During World War II, roughly one million women entered the U.S. between 1942 and 1952. They did so as the war brides of G.I.s that had been sent overseas. These women came from over fifty different countries following their husbands back to the U.S., leaving behind their respective languages, cultures, homes, and families to start over in a foreign country. During wartime, however, many magazines and news outlets discouraged these unions and predicted their failure at staggering rates. These brave women were labeled as naive and subservient and often looked down on by the rest of society in the U.S. They were also often ridiculed in their own countries being called slurs and even having their heads shaved for being seen with American soldiers. While the experience of John's bride would likely not have been nearly as severe, she did share many aspects of this experience with the one million other war brides during that decade. She would have left her family and everything familiar to follow John back home. In 1945, the year after John had returned home, the "War Brides Act" was passed, which allowed brides of soldiers to enter the U.S. more freely. Above is an image of English war brides leaving London with their children at Waterloo Station, about to embark on their journey to the U.S. just two years after John and his wife made theirs.
Citations:
McBroome, Delores Nason. Humboldt Journal of Social Relations 16, no. 1 (1990): 137–39. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24003028.
"GI Brides Leaves London," The American War Bride Experience: GI Brides of World War II. 25 January, 1946. www.oocities.org/us_warbrides/Photo/460125.html
Movie released in 1946 titled "G.I. War Brides" about an English woman who stowed away on a U.S. ship to follow her G.I. love interest in America.
Citation: “G.I. War Brides.” IMDb, IMDb.com,
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038545/mediaviewer/rm1317485312/?ref_=tt_ov_i.
Article by the Postal Museum detailing the history of Airmail, the means that many World War II letters, including this one, were able to travel.
Citation: “Airmail.” The Postal Museum. (14 August 2019): https://www.postalmuseum.org/collections/airmail/.
Article from 1944, the year John was married, titled "Can War Marriages Be Made to Work?"
Citation: Kirkpatrick, Clifford. "EM 30: Can War Marriages Be Made to Work?" American Historical Association. (November 1944): EM 30: Can War Marriages Be Made to Work? (1944) | AHA (historians.org)
The following object description information includes basic elements from the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI). An additional notes field is included to list dates from the actual letter, envelope postmark locations, and any other identifying details.
Why is the wording of this letter so rigid and formal?
What could Margaret have said in her letter for him to be angry with her?
What is the actual origin of John's nickname, "Butch," for Margaret?
Why does John sign as Jack sometimes?
Why is the letter so oddly worded and numbered?
There are an array of possibilities for the origin of the nickname, "Butch," that John gave Margaret. While researching the term, I came across an important figure also known by the name, Edward "Butch" O'Hare. O'Hare was an American aviator with ties to Al Capone who served as a Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy until his death in November 1943, about eight months before John sent this letter to Margaret. O'Hare was the first Flying Ace in the U.S., a Medal of Honor recipient, a well-known pilot, and a hero to many. A Flying Ace was an airman that was able to shoot down five or more opposing aircrafts in aerial combat. O'Hare gave his life defending his carrier from a group of Japanese bombers. As a fellow airman, it is likely that John looked up to O'Hare, and if it is not the origin of his nickname for Margaret, then it is possible that on the many occasions that he heard O'Hare mentioned, he thought of his "Butch" back home.
Citations:
Norman, Geoffey. "The Incredible Life and Terrible Death of the Navy's First World War II Ace", Military History Magazine. (December 2018): https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2018/12/26/the-incredible-life-and-terrible-death-of-the-navys-first-world-war-ii-ace/#:~:text=Later%20in%20the%20war%2C%20Butch,He%20had%20volunteered.
“Edward Henry ‘Butch’ O'Hare: World War II: U.S. Navy: Medal of Honor Recipient.” Congressional Medal of Honor Society, https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/edward-henry-butch-ohare.
Thach, Admiral John S. " Oral History-Butch O'Hare and the Thach Weave" Naval History Magazine 6, no. 1 (March 1992): https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/1992/march/oral-history-butch-ohare-and-thach-weave