Tag Archives: Norfolk Naval Base

Setting goals

12 Replies

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

5 Replies

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

6 Replies

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