HARRY TRUMAN MAKES CAPTAIN IN "UNCLE SAM'S ARMEE"
Angers, France (JFK+50) One hundred years ago, June 19, 1918, future POTUS Harry S Truman* wrote a letter to future First Lady Bess Wallace (Truman)** describing the afternoon as "the grandest...I've spent since I've been in France."
The reason?
Harry had received 7 letters from his future bride as well as several more from other folks. The latest from Bess was dated May 20th, 1918. And Harry had some good news to tell her...
"I'm a real Captain in Uncle Sam's Armee. I am an Adjutant of the Second Battalion."
Harry also commented on his lack of interest in French girls. He wrote...
"my mind is occupied with a girl in the USA of a kind they don't make in France..."
HST also said that he got plenty to eat but would give 6 months pay for a Sunday dinner at Bess's house. Bess Truman once said...
"A woman's place in public is to sit beside her husband, be silent, and be sure her hat is on straight."
*Harry S Truman (1884-1972) was born in Lamar, Missouri, served in the US Army in World War I, the United States Senate (1935-1945), Vice-President (1945) & 33rd POTUS (1945-1953).
**Elizabeth Virginia "Bess" Wallace Truman (1885-1982) was born in Independence, Missouri. She is known as the longest-lived First Lady.
Harry Truman proposed to BWT in 1911, but she turned him down. They married on June 28, 1919.
SOURCE
"Letter from Harry S Truman to Bess Wallace, June 19, 1918", Truman Papers-Family, Business and Public Affairs Papers, The Truman Presidential Library, www.trumanlibrary.org/
