Roscoe S. Yegerlehner

: Envelope of letter from Roscoe Yegerlehner to his wife, Gladys, dated May 21, 1942

: First page

: Second page

: Third page

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 7^th, 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

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 21^st 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 60^th 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 21^st 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.