SOMEWHAT OFF TOPIC:
My husband and I have spent the last two months going through forty-six years of accumulated ‘stuff’ in our basement. We have been selling some things on ebay and craigslist, have given some things to friends and family, and have taken several SUV-loads to Goodwill.
Among the things we uncovered during this process is my Dad’s World War II Navy footlocker. Inside were three sets of woolen blues, covered in mildew and stains, a set of whites with many rust-like stains on it, and several of his books and manuals, including his Blue Jacket’s manual with a photo of my Mom -- who is now 93, but was apparently quite a looker back then :) -- taped inside the front cover.
We also discovered a personally typed and signed letter (complete with an erasure correction) :) from James Forrestal, then Secretary of the Navy, which reads:
_________________________________
I have addressed this letter to reach you after all the formalities of your separation from active service are completed. I have done so because, without formality but as clearly as I know how to say it, I want the Navy’s pride in you, which it is my privilege to express, to reach into your civil life and to remain with you always.
You have served in the greatest Navy in the world.
It crushed two enemy fleets at once, receiving their surrenders only four months apart.
It brought our land-based air power within bombing range of the enemy, and set our ground armies on the beachheads of final victory.
It performed the multitude of tasks necessary to support these military operations.
No other Navy at any time has done so much. For your part in these achievements you deserve to be proud for as long as you live. The Nation that you served at a time of crisis will remember you with gratitude.
The best wishes of the Navy go with you into civilian life. Good luck!
_________________________________
I don’t quite understand why my Dad would have received this (he was a simple aviation Radioman First Class), yet I cannot imagine that singularly typed letters were sent to all military personnel once they were discharged. But whatever the reason for its existence, I am proud to have it in my possession.
There is just something wonderfully unique to that period embodied in this letter. The pride in our armed forces, the appreciation of their sacrifice by their leadership and their countrymen, and the personal show of gratitude by their highest leader, are aspects of being an American, during both wartime and peacetime, that have somehow found themselves eroded over each ensuing decade.
We also found a regulation letter from Harry Truman, and several other Navy documents which I have now framed.
Over the last month I have matched the paint of the footlocker exactly and given it two brand new coats of paint, while preserving the numbers stenciled on the sides. I’ve taken the uniforms to the dry cleaner and he did a miraculous job of bringing them back to almost ‘good as new’.
I decided to display some of these items in a corner of our dining room. We had a glass-enclosed case made in which to hang the uniforms, and are displaying the framed documents next to it above the refurbished footlocker.
Rediscovering all of this has brought many mixed emotions. I am very proud of my Dad in countless ways, not the least of which is his service to his country. It saddens me deeply that these items that were once so meaningful to him sat in a musty footlocker for nearly seventy years before being rediscovered. And I am deeply ashamed that I never asked him very much about his service, and his experiences during, and thoughts about, the war ... when I had the chance to do so.
I am hoping this belated recognition of his service will in some way make up for my neglect to do so when he was with us. As a result of finding and displaying these items, I have already had an opportunity to talk about him with several groups of friends who have visited … made possible by their interest in the items. In that way we are being allowed to somehow make our wonderful memories of him live on and touch the lives of others. |
