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Message
Letter from Sec. of Navy
Posted on 1/1/15 at 1:15 pm
Posted on 1/1/15 at 1:15 pm
My dad passed away earlier this year at age 92. During WW II he was a junior officer aboard the U.S.S. McCracken (APA 198).
Shortly after the war, he--and millions of other Navy vets--received a letter from James Forrestal, then Secretary of the Navy. Yes, it's a form letter, but the content is so heartfelt that I thought some of you might be interested in perusing it.
Here it is:
Dear Ensign XXXXXXXX,
I have addressed this letter to reach you after all the formalities of your separation from active service are completed. I have done so because, without formality, but as clearly as I know how to say it, I want the Navy's pride in you, which it is my privilege to express, to reach into your civil life and to remain with you always.
You have served in the greatest Navy in the world.
It crushed two enemy fleets at once, receiving their surrenders only four months apart.
It brought our land-based airpower within bombing reach of the enemy, and set our ground armies on the beachheads of final victory.
It performed the multitude of tasks necessary to support these military operations.
No other Navy at any time has done so much. For your part in these achievements you deserve to be proud as long as you live. The Nation which you served at a time of crisis will remember you with gratitude.
The best wishes of the Navy go with you into your future life. Good luck!
Sincerely yours,
James Forrestal
Secretary of the Navy
Shortly after the war, he--and millions of other Navy vets--received a letter from James Forrestal, then Secretary of the Navy. Yes, it's a form letter, but the content is so heartfelt that I thought some of you might be interested in perusing it.
Here it is:
Dear Ensign XXXXXXXX,
I have addressed this letter to reach you after all the formalities of your separation from active service are completed. I have done so because, without formality, but as clearly as I know how to say it, I want the Navy's pride in you, which it is my privilege to express, to reach into your civil life and to remain with you always.
You have served in the greatest Navy in the world.
It crushed two enemy fleets at once, receiving their surrenders only four months apart.
It brought our land-based airpower within bombing reach of the enemy, and set our ground armies on the beachheads of final victory.
It performed the multitude of tasks necessary to support these military operations.
No other Navy at any time has done so much. For your part in these achievements you deserve to be proud as long as you live. The Nation which you served at a time of crisis will remember you with gratitude.
The best wishes of the Navy go with you into your future life. Good luck!
Sincerely yours,
James Forrestal
Secretary of the Navy
9
Posted on 1/1/15 at 1:18 pm to Tigerwaffe
Awesome keepsake. You should frame it with a picture of him in uniform. 
Posted on 1/1/15 at 1:21 pm to Tigerwaffe
Yea....
That's kinda awesome
That's kinda awesome
Posted on 1/1/15 at 1:21 pm to Tigerwaffe
I need to dig it up, but my Grandfather, who worked on the engines Doolittle used on his raid, sent him a long letter thanking him for the skill he put into the engines and assuring him that he saved many pilot's lives.
Posted on 1/1/15 at 1:28 pm to Dorothy
quote:
ou should frame it with a picture of him in uniform.
I have a really awesome photo of my dad and two buddies having a smoke on the ship--right next to a sign that says NO SMOKING. A ship mate of my dad's says he was a "heller" which in the language of the day meant, well ,,, a "let 'er rip" kind guy.
We just scattered his ashes off the Florida coast last week.
Adios amigo!
Posted on 1/1/15 at 1:29 pm to Tigerwaffe
Posted on 1/1/15 at 1:34 pm to Tigerwaffe
Posted on 1/1/15 at 1:35 pm to Tigerwaffe
Posted on 1/1/15 at 2:03 pm to Tigerwaffe
Nice one!
Posted on 1/1/15 at 2:12 pm to jpbTiger
quote:
Nice one!
Hey, it's a form letter sent to my dad and thousands of other servicemen and women. And yet you can tell that whoever wrote the letter put a lot of thought into it, expressing gratitude for past service while reminding the young men and women of the (presumably) great futures that lay in store for them in our great nation.
Posted on 1/1/15 at 2:14 pm to Tigerwaffe
Man, that is an awesome gesture by the secretary...hopefully, the families of all who received it treasure the letter as much as you do. Thanks for sharing it with us.... 
Posted on 1/1/15 at 2:22 pm to Spankum
quote:
hopefully, the families of all who received it treasure the letter as much as you do.
Honestly, I can imagine my dad--the least boastful or attention-seeking person I've ever known--reading the thing and thinking to himself, "Yeah, I really saved the nation out there, keeping track of supplies on a broken down scow out in the the middle of the Pacific Ocean."
In fact, he did perform an act of heroism during the war--one I recounted a few days ago on this board--but I only found out about it from one of his shipmates.
My dad would've been mortified if that story had spread, he could've lived to be a thousand years old and I'd never had heard a word about it from his lips. Not uncommon among people who lived through those times.
Posted on 1/1/15 at 2:39 pm to Tigerwaffe
Back when there was pride in being an American.
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