Letter from John McCready FitzSimons, Manila, Nov. 10, 1928 — page 5 (closing, signed 'your devoted brother John')
Book 1, Page 451 ·1928
Transcription
[Printed letterhead in blue, identical to page 447, at top of sheet. The pencil page number ‘(5)’ is written just below the central Manila Hotel device.]
The body of the letter concludes, written in blue-black ink:
write him as fully today. Sent Ellie a radio yesterday reporting my safe arrival. Am sure that she will forward to you.
Well I am just about 11,500 miles away from you all now. Mails are frequent though even if they take a long time.
With much love
your devoted brother John
AI Notes
Fifth and final sheet of the five-page Manila Hotel letter (pages 447–451). Page-number ‘(5)’ is pencilled at top, just below the central Manila Hotel device. The writer explains that he sent ‘Ellie’ (Ellen Milliken FitzSimons) a radio cable the previous day reporting his safe arrival and trusts she will forward word to the recipient (‘Chubby’). He reflects that he is now ‘just about 11,500 miles away from you all’ and notes that the mails are frequent, even if slow. Signs off ‘With much love / your devoted brother / John’. The signature confirms the writer’s identity as a brother of ‘Ellie’ (Ellen Milliken FitzSimons, Charleston Library Society Librarian) and a son of ‘Dad’ (Theodore Stoney FitzSimons) — i.e. John McCready FitzSimons (b. 1890), then a U.S. Navy officer reporting to Destroyer Squadron 13 at Cavite Navy Yard. Same hand as the 1918 Halifax letter (p. 446) and the 1948 Hendersonville letters (pp. 517–522).