The Miles Between Them
Among the papers my mother saved is a small cloth pouch that, at first glance, might be easy to overlook. Printed across it are the words “U.S. Mail from Seattle, Wash.” A leather strip closes the bottom, and still attached to it is the original mailing tag.
The tag is addressed to Miss Mary Hannigan, my mother.
That name immediately helps place this small piece of family history. My parents married in May 1944, so my father sent this to her before their marriage, while he was in the service and they were separated by thousands of miles.
Printed on the tag is a wonderfully appropriate message:
“May this Little Bag with a View or Two, Lessen the Miles between Me and You.”
Inside were several tiny souvenir photographs of Seattle and the Pacific Northwest. My father was seeing a part of the country far removed from my mother’s life in New Hampshire, and this little bag gave him a way to share some of it with her.
It was a souvenir, but it was also something much more personal.
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Report of Separation
This worn piece of paper is one of the most important documents in my father’s collection. Officially titled a Report of Separation, it marked the end of his military service in the United States Army Air Corps and authorized his honorable discharge on August 16, 1944. At first glance, it appears to be little more than a […]
Induction Paper
What this document records is a clearly defined sequence in my father’s entry into military service during World War II, set within the structured and highly organized process of Army induction in 1942. On August 4, 1942, my father, Roger E. Watson, was among a group of men processed through the induction center in Clarksburg, West Virginia. […]
My Father and the YMCA
Among my father’s papers was this brochure from the YMCA where he lived after leaving the training program he had been attending with Sister Celeste in Michigan. Looking through its pages, I can almost sense the excitement of a young man eager to experience life on his own. The brochure promises far more than just […]
