May 5, 1945
Dear Mom and Dad;
It’s been quite a while since I have been able to write. We were committed for combat – when we secured our part of the island we had to go down and relieve the Army.
You will receive a notice from the War Dept. of my being wounded. Please don’t worry, as I am all right. I am not able to use my hands, so I am having a corpsman write this letter for me.
Your loving son,
John
P.S.
Dear Mr. & Mrs. Brady;
The above was written by me, as your son told me. I am rather unaccustomed to doing this sort of thing, but somehow I feel that I must tell you a bit more than the blank, disheartening telegrams that Uncle Sam has already sent you.
As I sit here writing you, John is resting comfortably in a bed very close by. Please know that he is getting the best care humanly possible, and that he is in no danger.
I know that it is quite foolish to ask you not to worry; you see I have a wife and little girl at home, waiting for me, and I do understand some of these things. However, please take comfort and rest a little more easily, when I say that John is not too seriously injured, and that in all probability he will be home with you, perhaps sooner than you may think.
To be quite frank, and I hope you will forgive me if I am doing the wrong thing, John has been burned about the face, hands, arms and legs. Perhaps that looks horrible in writing, but modern medicine and surgery will work wonders, and I know that John will be as good as new in a few months.
John is in very good spirits, not experiencing too much pain, and feeling at least up to “par”, so to speak.
I must close at this time, due to the fact that we have a few hundred more men, who have been injured, and they all need help.
Trusting that this finds you in good health, I remain
Very truly,
Edward D. Sears, Ph.M.2/c
U.S.S. Karnes, A.P.A #175,
c/o F.P.O. San Francisco.
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John Brady served in the 1st Marine Division, United States Marine Corps during World War II. The reprinted letter above was authored over 70 years ago, likely aboard a hospital ship during Brady’s transport back to the west coast from the South Pacific.
He would spend most of a year in a Naval hospital. He eventually returned to his family in Rhode Island, re-enrolled in the University of Rhode Island, and finished school. After graduation he married and they raised a family of six children. My good friend Mike Brady, a Connecticut high school teacher and retired USAF Command Chief Master Sergeant, is one of them.
Mike found this letter a few years ago after his mom’s passing. Here’s what he wrote about it:
My Dad had visible scars from his wounds, but not to us. He was our Dad. What an amazing thing this corpsman did in writing to my Grandparents for my Dad.
We all have people in our lives that have made sacrifices to help us get where we are, may we all take a moment to appreciate these sacrifices and give thanks whenever possible.
Mike’s dad died in 1984.
It was timely that I came across this vignette, that Mike originally shared, while backing up some files at my soon-to-be old office. As my military career comes to an end at the end of the month and Father’s Day still close in the rear-view mirror, it brought with it a host of emotions and thoughts of my own aging father.
And of my own shortcomings.
Thank you John Brady and Corpsman Sears. And special thanks to Mike Brady for allowing me to share his dad’s story.
Get Strong. Be Strong. Stay Strong.