Digging through boxes of memories I happened upon this letter written to my Daddy in August of 1946. It was written to him from the Secretary of the Navy at the time – James Forrestal. It was obviously written upon his separation from his service in the United States Navy and even if it was basically a form letter it struck me that he saved it. I found it nestled in a box with other papers of importance and yes – it was an important thing to him. He did not see combat and was a pretty peaceful type of guy but his service, like the service of so many others, allowed our country to continue in its quest to provide a free country for us to all live in.
What a piece of wonderful history I have in my hands, don’t you think? My life is so full right now and adding all of these wonderful items from my family is such an amazing thing. I just don’t have words to express how much these items mean to me. They provide a link to the past.
Grateful for the past and the link it has to my present and future – life is such an amazing journey. What is your link to the past that makes you realize how the past affects your present and future? Leave me a comment and Comment for a Cause for AAUW Scholarships for Young Women.
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Leave a commentHow wonderful that you have this! I’m so glad that you have those boxes of treasures, and look forward to you sharing many of the items with us.
Thanks, Dianna. It has been pretty neat to look through the items I brought back. This one was one that definitely needs to be preserved, don’t you think?
A sterling piece of history….and personal history. My mother would have been about the same age as your Dad and she was always so proud of America’s victories in WWII and her service men and women. Thank you for sharing- I think this is a good way to preserve your box of family treasures- by posting on your blog!
I think you are right about this being a great way to preserve them by sharing certain things here on the blog. There was defintley a sense of patriotism and pride during this time and this letter reflects it completely. Thanks as always for stopping by.
This is an a amazing piece of your family history and definitely must be saved I found the letters my mom wrote to my dad when they were “courting” as they used to call it. They were very enlightening and made me look at my mom in a different light. They are safely with my daughter now.
Thanks, Darlene. I love that your daughter has those letters. I have all the letters Chris and I wrote to one another and I need to weed some of those out and work on saving some of the better ones. 🙂
Mom may have wished she weeded some of her letters out but I’m so glad she didn’t as they paint a very real picture of her as a young woman. It makes me love her even more (if that’s possible)
So amazing! You truly have so many treasures on your hands now! Hope you find a way to save everything in a way that the next generation can enjoy too!
Thanks, Susi. I am not sure how I am going to exactly go about doing this but I hope to be able to make a dent in it after the wedding.
Your heart must have swelled with pride upon reading that letter to your daddy. Our fathers’ generation was truly a great one. I can’t wait to see what you decide to do with your family treasures.
It was such a great moment when I found that letter. He had saved quite a few very interesting documents and letters and I am working my way through them and hope to preserve them somehow. We live in such a great time when we have so many options of how to preserve memories.
What a treasure. I treasure the letters my dad wrote home to his family while serving on the frontlines in Korea.
I loved reading all the things you have shared from your dad’s time in Korea. It was quite a time and you have so many wonderful letters and photos that should be preserved not only for the family but just for the history of things.
Not only was this a piece of family history but historical also. What wonderful things you are founding in your boxes.. You have much to be proud of.
Thanks, Shirley. It’s been fun!
My folks were married in 1940 but in 1939 my mom had the opportunity to go to the World’s Fair in NYC. She found that her future husband, my dad, had tucked letters into her suitcase – one for each day they were apart. They are written in pencil and dad found them in the safe after mom died. They are tender and romantic and beautiful. It started a tradition in my family. When David and I are apart we put daily notes to find. When the girls went to camp, they always found a set of notes from us. Cori sent Robert to camp for the first time this summer and she put sweet notes in his backpack. I love traditions!
Love, love, love this! I still have all of the letters that Chris and I wrote to each other over the years but I need to sort through some of those. Don’t want the boys to read them. 🙂 I do often slip notes into Chris’s suitcase when he travels and I did put notes in the boys’ lunches when they were little. One thing I did with my mom was hide notes around her house when I went to visit her —I miss being able to do that with her now but I still send her weekly letters and notes and cards even if she doesn’t really realize they are from me at times. Thanks for sharing your traditions.