of my Dad---and Mom, April 14, 1951

It was before my time. But it was at the beginnings of theirs--a relationship that would last over 60 years. Found among their belongings when they passed was a collection of just over 50 letters from my Dad that Mom had saved. He had written them while he was a draftee in the Army from early 1951 to early 1953, before they were married. The series begins with a post card from Fort Jackson, South Carolina, dated April 2, 1951. This little tidbit is from the second correspondence, written on April 14, 1951.

Dad, third from right, with some pals
at Fort Jackson, South Carolina 

It is fascinating to read this and try to imagine my 21-year-old Dad writing to his 24-year-old girlfriend. He tells her about KP Duty--Kitchen Patrol, rifle training, and the crowded conditions of a two-man pup tent. He also mentions that his is also a National Guard unit from Mississippi and Alabama. An interesting side note--nearly 50 years after this letter was written, I was preaching at the Church of the Nazarene in McComb, Mississippi, filling the pulpit for the Pastor that Sunday morning. When I told Dad I was going to be preaching in McComb, he told me he had been at Fort Jackson with some guys from there. In the congregation that morning, there was a gentleman who had been in that unit and remembered my Dad at Fort Jackson. 

Dad writes to Mom, "I haven't danced since I have been in the Army." This is interesting to me because I am pretty sure they met at a dance hall in Alliance, Ohio. I never saw them dance.

At the end of the letter (pictured above), Dad describes the "Day Room" where he is writing the letter--just some Army guys killing time, so it seems. Then he tells her the "Third Man Theme" is playing on the record player and how it was making him homesick to hear songs like those. Dad loved music, played the guitar--mostly just chords--and he loved to sing, so I'm not surprised to read that. He bought a Wurlitzer Spinet piano in the early 60s and taught himself to play. It was the piano that started me on my piano journey. My sister still has it. 

I was not familiar with the Third Man Theme, but it was played, not on a guitar, but a zither, and I guess it was pretty big at that time. It means more to me now.