Military man in Austin H. Winn’s letters 131
Mentioned in letters as: Jack Sides, Jack, Jack S., Jock, Jace
Hometown friend from Cherry who grew up with Dad. His mother is Miss Josie Belle; sister Estelle Sides appears in the letters; later he is going with Evelyn McBride (Uncle Melvin’s daughter). Early 1943 Austin keeps asking for Jack’s address and hears he is “getting it pretty tough” in training. In June 1943 Jack writes that he is helping make the motion picture Guadalcanal Diary (letter censored). In September 1943 they meet in Los Angeles—Jack tells Austin “all about the Marines,” stays overnight, and rides back to the airfield for Sunday parade. By mid-1944 Austin believes Jack is in the Marshalls / Saipan fight. In March 1945, on the same Marianas island where Austin’s B-29 group is based, Jack turns up as a casualty in the base hospital about twenty-five miles away. Austin hitchhikes repeatedly to visit him, eats supper with him once he is off the serious list, and misses seeing him off when he is evacuated by air toward Hawaii or the States. By April–May Jack is back in the States, later reported at Millington and walking around Ripley; in July he is home on rest leave in Marine uniform (and a swimming suit), writing Austin from home. He survives the war.
Branch is clear from Dad’s own words: Marine Corps (Los Angeles visit, later “Marine uniforms”). Family confirmation matches the letters. Pacific timeline in the letters (training → Guadalcanal Diary work → Central Pacific islands → Marianas hospital casualty → air evacuation → Millington / home leave) is consistent with a Marine who fought in the Central Pacific and was wounded or otherwise hospitalized before war’s end—but the letters never name his regiment, division, or serial number.
A public search found Jack K. Sides of Birmingham, Alabama (Army Air Forces / ACG)—a different man who must not be used. ABMC WWII Memorial Registry search (last name Sides, U.S. Marine Corps) returns plaques for Glenn Sides, Harold Sides, and Perrilon Sides—not Jack. He survived the war (not on Tennessee NMCG casualty lists). No independent muster roll was found.
Primary source remains Dad’s letters plus family knowledge that he was a Marine from Cherry who grew up with Dad. No independent service plaque or muster roll found yet; unit and exact wound remain unknown.