, the McLeod family had moved to the city
of Maxton in Robeson County, N.C., where Randal McLeod Sr. served as the first president
of Presbyterian Junior College for Men (which opened in 1927). McLeod Sr. was the
former superintendent of Elise Academy in the community of Elise (present-day Robbins)
in Moore County, N.C. In 1932, Randall McLeod Sr. died, leaving his wife Lucy to raise
four children during the height of the Great Depression.
In 1939, Randall McLeod Jr. entered college at the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill. While enrolled at UNC, McLeod was a Dialectic Senate Officer during the
fall of 1941; a member of the UNC Debate Council Squad in 1941; and a member of the
sophomore cabinet during 1941. Most significantly, McLeod served as Chair of the Committee
for Speakers for the International Relations Club (IRC). The International Relations
Club was formed in 1938 as a result of the merger of several existing UNC clubs that
held similar purposes, including the Foreign Policy League; the League of Nations
Council; and the Carolina League of International Cooperation. The club's main purpose
was to present speakers and programs of various types designed to acquaint students
with international affairs, while making sure that all subjects were given an impartial
presentation as much as possible. The IRC produced radio program series, round table
discussions on international affairs, and sponsored series on current events in the
international relations field for UNC students.
In his role as Chair of the Committee on Speakers, McLeod wrote to numerous American
politicians who were involved in international issues, and many foreign dignitaries
and ambassadors to the U.S., inviting them to speak at UNC, conduct an interview for
the radio, or attend various IRC programming, during the Fall 1941 school semester.
Because of his communications, Randall McLeod was talking with the embassies of Japan,
Germany, Britain, Australia, Brazil, Argentina, and other countries, in the two years
prior the United States' entrance into World War II.
Many of these foreign dignitaries rejected these requests, as their focus was on crisis
of WWII in their own countries. McLeod received numerous responses from those he requested
to speak, including letters from John P. Kennedy, U.S. Ambassador to Japan and father
of future U.S. President John F. Kennedy; the German Embassy in Washington, D.C.;
and various members of the U.S. State Department. The IRC's attempts to attract speakers
demonstrated a lack of understanding of the severity of the foreign struggle with
the Axis powers prior to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941.
Randall McLeod enlisted for military service in World War II in the U.S. Army's Enlisted
Reserve Corps (ERC), in Raleigh, N.C., on July 28, 1942. He was inducted into active
regular duty in the U.S. Army at Fort Bragg, N.C., on April 5, 1943. After basic training,
he was assigned to a twelve-week program for U.S. Army engineer basic training at
Fort Belvoir, Virginia, on May 5, 1943. While at Fort Belvoir, he was serving in Company
C, 4th Battalion, 4th Platoon, Engineer Replacement Training Center (ERTC). McLeod
would be assigned to an Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) in Chinese language
at Georgetown University in Raleigh, N.C. The ASTP program began in September 1943.
McLeod's Chinese program was supposed to cover the language, history, government,
and social customs in China; he referred to this as a sort of "diplomatic training
of the highest order."
Randall McLeod was next assigned for a 17-week program for engineer field training
back at Fort Belvoir on January 10, 1944. That same month began a long series of physical
issues and illnesses for McLeod, which included: a cold in January 1944; atypical
pneumonia in March 1944; bronchitis in May 1944 at Laurinburg-Maxton Army Air Base
in Maxton, N.C.; a hernia operation in September 1944; and paralysis of the radial
nerve in February 1945. McLeod even tried to obtain a medical discharge in March 1945
related to a major wrist injury. His time in hospital delayed his shipment to overseas
service during the war for almost a year. From January 1944 to July 1945, McLeod was
stationed at Fort Belvoir; Laurinburg-Maxton Army Air Base; and Fort Meade, Maryland.
He was assigned in June 1944 to the 2765th Engineer Base Photomapping Company.
After an interview with an officer, Randall McLeod was sent from Camp Beale, California,
on August 8, 1945, to serve with other military men on a language classification.
McLeod-along with other Chinese, Russian, and Japanese language specialists-was sent
overseas to the China-India-Burma Theater in late 1945, after the surrender of the
Japanese. He took a cross-country train from Camp Beale to Fort Hamilton, New York,
arriving there on August 21, 1945. From there, McLeod was sent to Camp Myles Standish
in Taunton, Massachusetts, on August 30, 1945. On September 2, 1945, McLeod embarked
on the USS General Hugh L. Scott from Boston Harbor, traveling through the Mediterranean and the Suez Canal for Calcutta,
India. McLeod arrived in Calcutta at the end of September 1945, and arrived at his
assigned station of Kanchrapara, India, on September 29, 1945. He was stationed by
October 1945 as a T/5 in the 34th Replacement Company, U.S. Army, at Replacement Depot
#3 in Camp Kanchrapara, India, north of Calcutta (present-day Kolkata). On November
25, 1945, McLeod arrived by airplane in Shanghai, China. He began working in the Headquarters
and Headquarters Detachment, G-1, in the U.S. Forces, China Theater (USFC), amidst
the Chinese Civil War that intensified following the official end of WWII.
Randall McLeod wrote detailed letters to his mother during this period about the political
situation in China, using his background in international relations to inform his
views. McLeod returned to the U.S. from Shanghai, China, between April and May 1946.
It is believed by members of McLeod's family that Randall A. McLeod Jr. was a U.S.
Army intelligence office while in Asia during WWII. While it is difficult to find
information regarding this in the historical record, it is possible that McLeod was
a member of the intelligence community because of his language classification knowledge
in Chinese. However, there is no indication of his service in available military records
and letters from McLeod's WWII service. He would be discharged from active military
service in 1946.
Following his return to the U.S., McLeod enrolled back at UNC-Chapel Hill to conclude
his college studies. He returned to his post as Chair on the Committee of Speakers
for the UNC International Relations Club during the fall 1947 school semester. Randall
McLeod began forming a new housing development company in Chapel Hill in 1947 called
McLeod Homes, Inc. (believed to be run with his brother Ed McLeod). This company would
go on to build a large portion of the homes in the Chapel Hill area and become quite
successful.
Randall A. McLeod, Jr. married Cornelia Celestia Grissom (who went by "Connie") on
June 17, 1950, in Durham, N.C. Randall and Connie McLeod owned and operated Piedmont
Printers in downtown Durham for many years. Randall A. McLeod Jr. died on February
20, 2017, and was buried in Old Bethesda Presbyterian Church in Aberdeen, NC.
Contents of the Collection
1. Pre-World War II Material
Scope and Content:
Series I contains correspondence from and to Randall McLeod during his time attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1939 to 1941., as well as records and correspondence from his time as the Chair on the Committee of Speakers for the International Relations Club from 1939 to 1941. Series I is divided into two subseries: Subseries IA: Personal Correspondence; and Subseries IB: UNC International Relations Club Materials.
Subseries IA: Personal Correspondence
Scope and Content:
The bulk of the subseries consists of letters Randall wrote to his mother Lucy McLeod while he was at college. Randall was assisting his mother with the construction of her new house in Chapel Hill, N.C., and involved in investing in timber land to help the family finances. These letters discuss topics many college students dealt with at the end of the Great Depression and just before the United States' entrance into WWII, including problems with money, grades, and home life. Randall also discusses his views of foreign policy.
Subseries IB: UNC International Relations Club Materials
Scope and Content:
This subseries contains correspondence, press releases, speaker schedule, and club
records, created and used by Randall McLeod while he served as the Chair on the Committee
of Speakers for the International Relations Club at UNC-Chapel Hill from 1939 to 1941.
In the turbulent political period of the early years of WWII, McLeod wrote to many
American politicians and foreign dignitaries, inviting them to speak at the Club in
Chapel Hill. McLeod received letters responding to his requests from many foreign
dignitaries, including several letters from embassies representing Axis powers prior
to their attack on the United States. Axis Powers' foreign embassies were hesitant
to accept McLeod's request to visit Chapel Hill as a guest speaker, due to the "international
situation" of WWII, as one letter put it.
Those diplomats who were hesitant or too preoccupied with the effects of WWII included
members of the Japanese embassy in Washington, D.C.; members of the Polish embassy
in Washington, D.C.; the German ambassador to the U.S. in Washington, D.C.; the British
ambassador to the U.S. in Washington, D.C.; the ambassador to the U.S. from the Union
of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR); French ambassador to the U.S. in Washington,
D.C.; and the Australian delegation to the U.S. in Washington, D.C. The Club's press
releases, speaker schedule, and club records, provide information relevant to the
operation of the Committee of Speakers for the International Relations Club before
WWII.
2. WWII Military Service Materials
Scope and Content:
Series II contains military records, handwritten service histories, correspondence,
telegrams, artwork, Indian currency, and miscellaneous materials, from Randall McLeod
during his military service in World War II. The bulk of the series is composed of
McLeod's correspondence home to his mother while stationed at various military training
camps and overseas from April 1943 to May 1946. Many of these letters were written
while he was stationed at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, at a time when McLeod was in and
out of the hospital for a number of illnesses and physical ailments. Another large
set of letters focuses on McLeod's time in the U.S. Army Specialized Training Program
at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., studying Chinese in 1943.
Perhaps the most unique set of items in the series are Randall McLeod's letters while
he was serving overseas in the China-India-Burma Theater (CBI Theater) from September
1945 to around March 1946. McLeod served first in India in the town of Kanchrapara;
later, with the Headquarters U.S. Forces, China Theater, in conjunction with Generalissimo
Chiang Kai-shek, the leader of the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China
(present-day Taiwan) during the Chinese Civil War. The letters focus on McLeod's desire
to visit and work in Shanghai, China; his requests to serve on the United Nations
Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA); and his successful journey to China
with the U.S. Army after V-J Day in 1945. The correspondence is a rare insight into
the daily life of the Indians and Chinese McLeod encountered, American perspectives
of Indians and Chinese, and the state of civil war in China involving the Communist
forces (see Box 3, Folders 3-7).
The series includes two service histories-one typed and one handwritten-created by
McLeod in 1945 before the end of his military service. It includes every camp and
military assignment he served, the dates he was at a given location, and details on
his health issues during the period from 1943 to 1945 (see Box 3, Folder 8). The most unique item in this collection is a November 24, 1945, pencil drawing
by Randall McLeod on a letter to his family, showing his U.S. Army tent in Kanchrapara,
India. The letter on the drawing details his unit's upcoming travel path to China
(see Box 3, Folder 12).
3. Post-WWII Materials
Scope and Content:
Series III contains letters, school records, and college club correspondence, from Randall McLeod's time as a post-WWII student at UNC-Chapel Hill beginning in 1946. The series is divided into two subseries: Subseries IIIA: Randall McLeod Personal Correspondence;
Randall McLeod Personal Correspondence
Scope and Content:
Subseries IIIA contains correspondence from Randall McLeod to his mother after his re-enrollment at UNC-Chapel Hill in 1946, following his return from WWII military service overseas. The correspondence also documents his time forming a new housing development company in Chapel Hill in 1947 called McLeod Homes, Inc. (believed to be run with his brother Ed McLeod). This company would go on to build a large portion of the homes in the Chapel Hill area and become quite successful. This business developed out of Randall's pre-WWII efforts to help his mother construct her own home in Chapel Hill.
UNC International Relations Club Materials
Scope and Content:
Subseries IIIB contains correspondence to and from various U.S. politicians and foreign dignitaries as part of Randall McLeod's role on the International Relations Club at UNC-Chapel Hill (which he had been a member of prior to his WWII service). McLeod requested the politicians' attendance as speakers for the International Relations Club during the fall 1947 school semester. There are also some Club records and materials from 1947 in this subseries.
4. McLeod Family Papers
Scope and Content:
Series IV contains correspondence, telegram, business letters, church missionary newsletters,
construction records, WWII ship launch invitation and passes, college speeches and
essays, and miscellaneous materials, from and to various members of the McLeod family,
including extended family on the side of Lucy Currie McLeod's family. The bulk of
the series consists of correspondence to and from Lucy McLeod between 1930 and 1953,
with the majority of it tied to her sons Randall and Ed McLeod's lives, school, finances,
and military service in WWII. Lucy McLeod's husband was a minister, as was her brother,
in Richmond, Virginia; a number of the letters are from Lucy's religious and family
connections with the Presbyterian Church of America. The series includes the original
handmade construction sketches and costs for the Lucy McLeod's new Chapel Hill house,
which the family worked to have built between 1941 and 1942.
Of particular interest are foreign missions' newsletters from 1938 in China, depicting
the political and military climate as the Japanese been taking over portions of the
country. The newsletters discuss the actions and control of the Japanese in China
(this connection with China likely connected Randall McLeod with involvement in college
international relations and his military service in China in WWII). Lucy McLeod had
a pecan farm that sold its product to various candy stores in North Carolina, and
there are letters related to her business dealings. As a businesswoman, Lucy McLeod
received invitations to attend in March 1943 the North Carolina Shipbuilding Company's
launch of the S. S. Jonathan Worth; this series includes two original passes for the ship launch. Also included here
are copies of Randall McLeod's International Relations Club speeches and essays from
1938 and 1939, as well as some graded college essays.
Subject Headings
Acquisitions Information
The collection was donated to the Military Collection at the State Archives of North Carolina by David B. Chiswell of West Jefferson, N.C., in September 2016.
Processing Information
All letters were organized chronologically according to the dates written on the letters or the post marks on their corresponding envelopes, grouped within acid-free archival file folders. Letters in envelopes were removed and flattened, to allow for better long-term storage and preservation. Any letters without envelopes or dates were approximately dated. Circa dates were written using pencil on the top of each letter by the collection's processor, using brackets to denote the information had been added. All envelopes with unique information or dates were photocopied as a preservation practice, and attached to each letter using an acid-free plastic clip. All envelopes were discarded after any necessary information was added in pencil to the letters.
Fragile documents and telegrams were placed in acid-free plastic photograph sleeves to stabilize them for better long-term preservation.