A letter from Wilson's oldest son Edwin Ely to his granddaughter Mary Wescott

제공:

When we arrived here my computer and phone both crashed and I have not been able to find my backup thumbnail or address book so I've lost your mothers contact information. Could you please send it to me?

Your Grandfather's name was Wilson Pershing Ely, all the Ely males were named after a famous general, Your great grandfather's name was George Washington Ely. They had 10 children all born in Texas. Your Grandfather was born in Post just east of Lubbock, Texas and he was the youngest of the 10. The oldest boy, George, was killed at the age of 9 by a run away wagon and two other boys died of diphtheria and I believe whooping cough. Back in the dust bowel days the family moved to California to find work and something to eat, times were tough. The same thing happened to my mother's side and they ended up in California. All the Ely males were well over six feet tall and that seems strange as Grandma Ely was a wonderful lady of four feet eleven inches.

The lifespan of the Ely's has been long, in general, with Aunt Maude making it to over 100. Your Grandfather, however, died before his 59th birthday due mainly to several very bad habits, drinking whisky, not eating vegetables and smoking 3 packs of Camels a day. However he was a very nice and caring person. While in the army, he was a close friend of my Uncle Jiggs and one time on leave he brought Ely home with him to meet his folks and that is how he met my mother. She was 34 and Dad was 23 when I was born in Riverside, CA on July 2, 1941.

I have always forgiven Dads behavior because he went through Hell in the war. He met up with McAuthor in Australia and proceeded north to Japan, island by island. Of his battalion of over 700 men, only 5 including him reached Japan. He had 3 Purple Hearts, Silver Star, Bronze and the Philippine Congressional Medal of Honor with many other combat ribbons and he was recommended for our Congressional Medal of Honor. The real heroes never talk about their experiences and he only did once and that is a different long story.

I would love to talk to you for hours about your ancestors but maybe in the future. They were the people that helped keep America great.

Give Your Mother and Father my love and wish them well from me.

God Bless

Uncle Ed