Weekly Writings 9/4/2023-9/10/2023
This week, I was very excited to get hands on with actual letters, reading and analyzing. My partner and I read letters from Second Lieutenant John R. Kern, who turned out to be a very interesting man from what we read in his letters.
Personality-wise, I felt as though we didn’t learn much, aside from his passion for Muhlenberg sports and general involvement as a Muhlenberg alumni. He often wrote sentiments in letters to staff that he wished he could come and visit for games and other events, but due to his position, both in location and job, he was unable. Though his timeline of letters were out of order, I found it interesting to piece it all together. In the first half of the folder, we found articles and letters from the beginning and end of his military career, which extended into the 1970’s. Most letters were from the 1940’s, from 1944 to 1946, which were his years of active duty during WWII. Once we got to the middle portion, we found newspaper clippings that stated Kern was missing in action, I’m assuming while he was abroad “somewhere in England,” then later on, he was found in a Nazi prison camp. Though I’m sure those events were traumatic, I’m wondering what the full story was. How did he end up in the prison camp? What was his experience during his time there? How and when did he leave, and how was his adjustment back to regular, daily life in America? How did his loved ones feel during this time, both when his whereabouts were unknown and when he was found? I’m sure that if we had gotten farther into the folder, there would have either been some details or reactions from a variety of people, perhaps his wife or the Alumni secretary.
I’m still very interested in piecing together Kern’s story, so perhaps I will either look at them in person in Trexler once again, or I will check the online database of his letters and correspondences. It was very interesting to receive this first-hand account of a G.I.’s experience during WWII, especially since this is a time period that has always intrigued me. I’m not particularly sure why, but perhaps as we dive into more letters from this time period from a wide-variety of perspectives, I’ll get more insight into my own personal thoughts that have been brewing for at least half a decade pertaining to WWII.
Next week, we will be exploring the Japanese Internment in the United States during WWII, which I’m actually very interested in. Personally, I believe it is a part of our history in the United States that is frequently overlooked or glossed-over, even today, a period of time where we are more highly aware of racial and xenophobic issues than ever before. A few years ago, I read George Takei’s autobiography in the form of a graphic novel that showed his family’s time in the internment camps and his processing of that event as he grew older. I found it to be a very interesting read, and I’m interested in learning more about this often forgotten chapter of the United States during WWII.
