Letter to Kathryn from Ford Killen
Title
Letter to Kathryn from Ford Killen
Description
Writes of listening to a music radio program. Continues with description of his job and work on army newspaper. Continues with news of show business. mentions news from England. Writes of his continued attempts to sort out paperwork for her to come to the United States. Mentions weather and her acting career with comments on the play she was in. Comments on his current activity and asks after her parents. Asks her for a good picture of her.
Creator
Date
1947-03-29
Temporal Coverage
Language
Format
Three-page typewritten letter
Conforms To
Publisher
Rights
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Contributor
Identifier
EKillenFReidKM470329
Transcription
[crest of the U.S. Army Air Forces]
March 29, 1947
My darling ……
I’m listening to one of American’s most popular radio programs “Your Hit Parade” …. it’s a survey of the ten most played songs throughout the country …. Right now they’re playing no. 5, “For Sentimental Reasons” …. so true …. Beryl Davis, England’s songstress, is the star of the program now, and she really is receiving a reception. All of America waits for this program every Saturday night: and every time a song hits the hit parade, you know that it has sold nearly a million copies. No. 4 is the old timer “Heartaches” which has jumped unto the parade for the first time … No. 7 is “Guilty” which is how I feel …. another old timer …
Let me get away from the hit parade for a moment … I’m in the office -- that's where I spend most of my time. We’ve just had a shakeup; we’re always having shakeups; got a new boss – public relations officer … He likes the set up here. Before I go on let me explain that the Mitchel Beacon, has just won one of the top 3 places out of 1800 newspapers published by the Army Navy and Marin [sic] Corps personnel … we took third place – with just 2 men on the staff … that is not bad … but we’ve got 2 extra men now, so we’ll be heading for the top place, I hope. Just a moment out to say that “How are things in Glocca Morra” is no. 2; so it means that the “Anniversary Song” is still no. 1 … It has been tops here and in England (according to Variety Magazine) for many months …. If you haven’t seen The Jolson Story, see it. I saw “The Best Years of Our Lives” in New York …. there are few pictures (with the exception of Henry V and It’s A Wonderful Life. Cathie, darling, I also read in Variety where this picture was playing at the Liecester [sic] Square theatre in London, and would run for at least 12 weeks. Whatever you do, don’t miss it … There’s one scene in the pix worth the price of admission .. it is one of the most poignant and nostalgic scenes I have ever witnessed … Dana Andrews, as the former air force captain who flew B-17s, returns to his home across the tracks … just a shack, and to his faithless wife …. He was a well-respected person while guiding the bombers over Berlin, but when he comes back and goes to work in a drugstore (chemists) he isn’t very much. In this particular scene, he wanders through a B-17 graveyard where thousands of the planes, now obsolete, dead -- their usefulness over -- and he is thinking …. remembering …. wishing the Air Force had had half of these planes at the beginning of the war …. He crawls up into the nose of the B-17, staring at the ground through the plexiglass. For a couple of minutes he doesn’t move; the scene is really made by the musical score. Never have I seen greater -- not even the charge of the French at Agincourt in Henry V ….
They’re playing “Girl of my Dreams” -- one of my favorite [sic] songs .. it ranks right up there with “Always” -- which I still can
[page break]
Two
remember you singing that night coming back from the Buckinghamshire Arms; I think I was restricted to the post and on the way we met Col. Scott, the CO, and how we expected to see him turn around, come back and pinch me --- but he didn’t ..
I hope the coal and weather situations have been alleviated in England. We read front page stories every day about the awful weather and how it held up the coal which was already in short supply. In the newsreel I saw the Yorkshire moors all covered with snow. I was seeing the show on the base with my head officer -- Major Bock, and I told him that this was where my girl came from …..
Now about the affadavit [sic] …. God only knows how I have been trying -- Cathie -- I went to New York, I went to my legal officer and to the personal affairs officer on the base. There are so many things that I must get and do before I can send the little sheet that will clear the path for your trip to America. I’ve got to have a birth certificate …. which I must write to the state capitol, Baton Rouge, in Louisiana, to get -- a certified copy … as the Army never returned mine …. they’ve lost it …. also I’ve got to write to my parents and get a statement that they will see that you’re supported (For what reason, I don’t know); I’ve got to post $500 to indure your not becoming a public charge -- deportation fee, they call it -- why would I be sending for you if I didn’t want you? I must have a record of your birth … day, year, etc. parents, location … I have an idea …. I don’t know how good it will be, or if it will work out ….. but I know that others have done it and it worked -- to get brides over, I mean … without all the red tape ….. Let me know what you think of the idea … of getting married by trans atlantic telephone …. It wouldn’t cost me over $50, and it would give you the necessary title to come over … not as a fiancee, but as a bride; then we could get married again when you got here … I think I still would need all the data … Meanwhile, I’ll keep working on the other affadavit, [sic] and I’ll see the legal officer to [deleted] see [/deleted] find out if they will permit me to do this -- transatlantic wedding, I mean. Or if it were possible for you to get to Canada; I could come up there, marry you and bring you back here. One of the boys was telling me that Englishmen can get visas to Canada -- it being a dominion …. We can enter Canada without a passport …. Send along the info …..
I’m getting a bit homesick … the weather was lousy when I was there last winter …. It’s very nice here now … spring is just around the corner … although I don’t like Long Island any better than I used to, nor New York ….
I’m glad that you’re playing in Stage Door. I heard it was a great play -- although I never saw it, nor the picture with Katharine Hepburn and Ginger Rogers … Which one was Terry?
[page break]
[underlined] 3 [/underlined]
She didn’t commit suicide in the play did she? The guy who works with me said he saw it and it was great -- taking place in a boarding house … James Mason opened in New York this week in Bathsheba and the critics panned him pitifully. But it had such an advance sale that it will have a long run despite the critics’ lambasting. Donald Wolfit flopped so packed up and left. Maurice Chevalier has been packing them in at a New York theatre, in a one-man show. In fact the six-week [deleted] [indecipherable word] [/deleted] engagement has been extended for two more weeks. I have tickets to Lillian Hellman’s “Another part of the Forest” which tells the story of the characters of The Little Foxes -- 20 years before the foxes came along ….. about the first play in history to give a prologue to a play that has already been successfully produced. Think I told you that I had seen Frederic March in “Years Ago” … it was a fari [sic] comedy -- nothing outstanding. There are others I want to see “Annie Get Your Gun” which will be produced in London shortly, so I hear, along with Oklahoma!
I’m all alone now -- the guy who was here has gone to the barracks to go to bed, soft music is playing …. if you were only here … or if on wings of song I could be transported there to be with you …. I’ve written thousands of words about London and England … There are things about the country that I dislike, certain customs, but there are things about America I dislike. The WACs who tried to persuade me to stay single told me today that they were tearing into you now, and admitted they were prejudiced, and said that when you did come over, they probably would bend over backwards being nice to you. They’re a couple of pretty swell gals, but they just like to talk -- I have a tooth giving me pain -- has been for three days …. By the way, the docs have my teeth fixed -- the permanent bridge -- once I get them in, about a couple or three days, you never will be able to tell that I have them, or have had any trouble -- I hope -- This, [deleted] [indecipherable word] [/deleted] anyway, is what dentists tell me.
How are your parents? I hope they are both okay, and that they are on my side. Tell me, darling, did you get any of the food I sent to you? Will see about sending other parcels …..
Sending along a few copies of the Beacon, some since I became editor …. one paper you will find not so hot; my assistant put it out while I was on furlough and I don’t like the makeup, but its okay, I suppose …. Don’t have to get up early tomorrow (Sun) so I can stay up late tonight … it’s around 1 am now.
Darling, I want a good picture of you …. preferably one tinted …. if you will send me this, I promise …. I swear that as soon as I get my choppers fixed up, I’ll have one made and send to you. Please. All my love forever and ever and ever, Yours Heathcliff
March 29, 1947
My darling ……
I’m listening to one of American’s most popular radio programs “Your Hit Parade” …. it’s a survey of the ten most played songs throughout the country …. Right now they’re playing no. 5, “For Sentimental Reasons” …. so true …. Beryl Davis, England’s songstress, is the star of the program now, and she really is receiving a reception. All of America waits for this program every Saturday night: and every time a song hits the hit parade, you know that it has sold nearly a million copies. No. 4 is the old timer “Heartaches” which has jumped unto the parade for the first time … No. 7 is “Guilty” which is how I feel …. another old timer …
Let me get away from the hit parade for a moment … I’m in the office -- that's where I spend most of my time. We’ve just had a shakeup; we’re always having shakeups; got a new boss – public relations officer … He likes the set up here. Before I go on let me explain that the Mitchel Beacon, has just won one of the top 3 places out of 1800 newspapers published by the Army Navy and Marin [sic] Corps personnel … we took third place – with just 2 men on the staff … that is not bad … but we’ve got 2 extra men now, so we’ll be heading for the top place, I hope. Just a moment out to say that “How are things in Glocca Morra” is no. 2; so it means that the “Anniversary Song” is still no. 1 … It has been tops here and in England (according to Variety Magazine) for many months …. If you haven’t seen The Jolson Story, see it. I saw “The Best Years of Our Lives” in New York …. there are few pictures (with the exception of Henry V and It’s A Wonderful Life. Cathie, darling, I also read in Variety where this picture was playing at the Liecester [sic] Square theatre in London, and would run for at least 12 weeks. Whatever you do, don’t miss it … There’s one scene in the pix worth the price of admission .. it is one of the most poignant and nostalgic scenes I have ever witnessed … Dana Andrews, as the former air force captain who flew B-17s, returns to his home across the tracks … just a shack, and to his faithless wife …. He was a well-respected person while guiding the bombers over Berlin, but when he comes back and goes to work in a drugstore (chemists) he isn’t very much. In this particular scene, he wanders through a B-17 graveyard where thousands of the planes, now obsolete, dead -- their usefulness over -- and he is thinking …. remembering …. wishing the Air Force had had half of these planes at the beginning of the war …. He crawls up into the nose of the B-17, staring at the ground through the plexiglass. For a couple of minutes he doesn’t move; the scene is really made by the musical score. Never have I seen greater -- not even the charge of the French at Agincourt in Henry V ….
They’re playing “Girl of my Dreams” -- one of my favorite [sic] songs .. it ranks right up there with “Always” -- which I still can
[page break]
Two
remember you singing that night coming back from the Buckinghamshire Arms; I think I was restricted to the post and on the way we met Col. Scott, the CO, and how we expected to see him turn around, come back and pinch me --- but he didn’t ..
I hope the coal and weather situations have been alleviated in England. We read front page stories every day about the awful weather and how it held up the coal which was already in short supply. In the newsreel I saw the Yorkshire moors all covered with snow. I was seeing the show on the base with my head officer -- Major Bock, and I told him that this was where my girl came from …..
Now about the affadavit [sic] …. God only knows how I have been trying -- Cathie -- I went to New York, I went to my legal officer and to the personal affairs officer on the base. There are so many things that I must get and do before I can send the little sheet that will clear the path for your trip to America. I’ve got to have a birth certificate …. which I must write to the state capitol, Baton Rouge, in Louisiana, to get -- a certified copy … as the Army never returned mine …. they’ve lost it …. also I’ve got to write to my parents and get a statement that they will see that you’re supported (For what reason, I don’t know); I’ve got to post $500 to indure your not becoming a public charge -- deportation fee, they call it -- why would I be sending for you if I didn’t want you? I must have a record of your birth … day, year, etc. parents, location … I have an idea …. I don’t know how good it will be, or if it will work out ….. but I know that others have done it and it worked -- to get brides over, I mean … without all the red tape ….. Let me know what you think of the idea … of getting married by trans atlantic telephone …. It wouldn’t cost me over $50, and it would give you the necessary title to come over … not as a fiancee, but as a bride; then we could get married again when you got here … I think I still would need all the data … Meanwhile, I’ll keep working on the other affadavit, [sic] and I’ll see the legal officer to [deleted] see [/deleted] find out if they will permit me to do this -- transatlantic wedding, I mean. Or if it were possible for you to get to Canada; I could come up there, marry you and bring you back here. One of the boys was telling me that Englishmen can get visas to Canada -- it being a dominion …. We can enter Canada without a passport …. Send along the info …..
I’m getting a bit homesick … the weather was lousy when I was there last winter …. It’s very nice here now … spring is just around the corner … although I don’t like Long Island any better than I used to, nor New York ….
I’m glad that you’re playing in Stage Door. I heard it was a great play -- although I never saw it, nor the picture with Katharine Hepburn and Ginger Rogers … Which one was Terry?
[page break]
[underlined] 3 [/underlined]
She didn’t commit suicide in the play did she? The guy who works with me said he saw it and it was great -- taking place in a boarding house … James Mason opened in New York this week in Bathsheba and the critics panned him pitifully. But it had such an advance sale that it will have a long run despite the critics’ lambasting. Donald Wolfit flopped so packed up and left. Maurice Chevalier has been packing them in at a New York theatre, in a one-man show. In fact the six-week [deleted] [indecipherable word] [/deleted] engagement has been extended for two more weeks. I have tickets to Lillian Hellman’s “Another part of the Forest” which tells the story of the characters of The Little Foxes -- 20 years before the foxes came along ….. about the first play in history to give a prologue to a play that has already been successfully produced. Think I told you that I had seen Frederic March in “Years Ago” … it was a fari [sic] comedy -- nothing outstanding. There are others I want to see “Annie Get Your Gun” which will be produced in London shortly, so I hear, along with Oklahoma!
I’m all alone now -- the guy who was here has gone to the barracks to go to bed, soft music is playing …. if you were only here … or if on wings of song I could be transported there to be with you …. I’ve written thousands of words about London and England … There are things about the country that I dislike, certain customs, but there are things about America I dislike. The WACs who tried to persuade me to stay single told me today that they were tearing into you now, and admitted they were prejudiced, and said that when you did come over, they probably would bend over backwards being nice to you. They’re a couple of pretty swell gals, but they just like to talk -- I have a tooth giving me pain -- has been for three days …. By the way, the docs have my teeth fixed -- the permanent bridge -- once I get them in, about a couple or three days, you never will be able to tell that I have them, or have had any trouble -- I hope -- This, [deleted] [indecipherable word] [/deleted] anyway, is what dentists tell me.
How are your parents? I hope they are both okay, and that they are on my side. Tell me, darling, did you get any of the food I sent to you? Will see about sending other parcels …..
Sending along a few copies of the Beacon, some since I became editor …. one paper you will find not so hot; my assistant put it out while I was on furlough and I don’t like the makeup, but its okay, I suppose …. Don’t have to get up early tomorrow (Sun) so I can stay up late tonight … it’s around 1 am now.
Darling, I want a good picture of you …. preferably one tinted …. if you will send me this, I promise …. I swear that as soon as I get my choppers fixed up, I’ll have one made and send to you. Please. All my love forever and ever and ever, Yours Heathcliff
Collection
Citation
F Killen, “Letter to Kathryn from Ford Killen,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed April 27, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/39675.
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