Category Archives: Yegerlehner

Getting settled

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As with any new project, there are lots of things to consider while executing the long term goals. In the case of my grandparents’ letters, there are some basic logistics to consider.  There are hundreds of letters that I wish to share with family, friends and the world.  My first step is to organize the letters into a presentable format for publication.  I have sorted the letters by the individual writer. In some cases, there are more writers and recipients than my grandparents. Occasionally I have found a letter written to my uncles or letters written by them to their father. There are also the rare letters from an additional family member or friend. I have separated out these letters for the time being. I will place the letters back into their chronological context at a later point. The next step is to put the remaining letters in chronological order. Many of the letters are not dated. The only clue I have to go by is the postmark on the envelope.  This is not always helpful either.  Since my grandfather often wrote one or two letters a day, I sometimes have to stop and read each letter to see if there is contextual evidence that will place one letter before the other. The post office didn’t always sort the letters chronologically either so sometimes an earlier letter has a later postmark.  Some of the postmarks are illegible or missing. I will definitely have my work cut out for me with those letters.

Another aspect of this project is the long term preservation of the original letters. I don’t currently have the backing of a major archive to help me do this. What I can do in the short term is open up each individual letter and unfold them. The fold lines are one of the areas in which wear and tear can break down the paper. Storing the letters flat will help preserve them as well.  I am also placing each letter into a protective sleeve. This will limit their exposure to handling. Once the letters are scanned and transcribed, I am putting them back into their protective sleeves and storing them in binders for easy access.

One day, I hope to donate the letters to a suitable institution that can more properly preserve them for posterity and future World War II scholars. But not until I have read and savored them all.

Letter transcription:

Sat.

Dear Mother,

Just got home and not feeling so hot. Took shot for typhoid & smallpox. As yet I haven’t gotten any mail from home so your letters must be somewhere in the mixup. We may try to move tomorrow to a Hotel across the bay it will be a little more reasonable only $1.25 per day.

I had to go to to work this A.M. at 7:30 but and home at 4:00 so that isn’t bad. I think we should arrange for you to come down at least for a visit and to look the place over. I think I could get an X gas card and sent it to you so you would have no trouble. You would have to make it in two or three days because it is very near 1,000 miles – 970 to be exact

(page2) at least that is what I got paid for. And I wrote a check today for 15.80 for the insurance. It is to be taken out each mo. But it is such a short time until I’ll be 38 that they didn’t have time to take it from my pay.

There are lots of interesting things to see here and it rains almost every P.M. This is the first day it hasn’t but from the way it looks it will before long. There are numerous airplanes in the air both night and day and anti air craft guns can be seen at various places as well as lots of search lights crisscrossing at night. Down along Virg. Beach cars must dim their lights. We went driving and a cop came up and invited us to turn on our dimmers (we did)

(page 3)I’m not used to navy life as yet. Just as soon as I got the uniform every one under me saluted me and I wasn’t sure of what to do but I guess we’ll learn that as time goes by. You got my address in the last letter in case you didn’t-

Lt. (jg) MC V(S) RS Yeg—

Unit “A” Dispensary N.O.B.

Norfolk, VA

The time of a complete change of clothes seem to be gone I’ve worn the same shirt now three days and the same underware 2 days. At the base it takes 10 days to get laundry and up town it is so high. The only thing I’ve changed my socks daily – can’t stand it otherwise. I had to get some sock – must wear black or brown

(page 4)I bought six pair at the ships service for $1.50. They really are a bargain. Everything is cheaper there than up town.

I’m going down to the Y. tonight to see if there is any mail.

I haven’t had a chance to write to anyone yet but the folks. Maybe if we can find a better room tomorrow we can become more settled. And get on a definite schedule.

If you see any of the Rotary Club thank them again for the pen, I don’t know of any other thing they could have given that would have been more useful.

I realize that this is pretty choppy but it’s just the things that came to me. Maybe I can do better tomorrow,

Love Daddy

©2012, copyrighted & written by Deborah Sweeney

Setting goals

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Since I started my blog last week, I have been waking up every morning with my mind brimming over with ideas about what to write. There are so many fascinating stories about my family that I have been collecting for years.  I have this overwhelming urge to tell them all at once. The logical part of my brain keeps telling me to be patient.  The stories will all come out eventually. Another part of my brain keeps flitting about.  There are so many things to do in order to organize and to preserve my family’s history.  There are all the photographs that need to be sorted through, all the letters that need to be read, more hints to follow on Ancestry, binders of correspondence and research to cull and reorganize, update my Facebook page, and now, write a blog.  I think I am getting overwhelmed just re-reading that last sentence. Focus Deborah! I want to shout at myself. So as I take a moment to breathe, I focus on: why am I writing a blog? Two of my goals in writing a daily blog are to 1) get into the habit of writing every day and 2) share the letters that my grandparents wrote.

One of the things that I enjoy about reading articles and history websites is that it seems like historians are always finding new treasures to explore and analyze. My grandparents had five grandchildren. From the five grandchildren, there are now ten great grandchildren.  Soon some of those great grandchildren will begin to get married and have their own kids. Since I was the daughter of my grandparent’s youngest son, my children aren’t anywhere near that point in their lives. I did not know my Yegerlehner cousins very well when I was growing up.  We lived in different states, a thousand miles apart.  I only ever saw them at one or two Christmases or briefly during summer vacation when I was little and then later, at my grandparents’ home in Florida.  This part of my family has been slowly drifting away from each other for the last twenty years, if not longer.  In the mid 1990s, I made contact with two of my cousins.  We exchanged letters for awhile to catch up on who was married, who had kids, etc.  Then my cousin Becky died in 1998. She was 38 with two young sons.  And the drift resumed.

Eventually the descendants of Roscoe and Gladys (Foster) Yegerlehner will drift apart so much that we won’t really know that we exist anymore.  Some future descendant from one of my cousin’s branches will be searching around for information about his or her ancestors, and what will they find? (I must note that if any descendant of mine fails to discover anything about our family tree, it won’t be because I didn’t try!) For years, my father read biographies on every United States president.  He once quipped that he would never forgive Martha Washington for burning all the letters that she and George wrote.  What would historians be saying today about our country’s history without the letters written between John Adams and his wife Abigail? I use the Adams letters as an example as I would never presume to say that my grandparents were as historically important.  My grandparents were everyday people, living in extraordinary times. Their letters make up one tiny piece of a much larger puzzle.

With this blog, I will share parts of myself so my children will know what was going on inside my head, all those many times they were orphaned by the family’s history; I write my blog to connect with distant family members; I write my blog to share fascinating stories from my family tree; AND I write my blog to share how two ordinary people lived through an extraordinary period in our country’s and our world’s history.

Letter Transcription:

Fri.
Dear Mother,

The address I gave wasn’t right but in case any comes then it will be forwarded. From now on address me as

RSYegerlehner Lt. jg MCV (S) Unit A
Unit A Dispensary
N.T.O.
Norfolk Va.

There isn’t much to write as yet but more will follow we hope. I think I would like it swell if you could be here but will see about that later-

Daddy

©2012, copyrighted & written by Deborah Sweeney

New Horizons, part II

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Yesterday I got inspired and pulled out the box with all the letters that my grandparents wrote.  Since I am going to try to post and write about them, I figured I needed to get them in order.  At some point, they were neatly tied together and labeled, most likely by my grandmother.  The bundles generally contained the letters for one month with the month, year and author written on a slip of paper.  Since the letters came into my possession, I have mostly left the bundles alone.  Occasionally I have gone hunting for some detail or another.

During the war, soldiers were not allowed to divulge to their loved ones where they were stationed in case their mail was captured by the enemy.  This practice still continues today for obvious security reasons. My grandparents knew this so they developed a code. I haven’t actually cracked the code, but I know when to spot it.  Whenever my grandparents started talking about the yard and lawn care, this was an indication of where my grandfather was currently stationed. One of the family stories that has survived over the years is about the letter that arrived the third week of September 1942.  This is the week my father was born.  My grandfather had recently arrived at his destination in the Pacific and wanted to let my grandmother know where he was. There was a mail delay of one to two weeks depending on how far out a soldier was stationed. My grandmother had been waiting for such a letter for weeks.  When my grandmother finally received the letter indicating when my grandfather was stationed, she went into labor.

When I first received the letters, one of the first things I did was to try and track down this infamous letter that sent my grandmother into labor.  I found several letters that alluded to yard care and shrubbery, but sadly I don’t know the rest of the code. Since there were also two or three letters which referenced the lawn, I can’t be sure which one it actually was.

Another instance of my digging through the letters was to follow the death of my great grandmother, Emma Foster.  I knew that she died in November 1943.  I also knew that she came to live with my grandmother near the end. By reading through the letters, I was able to see the tragedy of my great grandmother’s death unfold over the months leading up to her death.

So yesterday, I unwrapped the remainder of the letters from their little strings and neat labels.  I organized them in the box, chronologically and by author. I had already put some of the letters in sheet protectors and had previously attempted to scan them. At this point, the story begins from my grandfather’s point of view.  I’m not sure if he kept her early letters with all the moving around he did that first summer of 1942 but her narrative does not really begin until September 1942.

I also wanted to note that the letter I posted yesterday was not my grandfather’s first letter.  It was actually his second.  He wrote two letters that were postmarked May 21, 1942. Somehow the first letter received the later postmark at 5:30 PM.

Letter Transcription:

Wed. Eve
Dear Mother,

Haven’t much in the way of encouragement or discouragement as far as your coming down. Because there hasn’t been much time to think of that.
It was after 12:00 when the boat arrived. The last ¾ hour is made by boat. The train comes to one side of the bay and then all the passengers take a large steam ferry. The Y M
The Navy Y.M.C.A. is only about 2 blocks from the lang landing of the boat. So when I saw it I thought I might as well try to get a room but they wouldn’t let me have it until I showed them my orders. It cost $1.00 per day for room. The naval base is so far from town, however, that the biggest drawback – It takes about ¾ hour to get there by street car.
This first day has been somewhat like registering day at college – first here then there. I got plenty of walking and really wanted the car. A fellow in the personnel Dept. gave me the names of some people having rooms

[page 2] but I haven’t called yet. I’d sorta like to find the location of them with respect to base. The commanding Dr. seemed to be rather nice but don’t know what he will say in the A.M. When I go back without uniform. Because I just didn’t get in early enough to have them made today.
They don’t wear blue in summer. Just white and Kakai. I’m getting a white Kakai by tomorrow P.M. Each suit costs around $18.00 complete. That is the Dakin – (how do you spell that word?) Only one cap is necessary – Just change the cover. It with the white cover is $12.00 or $15.00. I’ve forgotten which. I’ll have to buy all new shirts for this summer.
I’m only about half here – That trip is a killer – only slept 2-3 hours and that not good. I’ll try to write more tomorrow. Maybe I can tell you something of a room.

Love Daddy

You may write me at the Y and if I move out I’ll come back to see if there is mail.

©2012, copyrighted & written by Deborah Sweeney

New Horizons

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On October 6, 1941, both houses of Congress passed a resolution fixing Thanksgiving as the last Thursday in November.  The practice was to go into effect the following year in 1942. Between the years, 1939 and 1941, there was much debate as to when Thanksgiving should be officially celebrated. In 1939, President Roosevelt had declared the holiday should be observed on the last Thursday of the month.  But due to football schedules and arguments between the Republicans and Democrats, Roosevelt’s declaration was largely ignored.

Why am I talking about Thanksgiving the week after the holiday?  I started thinking about the events that led up to the United States participation in World War II.  Yesterday, my husband was watching the film Tora! Tora! Tora! which tells the story of Pearl Harbor, from both the American and Japanese perspectives.  The attack on Pearl Harbor occurred on December 7th, 1941, almost 71 years ago. I was thinking about how that event changed the lives of my grandparents. I was imagining them sitting down to their Thanksgiving dinner, not knowing their impending future.  I don’t know if they stayed in Kentland or traveled to Clay City to be with family.  One week or two weeks later (depending on when they celebrated the holiday), the United States was plunged into World War II, and their lives took a different course.

My father was born in September 1942.  If we calculate back from then, I would presume that he was conceived around Christmas or New Year’s of 1941.  The attack on Pearl Harbor was most likely very much on the minds of my grandparents, just like the destruction of the World Trade Towers lingered on my mind for months after the event.  By May of 1942, my grandfather had enlisted in the Navy.  In fact, less than six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, my grandfather was in Norfolk, Virginia receiving his military training before he was shipped off to the Pacific.

My grandmother traveled to Norfolk soon after he reported for duty.  She stayed a couple of weeks while he settled in, and then she returned to Kentland.  She was 5 months pregnant with her fourth child.  During the War, my grandparents wrote to each other almost every day, some days more than once.  Their letters are filled with the daily troubles they both experienced: discussions over money, updates on the children, family and friends, boredom, missing one another and wondering when my grandfather would return home.

The first letter has the postmark on May 21, 1942 10:30 AM.  It was sent from Norfolk, Virginia. My grandfather was 38.  He was about to be gone from his family for two years.  He wouldn’t see his youngest son until he was 18 months old.  But he was one of the lucky ones, he made it home.

Transcription of letter:

Thurs. (I guess)
Dear Mother,

The days are a little run together but if I count up from the time I left home it makes this Thurs.
I’ve left the Y.M.C.A.  and I suppose you might address me at – 4012 Granby St.- Maybe the next letter can be addressed to the naval base but I think I’ll be at the above address for a few days (possibly 1 week). I met a Dr. from Penna and he has his car here and that is a tourist’s home, but we have to pay $1.50 each day. The best we can do so far. He paid 3.00 last night.
This is the part you’ll probably like. I met a dentist from Bloomington Ind. and He gave me a good tip. About 3 mile from the base there is a new addition going up and the houses rent for $40-$44 per month. So I’m going to see the personnel  Dept. tomorrow

[page 2] and see if I can get a leave for one. I was out today and they are writing leases for them on June 1. They are strichly new and if we are lucky enough to get one it probably isn’t built or started yet. They build them in about 10 days so maybe you’ll be down sooner than I you I expected.
My feet are tired. Dr. Lintz wanted me to play golf with him this PM but I said no-(He’s the one from Penna) so he went on and I’m waiting downtown for my uniforms. I’m writing this at the P.O.
I think we can get a gas ration card of some sort so that we could travel out to the house should we be able to rent it. Needless to say the houses aren’t so much but they all have a fire place 2 or three bedrooms, back room kitchen, etc, and furnace heat. Any one renting there must be approved by the Navy and the girl

[page 3] said that any officer of the Navy will be approved. Of course the lawns and streets are muddy & Rusty for the time being, but that isn’t so bad.
Well, I’ll try to write to the boys and others when I get more settled. I wrote to the folks yesterday.
You might be thinking of the essentials that you would want to bring down – They have stoves (gas) and refrigerators furnished.
Will write more when I get time. I was excused today to settle some of this running around.

Love Daddy

©2012, copyrighted & written by Deborah Sweeney

Roscoe S. Yegerlehner

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Had he lived this long, my grandfather would have been 108 years old today. However, he did not.  He died in 1989, a week prior to my 21st birthday. My dad had planned a celebration of my impending adulthood for months, if not years.  We were going to have dinner at a famous five star restaurant in New York City.  We had gone shopping the previous May in Florida. We had been visiting my grandparents during one of those rare trips I had to see them.  During the shopping trip, we had purchased a suitable beaded black gown for my night on the town. My grandparents had just celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary and various members of the family had flown in to celebrate.  Months later, my grandfather had a massive stroke.  My grandmother made the choice to remove him from life support and he died soon after.

Roscoe Schiele Yegerlehner was an amazing man.  He was born on a rural farm in western Indiana in 1904.  His father, John Henry Yegerlehner, was the grandson of Swiss immigrants.  His mother, Lovina Jane Schiele, was the daughter of more recent German immigrants (1851) and a family of German religious dissenters who came to America in the 1730s.  I recall being told that the only way John and Lovina could speak to each other was in English.  Lovina’s German and John’s Swiss German were different enough that they could not communicate. John and Lovina had a large family.  My grandfather was the second from the bottom of seven; six boys and one girl. In a biography that my grandfather wrote of himself, he stated “that he didn’t know what sex he was until he was in high school”.  All the boys were expected to do work on the farm as well as housework in the house.  By all indications, my grandfather belonged to a large, loving family.  One thing that he did not like, however, was his name.  I am not sure where the Roscoe came from.  There seems to be an abundance of names that start with “R” in the family; Ralph, Raymond, Ruth & Roscoe.  His middle name was his mother’s maiden name.  As an adult, he was R.S., never Roscoe.  He adopted the nickname Jake early and used it throughout his life.

Although my grandfather was a raised on a farm, he did not stay there.  In 1922, he graduated from high school.  He became a teacher and taught at rural schools in his native county.  In 1929, he married my grandmother, Gladys Foster. On the 1930 census, my grandparents were living on the Yegerlehner family farm in Clay County, Indiana. They moved to Terre Haute soon after.  My uncle John was born in Terre Haute in August 1930.  My grandfather also began his studies to become a doctor.  He graduated from Indiana University at Bloomington in 1938.  After graduation, the family moved to Kentland, Indiana where my grandfather was to practice medicine for many years.  He was the proverbial country doctor.  He made house calls and delivered countless babies.

In 1942, my grandfather answered his country’s call.  He joined the Navy.  As a doctor, he served in several hospitals throughout the Pacific.  After almost two years, he returned to finish his tour of duty at a hospital in Missouri.  When the war was over, he returned to Kentland and his medical practice for a total of 28 years.  He later moved to West Lafayette where he worked at one of the teaching hospitals.

My grandparents finally retired and moved to Florida in 1978.  I remember several trips to see them in Sarasota.  During one of the first trips we made to Florida, I got to go to Disney World.  My grandparents made time to see quite a bit of the world, before and after they retired.  They were always giving us souvenirs from their world travels.  I remember that my grandfather really seemed comfortable with the grandkids, probably from all his years of being a teacher, and then a general practitioner. He was always goofing around and trying to make us laugh.

And in case you were wondering, I did get to celebrate my 21st birthday in New York with my dad.  It just got postponed a couple months.  The gown with the spaghetti straps that I purchased in Florida was not really appropriate to autumn weather in New York.  I had to go shopping again!  I got a fabulous black velvet cape to complete the ensemble.  If you look in my closet today, both the dress and the cape are still part of my wardrobe. They are a poignant reminder of the year that I lost my grandfather and the year I officially became an adult.

©2012, copyrighted & written by Deborah Sweeney