Letter from G.S.F. (Gaillard Stoney FitzSimons) to Amy, 10 Nov 1942, page 3 with signature

Scanned page 550 of Book 1 — Scan of original. Open full size →

in the military service because of defective vision. Frank, Jr., as doubtless you know, is attending Marshall College at Huntington, W. Va. He will be 18 next February. At present his plan is to quit college in January and volunteer ~~for~~ ~~service~~ in the Marines; this he can do while 17 with the consent of his parents; otherwise, if he waits to be drafted when he is 18, he will have no ~~force~~ choice of which branch of the military service he will be inducted to. Frank hears frequently from “Reg,” who is still with the Canadian forces in England, that is, he was in England up to a week or two ago. In view of recent events he may now be in some one of the many fighting fronts. He likes the English people very much. He drives a troop transport truck.

You are so young in my memory that it is hard for me to visualize you as a grandmother. I hope that you will get the great pleasure out of your grandchildren that your parents did out of theirs. From the appreciative way in which you speak of your grandson, you are making a good start.

Affectionately, G.S.F.

AI Notes

Final page of the Nov. 10, 1942 letter, signed G.S.F. — Gaillard Stoney FitzSimons (confirmed by the same flourished signature on p547 and by the Hendersonville/After Glow context; the same writer, who in his Aug 8 1944 letter on p280 signs his name in full). Reports on Pickens’s (James Pickens Walker Jr.'s) military rejection for defective vision; on ‘Frank Jr.’ (Frank L. FitzSimons Jr., about to turn 18 in February 1943) attending Marshall College at Huntington, W.Va. and planning to leave college in January to volunteer for the Marines; and on cousin ‘Reg’ (Reginald FitzSimons), still with the Canadian forces in England and possibly now at one of the many fighting fronts — he drives a troop-transport truck and likes the English people very much. Closes with affectionate reflections on Amy as a young grandmother and a hope she will get the great pleasure from her grandchildren that her parents (Samuel Gaillard FitzSimons Sr. and Mary Anne Perry FitzSimons) did from theirs. [confirmed signature ‘G.S.F.’ under ‘Affectionately’; writer identified as Gaillard Stoney FitzSimons (same hand and signature pattern as the four-page letter on book-001/pp 545–547 and the Aug 8 1944 letter on p280); standardised FitzSimons forms; expanded people list (Reginald FitzSimons as full name; Frank L. FitzSimons Jr. specified).]