WWII – amelia’s narratives

Short Story – WWII Letter

02/05/1945

Dear Archie,

I know I have not written to you in a while, I had to get new envelopes. I hope this letter finds you in good health, and you need not worry about myself, I am safe and on rest now. I am currently in the hospital with minor wounds but I’ll be able to come home and see you once I am all healed; thank you for writing to me, I miss you so much. I have been thinking about you a lot. I know Christmas has just passed and I hope you are well and enjoyed the holiday. I was just informed that we are not allowed to write detailed experiences, due to the postal censorship, but I want to tell you what I have been faced with.

It was on the 24th, and we were stationed in Ardennes when we were called to fight. We fended off the damned Germans in a fierce last attack, and came out victorious! I must say, I was worried because I had heard shouts and explosions around me— but we were able to pull through. Though, it was not without minor cuts and bruises (my doctor said that I may have to amputate my leg but that’s neither here nor there, as is my leg hahaha).

I try to make light of it now, for we cannot change the past, but I fear I will be forever haunted. I make the light I cannot see. I cannot lie to you, dear friend, I believe I am irredeemable. Yes, all is fair in love and war, but taking a life changes you in a great numerous ways. The only way to survive was by always having a gun in hand, even at night when sleep should have protected you. Some nights, I wake up in a cold sweat… the blood, and smell of burning flesh and sound of gunfire and bombings… that last battle. I did come out of it alive and half-well, but others did not. My friends… my brothers in arms fell like flies in the night sky to the blaze of fire. By day I am able to smile and go about life as if I am free from the looming threat of battle, but by night I become terrorized once more. I can never forget the smell of burning flesh. The loud explosions. It pains me to admit that I cannot even celebrate in the nights festivities because of the loud noise. Too much remembrance comes about when the nights’ shadowy fingers grasp my conscious. Our trek back home was not much better. Heavy snow fell— cold and treacherous. My friend who had also been injured—but more gracious than I— had to be carried, and I was the carrier.

Do not fret, my comrades and I who had survived made it back and we are all in recovery. Every day I am grateful that I am still alive. Please send my regards to my family and friends and tell them of the good news of my homecoming! Write back to me soon before I get back (don’t forget, especially with that terrible memory of yours). I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

James Valley

WWII Love Letters

In listening to some love letters between a soldier from WWII and his lover, I was able to understand the true connection and love behind words. I felt as if this was the type of relationship that was needed during this time; something where you can hold on to physical letters, having the ability to always look back on the thoughts that someone had written down. Love letters are different than regular letters, where you would just write down simple things going on in your life or how you are doing. With letters between you and someone you love, emotions pour out and the two express their pure thoughts about the other, being completely vulnerable. I admire how open Chris was towards Bessie and how he said anything that was on his mind. I wish I heard more with how Bessie felt, but besides that I felt like they both equally expressed their love and understanding with each other. Even though they met through writing to each other, they still insisted on getting married, which worked out well anyways. It just goes to show that you do not ned physical conversation nor touch to fall in love. It’s amazing how people can fall in love through exchanging letters and having the strong trust in one another to be faithful and wait to one day be together. I wonder how many relationships had lasted in WWII with people who were fighting.

WWII Japanese Internment Camp Letters to Clara Breed

3 points: the children sent letters to Clara Breed and felt safe enough to talk to her about their experiences in the camps, expressing how they felt (ex. some children complained how they were only allowed showers for 2,000+ people. sometimes they didn’t have access to basic food, like dairy, eggs, butter… there were some schools that were created so that the children could learn during this time, so they were grateful for that and grateful to miss breed for giving them books, responding to them.). The letter i specifically read was from Christmas Day and Hisako Watanabe’s brother, Jack, didn’t have any toys for Christmas and the books that Clara Breed gave made up for the loss of joy during their time in internment. Clara Breed helped the children and young adults by sending letters and assisting with requests for supplies and advocating for activism, which is very admirable and something to emulate. Clara breed was simply a librarian at San Diego Public Library, and when she saw that there were children in need of help, she was one of the few people that Japanese American young adults and children looked up to and sent letters to.

2 questions: Reading the letters that the children wrote makes me question just how the exectuive order was able to pass in the first place. While I understand that the Japanese were fighting alongside the Nazis (Axis power alliance) I don’t recall having seen this occur in other instances of history… where the U.S. imprisons American citizens that just happen descend from a country in which we are fighting a war against (ex. this has never happened to the British citizens during the War of 1812, or Spanish citizens during the Spanish-American war). While this may just be attributed to racism, it is just utterly mind-boggling. I had read that Eleanor Roosevelt had tried to persuade FDR against passing the executive order, but even then he continued to let it pass.

Another question which came to mind during the readings was I wonder what it was like for Clara Breed to receive so many letters from these children’s. It must have been emotionally and mentally distressing to read what the children were going through, especially when she received letters from such a numerous amount of children. Her way of comforting them was solely through books, and perhaps this helped give her some piece of mind that they could live some semblance of a normal childhood. But I know for myself that reading through these letters caused my heart to ache, knowing that these innocent children had to suffer and experience such trauma out of the irrationality of the U.S. government… and knowing how I personally felt I can’t imagine how Clara Breed or the children felt during that time.

1 aha moment: these letters gave great insight into what it was like to be a child living in the internment camps. While in a regular history class you can learn the facts of internment and the hrrible conditions that Japanese Americans had to live through just for being a different race during WWII, the letters written by children help emphasize just how cruel the Internment camps were. Children are not prone to lying, and are often uncensored with their thoughts. Their complaints about food, showering, and their lack of toys help to reaffirm the tragdey that was Executive Order 9066.