Considering Every Possibility
As I continue sorting through my parents’ papers, I am beginning to see that the letters from colleges are not simply about higher education. Together, they tell the story of a young veteran trying to determine where his future would begin. This letter from West Virginia University is dated October 19, 1944, only days after my father had written requesting information about admission. Like the letters from Boston University and Boston College, it was sent only a few months after his honorable discharge from military service in August 1944.
At the time, my father was living in Martinsburg, West Virginia, with his mother while his wife remained in New Hampshire. Until I discovered these letters, I assumed his return to New England had been a straightforward decision. Instead, these documents tell a different story.
West Virginia University responded by sending him its university catalogue along with the forms necessary to apply for admission under the Veterans Administration. The letter makes it clear that the university was prepared to help returning servicemen take advantage of the educational opportunities provided through the G.I. Bill.
What strikes me most is that my father was looking in more than one direction. The letters from Boston suggest he was considering returning to New England to be closer to his wife. This letter tells me he was also giving serious thought to remaining in West Virginia, where he was living at the time. He wasn’t rushing into a decision. He was gathering information, comparing opportunities, and carefully evaluating the resources available before deciding what path to follow.
Knowing how his life eventually unfolded, it is easy to forget that none of those outcomes were certain in the fall of 1944. Every letter represented another possibility. He could have remained in West Virginia. He could have returned to Massachusetts. His education, career, and even where he would raise his family were still unwritten chapters.
I find these letters fascinating because they allow me to meet my father before I ever knew him. He was not yet the man who would raise our family. He was simply a young veteran, recently home from war, thoughtfully considering where he belonged and how to build a new life.
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