Long Lost found letter
The letter below was a letter that I wrote to my girlfriend at the time whom I eventually married a couple months after the war was over back in 1945. I found this letter when I was having a yard sale to get rid of some junk after my wife died in 2009. The letter enclosed these following statements...
April 19, 1942
Dear Amy Finch,
by the time you read this letter you can probably tell that my "special mission" I was telling you about was successful. So successful was the mission that the capital of Japan (Tokyo) has had their share of bombs and bullets from Pearl Harbor. I want you to know that I am okay and I only suffered minor injuries from the actual raid and when my crew and I crash landed here in China. Thankfully my crew and I were able to encounter the Chinese before the many surrounding camps of the Japanese could find us. Thirteen of our men are missing, and the rest of the men and I know for a fact that all the planes crashed because of the lack of fuel so we can only assume for a fact that they must have died. Although we were corrected by Lieutenant Colonel Doolittle that three of the raiders died from the crashes and that five men crashed in Vladivostok and were captured by the Soviets. That can only mean the other eight men were in the captive of the Japanese or died in the plane crash. I want to let you know though Amy that I am perfectly fine and that you shouldn't worry and that I should return to Pearl Harbor in about two weeks.
Once I pull into Pearl Harbor I plan to ask for R and R and plan to come back home to San Francisco, California so that I may in the embrace of your arms once again for a couple days. I hope you continue to keep me in your prayers as I do for you. I want to let you know that when I was inside that B-25 besides all the commotion of gunfire and Flak all I could think about was you and worrying if I would ever see your face again. Your prayers so far have that figure true. I plan to see you in a couple of weeks so please continue to write to me and I will see you soon.
Love,
Louis M. Salazar
April 19, 1942
Dear Amy Finch,
by the time you read this letter you can probably tell that my "special mission" I was telling you about was successful. So successful was the mission that the capital of Japan (Tokyo) has had their share of bombs and bullets from Pearl Harbor. I want you to know that I am okay and I only suffered minor injuries from the actual raid and when my crew and I crash landed here in China. Thankfully my crew and I were able to encounter the Chinese before the many surrounding camps of the Japanese could find us. Thirteen of our men are missing, and the rest of the men and I know for a fact that all the planes crashed because of the lack of fuel so we can only assume for a fact that they must have died. Although we were corrected by Lieutenant Colonel Doolittle that three of the raiders died from the crashes and that five men crashed in Vladivostok and were captured by the Soviets. That can only mean the other eight men were in the captive of the Japanese or died in the plane crash. I want to let you know though Amy that I am perfectly fine and that you shouldn't worry and that I should return to Pearl Harbor in about two weeks.
Once I pull into Pearl Harbor I plan to ask for R and R and plan to come back home to San Francisco, California so that I may in the embrace of your arms once again for a couple days. I hope you continue to keep me in your prayers as I do for you. I want to let you know that when I was inside that B-25 besides all the commotion of gunfire and Flak all I could think about was you and worrying if I would ever see your face again. Your prayers so far have that figure true. I plan to see you in a couple of weeks so please continue to write to me and I will see you soon.
Love,
Louis M. Salazar
Entertaiment
A propaganda poster to recruit men to join the military.
Along with the letter that I found that I wrote to my wife, I also found music and some propaganda posters (like the one on the left) that she collected and never told me of. Life back in the 1940s were so much slow paced than today with its new fancy gadgets and fast moving society. Today if you don't have the newest device you're left behind. Back in my day if you had a T.V. you were the coolest person on the block. The only things we were upgrading were our refrigerators and vacums. A form of toothpaste was finally made that was proven to make our teeth whiter. America was in its own little bubble until the bombing of Pearl Harbor. That was when Japan woke up a sleeping giant and were sorry.
Yes sir, life back then could have never been better. I remember that America was finally reaching the end of The Great Depression and that Franklin Roosevelt was reelected for his third term. Music was also in its prime also. Everyone was listening to Jazz even though the seniors of that decade called "devil's music." In a way though it was, we teenagers wanted to rebel against our elders and listen to something different than just plain old country music.
Yes sir, life back then could have never been better. I remember that America was finally reaching the end of The Great Depression and that Franklin Roosevelt was reelected for his third term. Music was also in its prime also. Everyone was listening to Jazz even though the seniors of that decade called "devil's music." In a way though it was, we teenagers wanted to rebel against our elders and listen to something different than just plain old country music.
boogie woogie bugle boy
The song Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy was one of my wife's favorite tunes of the 1940's. I bought her the record a week before I was drafted into the war and forced to fight. Bette Midler was one of the country's best female jazz artists of the time. Her lyrics really set a mirage of the world and made most people forget about the war. This song really helped my wife move her life along while I was away on enemy lines. The lyrics are listed below.
"Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy"
He
was a famous trumpet man from out Chicago way.
He had a boogie style that no
one else could play.
He was the top man at his craft,
but then his number
came up and he was gone with the draft.
He's in the army now. He's blowin'
reveille.
He's the boogie woogie bugle boy of company B.
They made him
blow a bugle for his Uncle Sam.
It really brought him down because he could
not jam.
The captain seemed to understand,
because the next day the cap' went out and drafted the band.
And now the company jumps when he plays
reveille.
He's the boogie woogie bugle boy of company B.
A root, a
toot, a toodlie-a-da-toot.
He blows it eight to the bar in boogie
rhythm.
He can't blow a note unless a bass and guitar
is playin' with
him.
And the company jumps when he plays reveille.
He's the boogie woogie
bugle boy of company B.
He was some boogie woogie bugle boy of company
B.
And when he played his boogie woogie bugle
he was busy as a busy
bee.
And when he played he made the company jump eight to the bar.
He's
the boogie woogie bugle boy of company B.
Andata toodliata-toodliata toot
toot
he blows it eight to the bar.
He can't blow a note if a bass and
guitar
isn't with him.
And the company jumps when he plays
reveille.
He's the boogie woogie bugle boy of company B.
He puts the
boys to sleep with boogie every night,
and wakes 'em up the same way in the
early bright.
They clap their hands and stamp their feet,
'cause they know
how it goes when someone gives him a beat.
Woah, woah, he wakes 'em up when
he plays reveille.
The boogie woogie bugle boy of company B.
A root, a
toot, a toodli-a-da to toot toot toot
he's blowin' eight to the bar.
Yeah,
he can't blow a note if a bass and guitar
isn't, woah, with him.
And the
company jumps when he plays reveille.
He's the boogie woogie bugle boy of
company B.
He
was a famous trumpet man from out Chicago way.
He had a boogie style that no
one else could play.
He was the top man at his craft,
but then his number
came up and he was gone with the draft.
He's in the army now. He's blowin'
reveille.
He's the boogie woogie bugle boy of company B.
They made him
blow a bugle for his Uncle Sam.
It really brought him down because he could
not jam.
The captain seemed to understand,
because the next day the cap' went out and drafted the band.
And now the company jumps when he plays
reveille.
He's the boogie woogie bugle boy of company B.
A root, a
toot, a toodlie-a-da-toot.
He blows it eight to the bar in boogie
rhythm.
He can't blow a note unless a bass and guitar
is playin' with
him.
And the company jumps when he plays reveille.
He's the boogie woogie
bugle boy of company B.
He was some boogie woogie bugle boy of company
B.
And when he played his boogie woogie bugle
he was busy as a busy
bee.
And when he played he made the company jump eight to the bar.
He's
the boogie woogie bugle boy of company B.
Andata toodliata-toodliata toot
toot
he blows it eight to the bar.
He can't blow a note if a bass and
guitar
isn't with him.
And the company jumps when he plays
reveille.
He's the boogie woogie bugle boy of company B.
He puts the
boys to sleep with boogie every night,
and wakes 'em up the same way in the
early bright.
They clap their hands and stamp their feet,
'cause they know
how it goes when someone gives him a beat.
Woah, woah, he wakes 'em up when
he plays reveille.
The boogie woogie bugle boy of company B.
A root, a
toot, a toodli-a-da to toot toot toot
he's blowin' eight to the bar.
Yeah,
he can't blow a note if a bass and guitar
isn't, woah, with him.
And the
company jumps when he plays reveille.
He's the boogie woogie bugle boy of
company B.