The following are the letters my maternal grandparents -Milan and Kathleen Smerchek- sent to one another as they courted during World War II. I don't think either of them knew these letters would turn out to be part of the history leading up to their marriage, but I'm so glad that they held on to them. Not only has it given me a glimpse into the life of my grandparents, but it gives myself, along with all of you, another personal account of what life was like in the US during the 1940's. My grandpa passed away 11 years before I was born and my grandma passed when I was 13- before I could realize just how interested I was in hearing about her life growing up, or her first marriage.
As I began typing up their letters, I had to decide how I was going to approach them- how much correction and censorship would I do, if any? In the end, I decided to honor the integrity of my grandparents' words. I left their spelling errors and variations intact- I think it adds character, and some of the variations were telling of the time period. As for censorship- that was a harder decision to make. In the first couple letters, the way my Grandpa chooses to describe some of the men he is treating in the hospital is uncomfortable for me to read. But the fact is, they are his words and I felt that by censoring him, I would be changing history in a way. I don't think that he was racist, but I do think it was telling of the times he was living in. By leaving his words intact, I think it provides us all an opportunity to reflect on how far the world has come in the past 60+ years.
