O'Connersun
03-07-2007, 03:32 PM
The following lines are taken from letters written by a young lady to her future husband during WWII (Nov 1943). Some 4 boxes of correspondence was recently donated to a museum who asked me to help sort thru them. I thought this was particularly interesting.
"Eugene arrived home on Monday last. He surely looks and acts different. Not as gay yet older, older than 20. He and Papa went hunting today and Papa was unusually quiet at supper. Eugene bragged on Papa's shooting and Papa would just smile. I sense they talked about North Africa. Still, they had a sack full of birds and Bell almost collapsed when they came home."
"Papa gave Eugene a new gun for a coming home present. I went with him to Augusta to get it. It is a Smith, like Papa's but in twenty gauge. Papa got two cartons of shells too and he was tickled to get them. He doesn't complain, just says the boys need bullets more than him."
I knew this family. Eugene fought in Africa and came home for leave before going to England. He landed with the Rangers on D-Day and was killed on June 6. The family never talked much about him while his parents lived but since then, especially with these letters, they have. Eugene's gun, a L.C.Smith LW 20gauge, which he only used around Thanksgiving of 1943 is now owned by his nephew. It has not been fired since 1943 and is the prettiest little Smith I have ever seen.
BTW, Eugene is buried on that bluff over the beach at Normandy, in the field of white crosses and stars.
"Eugene arrived home on Monday last. He surely looks and acts different. Not as gay yet older, older than 20. He and Papa went hunting today and Papa was unusually quiet at supper. Eugene bragged on Papa's shooting and Papa would just smile. I sense they talked about North Africa. Still, they had a sack full of birds and Bell almost collapsed when they came home."
"Papa gave Eugene a new gun for a coming home present. I went with him to Augusta to get it. It is a Smith, like Papa's but in twenty gauge. Papa got two cartons of shells too and he was tickled to get them. He doesn't complain, just says the boys need bullets more than him."
I knew this family. Eugene fought in Africa and came home for leave before going to England. He landed with the Rangers on D-Day and was killed on June 6. The family never talked much about him while his parents lived but since then, especially with these letters, they have. Eugene's gun, a L.C.Smith LW 20gauge, which he only used around Thanksgiving of 1943 is now owned by his nephew. It has not been fired since 1943 and is the prettiest little Smith I have ever seen.
BTW, Eugene is buried on that bluff over the beach at Normandy, in the field of white crosses and stars.