Falmes? Here ya go...
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."
I want you to know that I am praying for you and your husband.
May God be with you all!
And may Tillie rest in peace now in reunion with her beloved in the very presence of God!
We have my parents letters for the entire time dad was in the service...over four years. South Pacific: New Caledonia, BEEack. Army Aire Corps Supply depot. Came out as a Major.
They wrote daily, but received them in various order, so they are numbered....The trunk is under a sofa table. Dad keeps thinking we’ll get into it, but those I’ve brought out puts him in a funk...It’s just too hard on him.
THose leters are our treasures.
Falmes? Here ya go...
Indeed they are.
I remember those times. We had many cousins in the Pacific. One cousin lost 2 ships he was on. We wrote silly letters telling them whatever came to mind that has funny.Mom and our aunts sent many baked goods and other things. One cousin wrote the fruit cake arrived sometime in late spring, I remember that. He saved it and brought it back, it was like a brick and still had mold on it. Yes, in those days Americans were “all in the war and war effort”.
You’d be surprised what you can do, Billie. When times are tough, tough people rise to do what’s necessary.
Thank you for sharig those long ago moments. It’s nice she’s with her soul-mate for eternity now.
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