Hal Cohen Letter - July 3, 1943
Item
-
Title
-
Hal Cohen Letter - July 3, 1943
-
Description
-
Sat 7/3/43
My Darling -
I just finished speaking with you
and I feel like crying. I know that you
are, and it hurts. Bev you know that
I love you more than anything + I don’t
want to do anything to hurt you. It
wasn’t easy for me to say what I
did to-night nor was it easy to write
that letter to your Dad. But I’ve got to
be honest with you and honest with
myself.
To begin with, I didn’t expect you
to go home and immediately broach
the subject of marriage to your folks.
If you recall, we tentively decided to
wait until I had more definite info.
to go on. Remember?
At any rate, when I came back to
Camp I found that furloughs had been
postponed and cut down to 5 days
and traveling time. Our program
had been changed to 22 weeks. Every
thing is confused, uncertain.
Even while I write this, Lou
Anastasio is writing his wife-to-be
[page II]
who has a ring, trousseau etc that
it seems their wedding will be
postponed or even called off for the
duration. – He’s sitting at the
desk next to mine and looks mighty
unhappy.
You see Bevvy that unless things
change in the near future it’s a
pretty difficult time to contemplate
marriage. All that business about
marriage license, Wasserman, and
ceremony can all be taken care of
before the furlough but the big
question is - how will it all
effect you? I don’t enter into the
picture enough to speak of.
Our married life on my furlough
may only consist of 4 or 5 days
or perhaps a few more if the
furloughs are raised to 10 days
again. And then? Well suppose
you do come down here to live.
How long will I be stationed here?
Are you willing to travel around,
have difficulty in finding a room,
food, friends, a job and see me
[page III]
on week-ends? And if I’m sent over-
seas will you be happier married
or single? Don’t you see dear that
it all revolves around you and
not me?
I’ve been in the Army 3 months
but I haven’t really been able to
save much. How would we manage?
Don’t you see why I’d like to have
a higher rating?
Bev, if I knew that you were so
set on getting married now regard-
less of what we said I wouldn’t
have written that letter to your
Dad when I did. However I don’t
think that the letter alters matters.
If you are willing to lead the
life I’ve tried to picture I’m
more than willing to marry you
when the furlough comes up. I
don’t mean this as something just
to please you. Hon, I want to marry
you but I don’t want us to regret
[page IV]
it. Really that is why I thought it
best to wait until I could see what
was happening before we made
the decision.
Six weeks from now (when the
furloughs begin again) circumstances
may have altered considerably.
I hope that I’ll be made a Corporal
by then, our furloughs lengthened
and perhaps even sent closer to
N.Y. or at least closer to a
city where you could live.
Another big factor is that we
are going to be in the field almost
every week. Suppose we’re sent
out in the field for a month or
two?
Sweetheart I know how punk
you must feel and I guess you’re
disappointed in me. I know how
you feel because I went thru
the same thing. However in this
case I haven’t said we should
not get married, on the contrary
I feel that you should look
[page V]
at this problem carefully and also
that we wait a few weeks to see
what happens down here.
Don’t worry about the letter I
wrote your Dad. If we decide
to get married I’m sure I can
convince him that we're right.
All I really did in the letter was
to tell him that we discussed
marriage but hadn’t reached a
definite decision. I assured him
that we understood the problem
and I felt that we were thinking
it over carefully. I said tho that
at the present time I thought it best
to wait but that it didn’t mean
I wouldn’t change my mind in the near future.
Oh how I wish we could really
talk over the phone for a short
time, long enough to really iron
out some of these problems. I know
that they can be ironed out.
[page VI]
Oh I know I’ve hurt you
by not being positively in the affirmation
to-night but I do hope you realize
why I’ve acted the way I have.
All furloughs start on Sat
or Mon so I doubt if I could
get one starting in the middle of
the week. Guess the Sun. wedding
would have to become a week-
day one. I also doubt if it could
be a large one. If it meant being
with you longer I really don’t
care what kind of ceremony it is.
Please, please forgive me for what
I’ve said and done. I hope and pray
that you’ll feel better to-morrow.
What a lonely way to spend 4th of
July eve!
Bev I can’t write any more. Just
keep thinking of how miserable you
must feel. I know I do. Darling I love
you, oh how I love you!
Your (will it be husband)
Hal
P.S. Please note change in address.
Hal
-
Contributor
-
LeBourveau, Emma
-
Coverage
-
World War II
-
Creator
-
Harold Cohen
-
Date
-
1943-07-03
-
Format
-
Written Document
-
Language
-
English
-
Publisher
-
Keene State College
-
extracted text
-
