We read history because it summarizes the human experience, and no historical account moves us more than one recited by someone who lived through an event, or who wrote a letter recapping it.
The letter written by the soldier who served with Arthur Cunningham of Lynn is a centerpiece in a story that defines why we celebrate Memorial Day.
Cunningham served in World War II in Italy and he was killed when a mine he was testing exploded. The only boy among eight siblings, his sisters included Mary McGovern, mother of Lynn resident Anne Carpenter, whose daughter, Gretchen, worked caring for seniors in 2007 in a South Dakota nursing facility.
In a true testament to the fact that history is stranger than fiction, Gretchen Carpenter got to know one of her clients who said he served in World War II with a Lynn resident. Conversations between the two established that Cunningham was the man’s Army buddy. The man wrote this letter to Carpenter.
“To my dearest sweet Gretchen,
I had no idea you were Artie’s niece. I should have known because he was a wonderful and caring person just like yourself.
When we were talking about the war you told me your great uncle died in the war. I asked you what happen(ed) and you said he stepped on a mine. I asked you his name and you know I started to cry.
When you told me his name I couldn’t believe it. It was my pal Artie. Gretchen, I stepped on the mine and Artie went flying in the air. I tr(y)ied to save him, but it was to(o) late. I lived and your Uncle Artie died. I have lived with this guilt and sorrow for over sixty years now. I wanted to thank you for talking with me, and telling me to let go now.
Dear Gretchen, you were sent to me by God. I’m so sorry I did this to your family. I tried to save him, but I couldn’t. I remember every time we stopped at a port, he said I need to buy something for my niece Anne. He loved his niece Anne so much. Thank you Gretchen for helping me. I believe you are an angel. I must go now, my mind is at ease. Thank you again,
Sincerely, Ralph”
After reading the letter, Carpenter said she sought to comfort the man, repeatedly telling him, “It’s not your fault.” She said he died a day after giving her the letter. She met the man’s relatives who, she said, thanked her for helping him find peace of mind in his final days.
The letter and a photo of Cunningham remain a Memorial Day touchstone for Carpenter and her family.
Memorial Day will not feature its traditional remembrances and commemorations this year due to coronavirus social distancing restrictions. But an online virtual remembrance will include a reading of 450 names belonging to Lynn veterans from World War II through current conflicts who died while on active duty.
City Veterans Services Director Michael Sweeney, who is currently deployed on a coronavirus relief mission, read Cunningham’s name during the name recitation.
Their voices are muted and their stories are preserved in the memories of comrades and loved ones, in letters tucked away in books and attics or in history accounts.
Every veteran has a story and every veteran who made the ultimate sacrifice for the United States of America is remembered by family members and by people who served with them or, like Sweeney, were inspired by the service of veterans who came before them.
If we drive through a local cemetery on Monday or pull over on a local street this weekend near a sign saluting a veteran, we will be living history by saluting people who helped make it.
John W. Miller’s legacy is enshrined on a pretty landscaped triangle bordered by Farragut Road and Grant Road in Swampscott. Jack Dedrick cited American Battle Monuments Commission information when he wrote in 2009 how Miller was aboard an aircraft returning from a night reconnaissance mission over North Korea in 1951 when the plane crashed in fog.
Cunningham’s and Miller’s stories echo down History’s corridors and they will eventually go unheard unless we take the time to learn about the men and women enshrined in monuments and on signs dotting intersections across the country. Remembering fallen veterans isn’t much to ask compared to the sacrifice made by men and women who laid their lives on Freedom’s altar.
