World War II Letters: FDR's Death

      Franklin Roosevelt died on April 13, 1945 of a cerebral hemorrhage.  His passing was deeply felt by a nation that had known him as their president for three previous terms, and FDR was in his fourth term, unprecedented in American history.  Though many resented his sympathy for the poor and down-trodden, he remained  in the minds of many a symbol of rescue from the Great Depression and the guide who led our country through the Second World War.  One has only to look at news reels of the train carrying his coffin from Warm Springs, Georgia back to Washington, D.C. that April and the crowds of mourners standing at railway stations and everywhere else to see the train pass.  Then one knows the power of this man in the American psyche, even now, whether he was disdained by the rich or not, his image still haunts those who lived during his presidency.  My parents both felt on some level his passing and wrote of their feelings in letters to Dad's parents.

In Dad's letter of  April 15 of that year, he included a dab of chocolate pudding Mom was making.  It's amazing to look at that little dab, still in the letter, of pudding that is sixty six years old!  Those days may have been the most carefree for my parents, though they didn't know it then.  My mother's brain tumor was yet thirteen years away, and her having to endure Dad's death from heart failure in 1986 and my brother's death from cancer in 2001, one of the final blows of her "golden years."

While thinking about the name Roosevelt this afternoon, I was also thinking about Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin's wife Eleanor's uncle, whose birthday was October 27, shared by my brother David. 

View this excellent YouTube video on FDR's death.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9B6J_z152cQ
 

April 15, 1945

Dear Mom & Dad,

     I guess you have given up hope of hearing from me. and I’m terribly sorry.  I never was much good at writing letters.  You know me.  I’ve been letting my Bonnie write the letters.  Well, how are you?  I sure hope you are both feeling swell.  Bonnie isn’t feeling to good today. She seems depressed by the president’s death. She sure is a sweet little wife.  You’ll never know how happy I am.  I sure wish we could get home to see you.  I don’t know just when we’ll get home, but we’ll be there soon, I hope.  I still don’t much like the 2nd Air Force.

    I’m back now.  I just went uptown to get some Coca Cola and hamburgers.  Bonnie is making chocolate pudding.  Wait, no she isn’t.  It’s DONE! (I don’t want to lie).  Do you want some pudding?  Really?  OK..... There you are.  Bonnie said you just had to take some.

    Well, what did you think when you heard of the President’s death? I was sure unexpected, wasn’t it?  But I think the pressures of the war killed him, like it has killed so many others over the past few years. He was President for almost as long as I could remember.  I was glad to hear that Truman was going to keep the same cabinet in Washington.  That will help a lot.  I sure hope this doesn’t prolong the war.  I can’t really stand the thought of another 2 1/2 years in the army!

     This letter is short, but I just wanted you both to know that even though I haven’t been writing, I love you, and I miss you terribly.  I’ll try to write once or twice a week from now on.  So long for now.  Be careful, and God bless you.

                                                                                                  Your loving son,
                                                                                                      Elwood

Tuesday afternoon
                                                                                              April 14, 1945

My dear Mom & Dad,

     I just got back from the store and found your letter waiting for me and decided to answer it right away.

     I washed clothes all morning.  It wouldn’t take me so long except that I have to do the washing by hand..

     Be sure to follow Dr. Yoder’s instructions to a T.  A stomach ulcer would be terrible, and tell Dad I’m proud of his being so considerate, eating his meals out (There goes a good kid.)
  
     Please tell Dickie how sorry I am for not writing to him and that I will try to very soon.  Tell him I think of him often, and give him a kiss from me.

     Thanks heavens there wasn’t a cyclone here, but it came very close.

      Are Aunt Dot and Uncle Danny coming out this summer?  If they come in July, I’ll be able to see them, because my honey will be in the South Pacific.  I just hate to face that fact.  If only he could get a furlough before going over there, but I’m afraid it’s out of the question.  Perhaps if we pray really hard, he’ll be ble to come home for a few days.  So please pray with me for that.  We have been so very happy, and now it looks like a two-year separation is in our future.  Elwood is quite blue over the whole idea.  However, I’m trying to keep him in a happy mood.  He is also trying to put up a great front for me.  He is so very sweet.

    I am also sad over the death of FDR yesterday.  He took the presidential oath of office when I was only seven years old, so he’s been our president most of my life.  He was a good man with much responsibility on his shoulders.  We will all miss him.

     Well, me fine in-laws, I think I will close for now, because the sergeant will be home “purty” soon, and I want to make some strawberry shortcake.  Be careful, and God bless you both.

                                                                                                   Your loving daughter,
                                                                                                              Bonnie