University of Virginia Library

Fifth War Loan

First to purchase a war bond in the Fifth War Loan Drive which
started June 12, 1944, just six days after the Normandy invasion,
was Lieutenant General Alexander Archer Vandegrift, Commandant
of the United States Marine Corps. The bond was handed to General
Vandegrift by Mrs. John R. Frizzell, Jr., who, like the general,
hailed from Charlottesville.[24] Keenly aware of the titanic struggle
in which fathers, sons, husbands, and brothers were engaged on the
coast of Europe, citizens as never before bought bonds, feeling that
thus they had a share in supplying the Monticello Guard as it fought
its way into France. Raymond Hunt, president of the Chamber
of Commerce, who served as campaign chairman, reported more E
bonds sold on the first day of the drive than in any previous day in
the history of the city.[25] In Albemarle County, C. T. O'Neill
headed the sales organization. Committees were set up; the Scottsville
Lions Club canvassed the southern end of the county, while
the Crozet Lions and the Greenwood Community League worked
in the western section.[26] The over-all quota for the community
was $2,700,000, but within ten days the first million was secured
and sales to individuals had passed one-third of the quota.[27]

One June 27 the Treasury Department's special war bond trailer,
containing an exhibition of captured German and Japanese battle
equipment, was parked from 6:00 to 10:00 P. M. in front of the

Paramount Theatre, where, on the following evening, “The Eve
of St. Mark” was shown as a War Bond Premiere.[28] On the thirtieth
a bond auction, similar to the one held during the fourth loan,
took place at Lane High School, but the attendance was poor. On
the Fourth of July the Crispus Attucks Post No. 62 of the American
Legion sponsored a parade on Main Street, followed by a war bond
rally at Washington Park.[29]

A feature of the Fifth War Loan Drive was the contest among
civic and fraternal organizations and the contest among industrial
plants. Each organization or plant had a war bond quota against
which it measured its sales. The record sale of 2,302 per cent of
quota made by the Kiwanis Club is hard to comprehend, but so are
the records of B'nai B'rith, 2,274 per cent, and the Rotary Club,
2,267 per cent. Industrial plant records were also impressive; the
leaders were Monticello Dairy, 789 per cent: Virginia Stage Lines,
750 per cent; and Southern Welding and Machine Company, 719
per cent.[30]

By July 3 the over-all quota was topped, but the E bond quota
of $475,000 was less than half subscribed. Continued effort
brought results, and by the end of July all quotas had been exceeded.
Total sales reached $4,669,053, almost two million dollars
over the quota, and the lagging E bond sales at last passed the
quota by over $17,000. Ben C. Moomaw, Jr., senior deputy
manager for the Treasury Department's War Finance Committee
for Virginia, wrote to Hildreth, “While the entire performance of
your committee in the Fifth War Loan Campaign is top-flight, your
sales of other [than E] bonds to individuals surpass anything that
has been done in the State in any of the war loan drives.” These
purchases in the county and city were $3,066,721.75, or $1,341,721.75
over the quota of $1,750,000.[31]