Posted on 11/06/2001 5:42:32 PM PST by illstillbe
... but do it we must. I left what money I could under my sock drawer ... saving it, I was, for our trip ...but use it as you need it.
Neal, down at the pharmacy, will see that you have what you need. I talked to him. Keep your rations safe. I know you will take care of the children."
So begins the very first letter written to my Mother-in-law from her husband at the beginning of his involvement in the Pacific theater during WWII.
What follows is a tapestry of courage and commitment and fortitude which should bring us to our knees ... as each tried to buck up the other ...
"Dear Tillie ... I've not had much sleep ... but what I had brought me home to the great USA! I hope you get this ... packages are going out badly. Bobby ... did he make the cut?"
He wasn't getting much sleep because his ship was under attack ... and later sunk .... but I digress ...
Meanwhile ... Bobby made the cut for football ... but Madeline contracted polio ....
"Tillie, got your letter ....finally! .... Bobby made the cut! The guys gave a cheer! The season is long over, I know ... but it was cheered news. I am worried about our Maddy ...sounds like a nasty cold ... hope she is feeling better. Wish I could be there to give you a hug ... I miss you more than you know ... we are off again ... do not know if I will be able to write for a while ..."
He wasn't able to because the Helena sunk like a rock and he was lost at sea for 5 days ....
"Till ... I am so tired, but happy to get your letter. I have read it over and over again! Uncle Boliver would tell me to put it down... I have read it so many times. Our Maddy ...how's she feeling?!"
Maddy had died .... but my Mother-in-law never told him until he came home.
Instead ..."Till ... what's my Maddie-Girl up to?!"
"She's happier than can be, my heart. Rest easy ... hope you get this ..."
So.
The war should be over by now?!
Our sights are short?
We've no patience ... as the remains of the World Trade Center still smoulder....
We are all so very honored, I think ... to be living in these times ... we're a part, we are, of an elite group ~~~~ Citizen Soldiers ... each of us ...
Our President:
"Every American is a soldier ... Every Citizen is in this fight."
The scene was vivid in my memory ... and I wondered how many of those healthy and strong young men would ever come back to our shores ever again ... such was this war .... years ... we knew it would be years ...Bill Gilbert .... author of the song Over There ....
LOL! I am still delving in to my M-i-l's stuff ... she saved everything ....
redrock
Hope you will be able to share more at a later date.
In a few short weeks, we will be back on home ground with my parents celebrating Christmas and then my dad's 80th birthday. We will NOT let this opportunity go by without drawing out all we can from their war experiences so that we can take strength from their story.
Meanwhile, back home, my Dad received an honorable discharge from the army because of injuries received during training. He & Mom got married October 5th, 1944. Grandma wore black to the wedding because they had the audacity to get married while her two brothers were overseas; the memory of that pains Mom to this day.
Ken suffered from shell-shock for years (that was before we had fancy-schmancy terms like "post-traumatic stress syndrome.") He NEVER talked of his experiences until a couple of years ago when my niece was writing a report on WWII & asked to interview him. He decided it was finally time to tell his story......
I, too, have no patience with the "why is this taking so long" crowd. If we're going to do this thing, it must be done well. It must be done right. It can't be rushed.
Thanks for the post Sweetie.:)
Great words of encouragement and exhortation... then, and now!
Having read of your time with m-i-l, been waiting for you to post this. So happy for you, and your loved ones, to have these treasures.
How well I remember the days of which these letters speak. There were often dark days of news, especially when a blue star was replaced with a gold one on the banner hung in the windows of the homes of many American families. There was a pall over the neighborhood for a time when the father of my friend who lived next door was killed as a Marine on Guadalcanal.
Visiting soon after, my friend's mom said... "now, now, papa would not wish you to be sad. He died in order that you might live and that you would do so with joy, not sadness". With her own heart breaking I'm sure she could encourage us to go and do our best.
Certainly the happenings of this era should drive "us to our knees" as well.
May the Lord bless you and yours richly.
I read it with tears in my eyes.
Oh, where did I put that box of tissue...
bump!
How well they respond will be a reflection of their upbringing. The letters to Tillie demonstrate the sacrifices and deprivations that generation was willing to endure for the greater good. My f-i-l went to the Army and became a bomber pilot despite having a wife and infant daughter to support; my father joined the Navy immediately upon graduating college and was shipped to the South Pacific. The folks at home tried to use their ration stamps wisely, as they tended their victory gardens. My mother waited in line for hours to get her family's ration of "oleo" or sugar, while her girlfriends drew fake stocking seams down the backs of their legs, because no one could get the real thing.
My generation has never suffered deprivation, nor has the current crop of 20-somethings. I hope our materialism and self-centered contentment will not be an obstacle to victory in this war.
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