Hello Friends!
Everyone loves a good love story. Even more so when the
couple faces challenging circumstances that their enduring love overcomes. I’m
a sucker for a good WWII wartime love story. Seeing how young love endured
distance and the other challenges that come along with war is—no matter the
outcome—endearing. Spoiler alert—I am going to be sharing a story today that did
not end with a happy homecoming in 1945, so make sure you have some Kleenex
nearby if these stories tend to trigger your tear ducts like they do for me.
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| Wally's short-snorters from his first, and only, transatlantic crossing. |
As it’s been said before on this blog, artifacts are so
much more than objects. They often have stories attached to them whether or not
they are written. At first glance, these signed dollar bills just look like
some sort of memento from the war. It turns out that they are
short-snorters—they were used to document a service member’s first Atlantic
crossing. They belonged to a Wally Williams and he gave them to his girlfriend, Betty Morrill.
Wally and Betty’s romance started in Chicago during the
Great Depression when Wally delivered groceries for Betty’s mother. In 1940, he
was washing the windows at Betty’s house when he noticed how beautiful she was
in her maid of honor dress for her sister’s wedding. He decided to ask her to
his senior prom where they stayed out all night and had breakfast together that
next morning.
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| Wally and Betty after his graduation in 1941. |
After he graduated in 1941, they began to date since he
no longer busy being an all-state wrestler. Betty and Wally loved to jitterbug,
in addition to going to the movies, taking long walks and swimming. At first,
Wally was given a deferment from enlistment because he was the sole supporter
of his family at the time working at a railroad loading boxcars. However, in
December 1942, Wally was drafted into the war. He trained as a soldier at Camp
Walters in Texas and was given orders to deploy to England.
Betty traveled with his family to New Jersey to send him
off. They arrived on a Saturday and Wally was given a pass for that night and
they all went to a local bar and made plans for the next day. However, Sunday
morning he called and notified them that he was confined to base since they
were shipping out that evening. The family was allowed on base for a few hours
that day. It was there that she sent him off with kisses, tears, and promises
of tomorrow without realizing that this was a final good-bye.
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| This photograph was taken of Wally in England February 24, 1944 while training for D-Day. |
Wally was sent to England to prepare for the D-Day
invasion of Normandy, France. While he was in England preparing for
the invasion, they wrote each other letters regularly. It was during this time
that he sent her the short-snorters signed by members of the 29th Division for safe keeping.
Wally’s outfit was one of the first units to land on the
beaches on June 6, 1944. Many of those soldiers were killed on that day.
However, Wally was one of the lucky few to continue on into France. On July 5,
1944, he wrote a letter that referred to her as “Snooks”—it was his nickname
for her—and then went on to talk about how lonely he felt, but that she was his
inspiration to keep going. He finished out the letter by saying that he loved
her. Unfortunately, this would be the last letter that Wally would write to his
beloved Betty.
Wally was killed shortly after he wrote that letter. In
August 1944, he was listed as missing in action but then shortly after the
first telegram his brother notified Betty that he had been killed in action.
She cried for a week. She later said this about her grief:
“So much is told of mothers and
wives of GIs who were lost in WWII, but so little is mentioned of the
sweethearts that were left behind. We too suffered, but without a gold star to
hang in our window, just one to hang in our hearts, to remain there forever,
symbolic of a life that might have been.”
Although Betty moved on with her life by marrying and
becoming a mother, she never forgot about Wally. In 1995, People magazine, in
honor of the 50th anniversary of D-Day, published photographs of the
29th Division veterans and Betty recognized some of the names as
those who signed the short-snorters Wally sent her. She was able to preserve
Wally’s memory by reconnecting with these veterans. She even found out from one
of his buddies that Wally regretted not marrying her.
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| National D-Day Memorial Dedication on June 6, 2001 |
As a part of honoring Wally, Betty traveled to the
National D-Day Memorial’s dedication on June 6, 2001. She joined almost 20,000 other
guests and President George W. Bush in tribute to the soldiers of the D-Day
invasion and the realization of D-Day veteran Bob Slaughter’s dream. It was
through this connection that we now have these short-snorters at the Memorial
today.
Wally and Betty’s love story is just one out of thousands
of others. While we have shared quite a few on this blog, there are still lots
of stories that are left untold. One of my personal favorite aspects of
learning about World War II is learning about the lives of the people involved
in the invasion. It is when we connect with history on a personal level that it
becomes real to us and compels us to share with others. So, in the spirit of
Valentine’s Day, I want to share more about an event that takes us back to the
1940’s.
Each year around Valentine’s Day, the National D-Day
Memorial hosts a fundraiser called the “GI Jive.” It’s an opportunity to put on
your dancing shoes to jump, jive, and jitterbug—just like Wally and Betty—at a
1940s dance like no other. It’s the perfect night of food, fun, and fancy
footwork, and makes a great Valentine’s gift. We’ll have big band sounds from
The Swingbeans featuring Karen Nichols and Scott Walter, a silent auction, a
live auction, photo booth, and fabulous dinner catered by Charley’s—everything
you need for a night of elegance and all benefiting the National D-Day
Memorial.
This year we will be hosting the GI Jive at the historic
Trivium Estate in Forest, VA on Saturday, February 13, 2016 from 6:00PM to 10:30PM.
Attire is black tie or period clothing. Cost: $80/person or $150/couple. Tickets are limited! Call (540)
586-3329 to purchase your tickets or to sponsor a veteran today.
Until Next Time,
Maggie
Sources
Brokaw, Tom. An
Album of Memories: Personal Histories from the Greatest Generation. New
York: Random House, 2001.
Whiteside, John. “Memories of her First True Love Bring
Woman to the D-Day Memorial.” The
Herald-News (Joliet, IL). N.d.
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