World War II Letters: Thoughts on Values of Old Letters

A good friend told me today that she didn't see the purpose of the WWII entries in my blog and didn't understand that anyone would be interested except members of my family, because they would know personally the characters in the letters.  That comment made me wonder if history books on shelves all over the country might be of little or no interest or value, since people don't know the characters "personally."  The more I thought about it, the more I decided that personalizing the wider drama of war time only intensifies the background of world conflict when it is funneled down to a family and the smaller parts they play on the wider stage of world events.

My motive was to personalize that era of WWII through the eyes of a particular but not extraordinary family.  Anyone who wants to know the facts of that time can get a history book or find data on line....but to read actual letters by two young people whose lives have been swallowed up by those world events in sequence through the frightening and perilous period of 1941-1945 provides a sense of drama that can be touching but not found in any American history book.  I have not been able to find any other source of 127 actual letters through that time in any other place.  I believe that's what makes the project special.  The daily thoughts of ordinary people swept up by the war are as interesting as any battle facts.  Such things, at least for me, bring history to life and give it a human face.  THAT is my purpose.  Of course, I won't use all 127 letters, but the flavor of the ones I am using seems to be reaching people's interest and experience of war in the most universal sense.  The entries also speak of communication itself and the importance of personal letters, those relics of another time that have now all but been replaced by gang-mail, e-mail, texting, cell phone drivel, and anonymous greeting cards. All communication has value, especially when it represents some thread in the wider tapestry that connects us all in time of crisis or celebration.

Note Army Stamp on Lower Left Corner of this Envelope

WW II Letters: Dreams of a Vine-Covered Cottage, White Picket Fence, and Children, but a Girl First!

Mom was probably more a romantic than Dad was, but she dreamed of a vine-covered cottage with a white picket fence, a porch swing and kids everywhere.  I was surprised to see that Mom and Dad wanted to start their little family by having a girl, followed by boys.  This explains the stupid doll that was already there when I arrived in 1946, but I'm not sorry she was around.  The photo here is of my sister's first doll from 1953, but it's like the one that was purchased in anticipation of the first child being a girl named Sharon.  The doll made a good punching bag and got thrown across the room quite often during my childhood sessions of releasing tension before she and all my other toys were inherited by my younger brother and sister.  I honestly think Dad was glad to start the family with a boy, and it's probable that he had been going along with Mom's wishes just in order to appease her.  That's my guess (hope), anyway.

                                                                                                                    April 16, 1945
                                                                                                                    Monday afternoon

Dearest Mom and Dad,

     This is just going to be a short note to let you know that the sergeant and I are just fine, and I hope you and Dad are feeling tip-top.  A day never passes, that we don’t wish we could see you.  We miss you both so very much.

     Elwood and I are always making plans for the time when he becomes a civilian.  Naturally, like every other couple, we dream of the vine-covered cottage, children, and all the things that make life worthwhile.  We also decided that on Sundays you and Dad are to have dinner with us.  You can scream, pull your hair, and beat your heads against the wall, but we have made up our minds.

     It has rained for the past two days (dat-rat-it), but I still don’t see any May flowers.  Do you suppose somebody’s been kidding me?

     Madame, do you realize that in ten more days I will have been Mrs. E.J. Bolinger for four months?  Elwood and I had copies made of our marriage license.  I am sending one for you to keep for yourself.  I think it’s rather nice, don’t you?  

     Ah, through the window I can see one little Pussy Willow.  I will close for now.  Please let me hear from you soon.  I hope you hear from Eddie.  God bless you both.

                                                                                                       Your loving daughter,
                                                                                                                Bonnie B.

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

Word War II Letters: a Letter from Bonnie... Worries about Soldiers...Little Woes...

What fascinated me most about this entry was that Mom and Dad paid $35 a month for their rent and shared a house phone.  Mom became a kind of adviser to one of the wild teenage girls staying with an aunt at the house.  The girl's mother kept calling the house to get reports on the girl from my mother, who made an effort to reform the girl, though I don't know how things turned out eventually, as Mom and Dad were getting ready to move again anyway.  I also like the domestic details Mom put into her letters to her in-laws, with whom she was very close emotionally.

Almost every afternoon I sit with the boxes of letters, selecting some for posting on the WWII blog.  I enjoy that time, because it takes me back to an era before I was born, when my parents were just kids, really, struggling with finances, and a war that was bigger than anything else and consumed the time and thoughts of just about everybody.  As I read and transcribe the letters, I usually listen to music that my parents enjoyed at that time, The Dorsey brothers, Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Stand Kenton, Duke Ellington, and others.  If you haven't seen the previous entries with allusions to popular music of the early 1940's, please scroll down to the YouTube sites I have included, and enjoy some of those wonderful orchestras.

I think that any of us can learn about the details and sensory pleasures of the times in which our parents were once young.  The internet can take us to the music fashion, cars, politics, of the culture that was certainly a part of making the world what it is today.  I often think of D-Day on the beaches of Normandy, and how those men changed everything forever.  That liberation was pivotal to all the years that followed, and our parents were a part of all that, whether they were doing war work in the USA or in France, Germany, or in the Pacific.  God bless them all!

Pratt, Kansas Army Base During World War II

                                                                                April 10, 1945
                                                                            Tuesday afternoon

My dear Mom & Dad,

     Please forgive me for not writing to you before, but I haven’t been feeling up to par.  However, I’m feeling better now, and you shall hear from me more often.

     Gee, I’m sorry to hear you aren’t feeling well, Mom.  What seems to be the trouble?  I hope it isn’t anything serious.

     We haven’t heard from Eddie since the one letter I told you about.  You know I told Elwood the other day I thought Eddie was in Iwo Jima.  Then we received your letter telling us you thought so too.

     You’ll never know how glad we were to receive that money.  You see, Elwood was “red-lined” the last of the month and he didn’t get aid.  Because we have to pay $35 a month for rent, it really came in handy.  Thanks again.

     My, there is a terrible amount of wind and hail.  I’m just a little worried.  There were rumors of a cyclone yesterday heading this way.  Kansas is known for her tornadoes.

     By all means write to me at my room.  My address is 615 W. 3rd.  There is also a house phone, and you already have the number.  We all in the house share it.

     Did you have a nice time at Easter?  I know you were lonesome.  Saturday night I cooked my roast and then colored Easter eggs for the sergeant.  It seemed like we were home.  Last Friday night, Elwood was on C.Q., and he had to stay at camp all night, so I washed my hair,  ironed my clothes, and started to paint the kitchen.  Of course, I splashed paint all over the floor and had to clean it up with turpentine.  By this time it was one o’clock in the morning.  I heard the telephone ring and a woman wanted to know if her daughter Darlene was here, and the lady of the house said, “No.”  The lady persisted, despite my repeated response of, “No.”  Then she asked if her daughter Nadine was here, and I answered “No” again.  The poor woman was worried about her daughters, who were only fifteen and sixteen.  Two o’clock, three o’clock, and still no girls.  By this time I was getting tired, so I went to sleep.  At 7:55, the girls finally came in.  The only explanation Nadine gave was that three girls and three boys fell asleep on the highway.  I am quite disgusted with her.  She will not listen to her mother, her relatives or friends. So, her mother wanted me to talk to her daughter Nadine, because she said I was the only one her daughter would listen to.  I asked her daughter if she believed in God, and she said, “Yes.”  Then I asked if she went to church on Sundays, and her answer was once again a “Yes.” So, I said, “Well, why do you go to church, Nadine?  You don’t really believe in God, or you’d mind his commandment to obey your father and mother.  Aren’t you being a bit of a hypocrite?”  I told her that though God may not punish her directly, there was her brother to consider too, a boy fighting in France at the time.  I only hope I can help her.  She thinks everything she does is so clever.  If she could only realize what she is doing to herself and her poor mother.

   Enough of my tales of woe!  Please write soon.  I hope you feel better.  God bless you both.

                                                                                Your loving daughter,
                                                                                         Bonnie

World War II Letters: 2 Letters from Mom Mentioning Cousin Al, Killed in the War

Pratt Theater, Circa 1940s

  Mom and Dad enjoyed seeing movies together, and many of those films they introduced to us kids later on in the 1950's and 1960's, when those movies appeared on TV. One that Mom particularly enjoyed was JANE EYRE with Orson Wells and Joan Fontaine a movie Mom and Dad had seen together in 1944.

                                              February 12, 1945
                                                                                                  Monday evening

My dearest Mom & Dad,

     I don’t know how I can get your son to write to you, but I will try some drastic measure.

     Elwood got home early today, about eleven o’clock.  He also had a weekend pass.  The soldier next door had a beautiful birthday today, so Elwood and I decided to buy him a present.  So we skipped uptown and started looking for a nice present.  Elwood suggested a box of candy, and I said, “Oh, no!  That’s such a routine gift.  Let’s get him something out of the ordinary.”  I dragged the poor boy all over the place until I found something out of the ordinary, a box of candy...ye gads!!

     The couple next door, Elwood, and I went to the museum yesterday, then we went to a movie, RHAPSODY IN BLUE with Robert Alda and Alexis Smith, a very nice way to spend a Sunday, I think. (On the way, of course, I fell down the stairs and landed on the cement walk.  OUCH!).  It went with the movie we saw anyway.  I was black & BLUE.

     I received a letter from my mother today.  She hasn’t heard from my brother Ed since the 6th of January and is quite worried.  To top that off, Sunday evening, my mother’s sister got word her son is missing in action.  I think you remember my telling you about my cousin, Al.  He has a wife and two children.  It’s really getting close, isn’t it?

     Well, sweethearts, the couple next door want us to sing them to sleep, so for now, I’ll say good night.  Thanks a million for being so prompt with the money.  Write soon, and God bless you both.

                                                                                          Your loving daughter,
                                                                                                  Bonnie B



Dad was relocated to the base in Pratt, Kansas, where Mom would be joining him soon.  It was a nomad life being taken from one place to the next, and even in this country, Dad was not always allowed to reveal where he would be going next.  He and Mom longed for a stable life and a little home of their own.  Dad's next assignment was to be on the island of Guam in the Pacific.

March 7, 1945
                                                                                          Wednesday noon

Dearest Mom and Dad,

     This won’t be much of a letter, as I am in a very blue mood today.  You see, I just received word about my cousin Al, being killed in action.  Why, oh why do things like that have to happen?  He was one of the sweetest boys I have ever known.  His poor wife is completely lost...and he has two of the sweetest babies.  I feel just terrible about it.

     When our government check arrives, please send it to the Pratt, Kansas address, because I’ll probably be here until next winter.  I really don’t like Kansas, but as long as Elwood is here, that’s the main thing.  We are quite sure of a furlough by June.

   Do you know what?  Elwood and I will have known each other five years on April 3.   That’s really something, isn’t it?

     Elwood and I were so very pleased to hear from Dad, and the letter, my gosh did we laugh!  He should be writing Bob Hope’s material.

     My goodness, it’s cold here!  I guess I will have pork chops for dinner today.  It’s the first time I’ve been able to find any since I was in Hammond.  I made some homemade vegetable soup yesterday and I have a little left over, so I guess I will use that as an appetizer.  You should see the sergeant eat!  Honestly, I can’t believe it.  I don’t need to tell you it makes me plenty happy.

     Well my good people, me thinks I will say good-bye for now.  I shall try to make my next letter more cheerful.
       
                                                                                   Your loving daughter,
                                                                                               Bonnie

World War II Letters: Betty Grable

The Betty Grable poster of her showing off her beautiful legs was iconic during the war.  The image was found in generous numbers in every barracks, and it became a symbol of one of the things soldiers were fighting for, the beauty of home and having a sweetheart waiting somewhere for the guy to return home. There's a pert quality to the image that makes it very American, because it doesn't take itself too seriously.  Dad had a copy of the image in his trunk, and it went everywhere with him.  I think the picture said "home" to those guys.  After Mom and Dad were married, his Betty Grable poster disappeared, but I can't say who was responsible for that disappearance.  If I had to guess, I'd say that Dad disposed of it, as he was so happy being married to my mother, who was at least as beautiful as Grable, in a much more classic and understated way.

World War II Letters: Letter from a Pratt, Kansas Military Base

   Dickie was the son young son of Dad's twin brother Eddie and his wife Marge.  Dickie was a bright, handsome kid, who would die of leukemia only a couple of years later, but he was doted on by eveyone who met him, and he loved getting letters from his Uncle Elwood and Aunt Bonnie.

February 26, 1945
                                                                                        Monday morning

Dearest Mom & Dad,

     I just received your very welcome letter and I can’t tell you how glad I was to hear from you.  Elwood has been gone since Saturday morning, and I miss him terribly.  I am going to be here for another two weeks or perhaps less, so you can still write to me here for at least another week.

     I was certainly sorry to hear about Carl.  I do hope it’s nothing serious.

     I have received one letter from Eddie, but I think I told you about that.

     I knew you would be happy to hear that Elwood will be able to stay in the States another nine months to a year.

     Well, I have been Mrs. Bolinger two months today.  I can honestly say I have never been so happy in my life.  Elwood is the sweetest man on earth, and he belongs to me (and you).  Another couple went with us to a dance at the U.S.O. Thursday evening, and we really had a marvelous time.  You have seen U.S.O.’s in the movies,  but I think Lincoln’s has most of them beat.  It’s just perfect.

     How is my little boy, Dickie?  I have thought of him a lot.  Would you please send me Jess and Bee’s address, so I can write Dickie a few lines?

     How are Marge and Ronnie?  Not too lonesome I hope.  Before I forget, I had better give you the address of Elwood’s new base:

Sgt. Elwood J. Bolinger 15332148
630th Air Material Sqdn.
369th Air Service Group
Pratt, A.A.B.
Pratt, Kansas

You may now call me “Kansas City Kitty.”

Please write often, as I will really need your letters these next weeks.  God bless you both.  Your loving daughter,  Bonnie B

World War II Letters: Letter from Newly Married Bonnie Bolinger to her Parents-in-Law in Indiana

         It always amazes me how close my mother was to her in-laws, but they were very good to her and treated her as their own daughter.  Mom lived with them for a time, and the first pictures of me were taken by Grandpa B in their home, as Grandpa was something of a serious photographer.  Some of those photos i will post later.  In this letter, Mom was upset at the growing conflicts between some of the soldiers from two different units on the same base, where Dad was stationed in Lincoln, Nebraska before being sent to Pratt, Kansas.  There were apparently some actual fist fights, probably due to the high level of competition on the base, added to the beer that was available in the town at night.  Dad never had any problems that way but was surprsied at the number of other soldiers who went over the edge so regularly.  It was also a time of losses in the Pacific and other places.  News of who had been killed or lost in action must have been devastating to families back home.  In their letters, both my parents spoke of friends and family who had been killed in action. My Dad worried constantly about his twin brother Eddie, and Eddie worried about him too, especially when they were both in the Pacific later on.

February 1, 1945
                                                                                              Thursday afternoon

My dearest Mom & Dad,

     Don’t call the rent squad, it’s just your daughter-in-law writing you good people a few lines.  I have been trying to get your son to write a few lines to you, and I have every hope he will write you tomorrow.  At the present time, he is at camp.  He is also quite disgusted with this camp.  As you know, Elwood is in the Eighth Air Force.  The Second Air Force is also stationed at Lincoln Field, and they are only out for APO min.  There have been quite a few fights, so it’s really safer to stay home at night.  I can’t understand  “our boys” acting like that.  Of all the trouble in the world, and they have to fight over some petty jealousy.

     I have met some of Elwood’s buddies, and they are “kings.”  

     Elwood and I are going to the U.S.O tomorrow night to “cut a few rugs.” Destructive little devil, aren’t I?

     There are two other soldiers’ wives right next door to us.  One is very Southern.  I’ve heard so much “fer to stay,” I say it in my sleep.  the other gal is from Brooklyn.  Yipe!  What an accent (How da ya do, I’m sure, kids!).  All kidding aside, they’re both wonderful girls (I must have my joke, you know).

For Dad >  Look, handsome, why don’t you surprise me with a nice, long letter? So help me, I won’t say a word to anyone!  I’ll even quit wearing red finger nail polish - Boy, what a sacrifice!  I shall look forward to my first letter and SOON.  In the meantime, behave yourself.

                                                                                               Love,
                                                                                             Bonnie B

World War II Letters: a Good Marriage

Dad married Bonnie (my mom) on December 26, 1944.  After that he was stationed at the army base in Pratt, Kansas, where they had a little apartment but dreamed of owning a little cottage somewhere with a white picket fence covered by roses. Married for less than two months, they were still starry-eyed about being wed and seemed almost to worship each other.  Mom had been staying with Dad's parents, who thought she would be less lonely with them in their house in Northwest Indiana.  Dad's older brother Jesse was one of the witnesses and Dad's twin brother Eddie's wife Marge was another at the small, informal ceremony presided over by a justice of the peace.  It's hard to picture my parents as two kids in love, but I love reading about it.

        Feb 19, 1945
                                                                                        Monday
 Lincoln, Nebraska
 Time 1500 hours
 1600 hours your time
 (Your time is my time)

Dear Mom & Dad,

     I’m sorry I’ve written so often to you.  I guess you’re getting tired of reading so much of my mail, so I’ll quit writing so much.  Bonnie says, and I quote, “Hmmmm?”  5 letters!!!!  That’s what you owe Bonnie, she says.

     Well, how is everyone there at home?  I sure hope you are all right.  Bonnie and I couldn’t be any happier.  You can sure be proud of your new daughter.  I thought that before Bonnie and I were married that I knew her, but I can say now I didn’t.  She is so much sweeter than I ever dreamed.  She has done so many things to make me happy, and now we are in our own little heaven here on earth.  I don’t know how I was ever lucky enough to have Bonnie as my wife, because she is truly an angel.  Our home will always be one you can be proud of, just as your home has always been.  Mom, Bonnie is like you are.  You always said you had a temper, and she says she has one too.  I’ve never seen your tempers flying around loose.  If you see one, catch it for me.  I would like to see one.

     Bonnie told me how happy she was with you and how sweet you were to her.  She told me how you gave her the money she needed and had seen her safely on her way to me.  I’ll never forget that.  I knew I could count on you both.  If ever the time comes when I have to leave Bonnie again, and she ever needs anyone, I won’t worry because I know you’ll be there.

     Well, you know we both miss you, but maybe before very long we’ll be home on furlough again (We hope).  Bonnie says, “hello.”  I’ll close for now.  Be careful both of you.  God bless you and watch over you.

                                                                   Your loving son,
                                                                       Elwood

p.s.  Bonnie’s feet are cold.  What should you do for that?  Until I hear from you, I’ll make her wear shoes.