“Letters of a World War II Airman” shares original letters to and from my uncle, Frank Ebner Gartz, from 1943-1945, tracing the course of WWII, life on the home front, and the evolution of a neighborhood kid into seasoned airman.
Frank's mom wrote to him about his father's severely infected knees. Frank writes these two very short letters, the first to both his parents, the second, about two weeks later, just to his dad, my grandfather. In an earlier letter, my grandmother had written to Frank (Ebner) telling her son of Grandpa's knee injury. Here I think Frank is just trying to establish a personal communication with his father so he can encourage him in the future to take care of himself.
By the winter of 1944, at the age of fifty-four, my grandfather had spent the previous thirty winters shoveling coal and snow for up to 65 apartments. His body began to give out from the strain. This letter is the first in a series that documents the severe knee problems that plagued my grandfather during World War II, and the huge workload Grandpa's infected knee put on my grandmother.
Like most young men, shipped around the country during World War II training, Frank is meeting girls wherever he goes. Here Frank tells his parents about a gal he really likes. I wonder how his mother takes this, given that she adores his at-home girlfriend, Cookie. Frank will be shipping out soon, before "complications" arise with the new girl. Then he'll be on to the most rigorous challenges he's yet encountered.
Frank will introduce the California gal, Margaret (Margie) to his parents in a 3/13/1944 letter. He'll say he likes her "very very very much." Frank still cares about his at-home girlfriend, Cookie, but we have to remember, he had lived a very insular life on Chicago’s West Side and was only 18 when he left for basic training. He’s being introduced to the world, as millions of boys were during WWII, and a good-looking, charming, sweet guy is discovering many girls out there thinks he’s just swell! This Margie is one to them.
Frank's eldest brother, Will, is in the flying business too, at least after his day job. He earned his pilot's license in 1943 and, at the time of this letter in 1944, is teaching aviation classes for the Civil Air Patrol.