Farewell my Love

Farewell my Love

Suzanne Marsh

“I can still remember the smell of the leather jacket he always wore. He was my first love,

I was fourteen and he was seventeen. He was such a handsome boy, with black hair

gray/blue eyes, a sweet smile. I became his steady girlfriend just before he joined the

navy in 1942. There was already talk of the coming war. He wrote that he was joining

the crew of the USS West Virginia in Norfolk, Virginia. He would be stationed on the ship

at Pearl Harbor. My dad drove him to the bus station, I gave him a light kiss good bye,

little did I know that would be our last kiss.”

PEARL HARBOR, HAWAII DECEMBER 7TH, 1941

“SOUND GENERAL QUARTERS, SOUND GENERAL QUARTERS, THIS IS NOT A DRILL.’ The drone of the voice had an urgency that had not been there a few moments ago. Men began to run to their stations. Four young men headed to their stations in the boiler room. Bombs began to fall, the smell of fear permeated entire ship. The United States was being attack! Men scrambled to their posts at the sixteen-inch guns. The USS West Virginia was firing as the Japanese bombs struck her on the port side. She began to list, more heavy shocks as bombs continued to descend. She was a fire mid ship. Crews began spraying water on the areas, to no avail.

Three young sailors found themselves trapped below in the forward hull. The USS West Virginia sunk right next to the USS Tennessee, making any rescue fruitless. The morning following December 8^th, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt made his speech about December 7, 1941, going down in infamy. The three young men had no idea they were submerged, they had followed procedures shutting the airtight doors.

Marine guards were placed on the ship, the loud BANG, BANG rang out into the night. The three young men were attempting to make others hear their plea for help. The men began to mark each day with a red grease pencil, they prayed. Their families were notified their sons had been killed in action, on December 7. That however was not the case, those three young men lived for sixteen days.”

December 7^th, 2000

She held a letter in her hand, a letter she had never meant for anyone to see. The enveloped yellowed from age. Her hand trembled, her son and granddaughter holding shaking blue veined hand, as she fumbled with the piece of paper. The post mark denoted it was APO address, the writing somewhat sloppy but readable. The writing paper was white with the USS West Virginia prominently displayed at the top. Before she showed the two the letter she began:

“I was fourteen, when I met him, he was seventeen. Hitler had already invaded Poland,

President Roosevelt was sending aid to England to aid them in their fight against Hitler.

He spoke about joining the United States Navy, I did not want him to, call it a sixth sense

if you wish but I knew something horrible would happen to him if he did. He asked me to

be his steady girlfriend before he joined. Little did anyone realize that war was looming

over the United States. That the few weeks before he shipped out would be the sweetest

time of my life. I cried the day he enlisted. He went away to boot camp, came home for

thirty days. My dad took him to the bus stop, I gave him a quick kiss, little did I know it

would be our last kiss. The sad thing was that he joined the navy to emulate his dad, who

had served.

I awoke Sunday, December 7^th, 1941, it was a cold snowy day, I thought about him in

Hawaii, enjoying the sun and the warmth of the Islands. My parents and I returned from

church to hear the first broadcasts on the radio about the attack on Pearl Harbor. I felt

as if someone had punched me in the stomach. I remember running up the stairs to my

bedroom, locking the door and crying until I had no tears left. Mom, knocked on my door

trying to encourage me to have faith, that he would be fine. A few days later his mom called,

her voice trembling as she told me he had been killed in action on December 7^th. That is

Not the end of the story, however. He was trapped in the pump house in section A109, along

with two other men. Apparently when the ship sank, after burning for over thirty hours she

settled on the muddy floor at her moorings. It was not until the 1990’s that the true story of

what happened that fateful day in December did I finally learn the truth about how my love

died.”

Her granddaughter interrupted:

“Gran, why did the Navy cover this whole thing up?”

Her gran smiled as she continued:

“They found the bodies when they raised the West Virginia, I still held out hope that there

had been some terrible mistake, that he would return home to me. He was buried with full

military honors. In the early 1990’s rumors surfaced that for sixteen days they banged and

banged on the hull, screaming: “does anyone hear us? Please, we are trapped, we need

help. Finally, we knew the truth. I had been married to you grandpa for all these years,

He was my first love; he always will be.”

Gran put on her reading glasses as tears welled in her eyes, she read the short letter:

“Dearest one,

If you are reading this letter, I did not make it. I asked one of the guys going on shore if

something happened to me would he mail this to you. You were the love of my life, life

will go one for you dearest. Marry, have children, and most of all be happy. Don’t

morn me, I did my duty.”

All my love always.”

She sighed, her granddaughter, comforted her. She sighed again, held tight to the letter as if she were on that sinking ship. She turned to face her son:

“I loved him, he will always be in my heart, farewell my love.”