Photograph of gravestone by Tonya & Keith Tetidrick from Find A Grave
Ralph C. Yegerlehner was the first child of Samuel Albert Yegerlehner and his wife Esther Mary Zurcher. He lived and died in one day. Samuel was my grandfather’s oldest brother so Ralph would have been his first nephew. My grandfather would have been about 13 years old when Ralph died. Ralph was also the first grandchild for John Henry and Lovina (Schiele) Yegerlehner. There must have been so much joy and anticipation surrounding this birth and it ended so tragically.
Ralph is buried at St. Peters Cemetery on the Clay County & Owen County line.
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- June 29, 1942 Envelope
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- June 29, 1942, p. 1
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- June 29, 1942, p. 2-3
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- June 29, 1942, p. 4
Letter transcription:
Mon Eve
Dear Mother,
To begin with-no I didn’t tell Dorothy anything about not moving. I did say under the circumstances it probably would be better if you stayed there-because I might be shipped out 2 weeks before the appointed time and that would be too late for you to travel etc. but I didn’t say the moving deal was definitely out.
Mr. Strole is to get 2⁰⁰ out of the check and that is all. Ira wanted me to let him know when it came in so he could make a collection but that can be forgotten.
I got 3 letters from you today two this A.M. and one this P.M. none Sat. You see the mail is delivered in
(page 2) the P.M. and there is no Sat. delivery so that makes the difference.
Don’t let what people say about us moving or not moving get you down of course it gets the best of one but skip it. Ignore the whole situation. If things look like we can we will.
Dr. Ganey a Dentist recently had a[n] appendectomy-after leaving the hospital he got a 10 day leave and during that time they moved then after he was back 2 days he got order to leave so there you are. Maybe after July 1 the end of the fiscal year we will know
(page 3) something. I haven’t done anything about the flight business because it may not be what its cracked up to be but I still haven’t decided definitely either way.
Haven’t talked to or showed Mrs. E the pictures yet. She got her letter today I saw it in the mail but haven’t got any responses yet.
We didn’t do anything yesterday but sit on the front porch-then read + listened to the radio. Jim went home about 3:00 oclock.
I’ve got to get some laundry this eve. I’m all out of socks.
Maybe I told you this job. There are 12-15 new (jg)s coming in in
(page 4)the next few days. The boys who have just finished their internships-so that might make a difference on what our standing might be.
Well I must get after that laundry and mail this on the way.
Love Daddy
Genealogy Lady 
How tragic to lose a child as an infant. I imagine there was a lot of anticipation leading up to his birth, but it is also likely that parents fought the urge to feel strong emotional attachments when child mortality rates were so high. I hate to say it, but when my daughters were born 3+ months early, I remember how detached I felt at first, probably largely due to trauma but also as a coping mechanism.
I definitely agree with you. I saw part of a documentary on Death and the Civil War a few months ago. At that time attitudes towards death were much different. Death was very much a part of life because of high mortality rates of childhood and deadly diseases. I would also bet that Ralph was probably born at home on the farm so if complications did occur, it would have been a long trip to the nearest hospital. My grandfather was born at home 13 years earlier. When he needed to get an official birth certificate, his sister Ruth had to swear an oath that she was there to witness his birth.
I thought about your Wednesday’s Children when I was reading Kate Atkinson’s Life After Life because it highlights how precarious childbirth was/is. The main character is stillborn, then the scene begins again, but the doctor arrives “in the nick of time,” and she survives. Just wanted to mention it!
Yes, it was too early for him but this was around the time the program started to come around as you say. Old Man Jack always talked about these “60 day wonders” when he was stationed out on the islands from ’43-on. Quite hilarious the way he told them. 😉
I would have loved to hear some of those stories!
I am trying to get around to them…but the holidays made that quite undoable! 😉
He mentions “JG’s”. At this time – as the US military had shrunken and was unprepared for war – the Navy began pumping out “60 day wonders”. These mostly college graduates were taught navigation, gunnery and geneal seamanship – all in 60 days then put out into the war. If you were an “Ensign JG” or a “Lieutenant JG”, you were likely a 60 day wonder. Sadly, many seasoned vets were much older and had possibly been in combat before so these JG’s were at a disadvantage.
I know it was too soon for the V-12 program to have started, in June 1942. My grandfather was also a “JG” when he started. I don’t know what basic training he received, if any. The Of Ships and Surgeons blog posted this article recently, http://ofshipssurgeons.wordpress.com/2012/12/21/i-love-archivists-again-the-navys-ww-ii-v-12-medical-program/