Patrick Hitler
In 1940, a year after fleeing Nazi
Germany and setting up home in New York, the writer of the following letter (edited) attempted to enlist with the U.S. Armed
Forces; however, his application was denied for one incredible
reason: his uncle was Adolf Hitler.
He wasn't deterred, and two years later, a few months after his uncle had
declared war on the U.S., William Patrick
Hitler (pictured above) tried again to register for military
service by way of the fascinating letter below, sent directly to the U.S. President.
It was quickly passed on to the FBI's director, J. Edgar Hoover, who then
investigated Hitler's nephew and eventually cleared him for service.
William Patrick Hitler joined the
U.S. Navy in 1944, and was discharged in 1947 after being injured in service.
He passed away 40 years later, in New York.
March 3rd, 1942.
Dear Mr. President:
May I take the liberty of
encroaching on your valuable time and that of your staff at the White House?
Mindful of the critical days the nation is now passing through, I do so only
because the prerogative of your high office alone can decide my difficult and
singular situation.
Everybody in the world today must
answer to himself which cause they will serve. To free people of deep religious
feeling there can be but one answer and one choice, that will sustain them
always and to the bitter end. All my relatives and friends soon will be
marching for that freedom and decency under the Stars and Stripes. For this
reason, Mr. President, I am respectfully submitting this petition to you to
enquire as to whether I may be allowed to join them in their struggle against
tyranny and oppression?
The great expense the English legal
procedure demands in changing my name is not within my financial means and they will not let me join their army. At the
same time I have not been successful in determining whether the Canadian Army
would facilitate my entrance into the armed forces. As things are at the
present and lacking any official guidance, I find that to attempt to enlist as
a nephew of Hitler is something that requires a strange sort of courage that I
am unable to muster, bereft as I am of any classification or official support
from any quarter.
As to my integrity, Mr. President,
I can only say that it is a matter of record and it compares somewhat to the
foresighted spirit with which you, by every ingenuity known to statecraft,
wrested from the American Congress those weapons which are today the Nation's
great defense in this crisis. I can also reflect that in a time of great
complacency and ignorance I tried to do those things, which, as a Christian I
knew to be right.
As a fugitive from the Gestapo I
warned France through the press that Hitler would invade her that year. The
people of England I warned by the same means that the so-called
"solution" of Munich was a myth that would bring terrible
consequences.
On my arrival in America I at once
informed the press that Hitler would loose his Frankenstein on civilization
that year. Although nobody paid any attention to what I said, I continued to
lecture and write in America. Now the time for writing and talking has passed
and I am mindful only of the great debt my mother and I owe to the United
States. More than anything else I would like to see active combat as soon as
possible and thereby be accepted by my friends and comrades as one of them in this
great struggle for liberty.
May I therefore venture to hope,
Mr. President, that in the turmoil of this vast conflict you will not be moved
to reject my appeal for reasons which I am in no way responsible?
There could be no greater honor,
Mr. President, to have lived and to have been allowed to serve you, the
deliverer of the American people from want, and no greater privilege then to
have striven and had a small part in establishing the title you once will bear
in posterity as the greatest Emancipator of suffering mankind in political
history.
I would be most happy to give any
additional information that might be required and I take the liberty of
enclosing a circular containing details about myself, and hope it will not be held against me that I am the nephew and only descendant of the ill-famed Chancellor and Leader of Germany who today so despotically seeks to enslave the free and Christian peoples of the globe.
Permit me also, Mr. President, to express my heartfelt good wishes for your future health and happiness, coupled with the hope that you may soon lead all men who believe in decency everywhere onward and upward to a glorious victory.
I am,
Very respectfully yours,
Patrick Hitler
_______________________________
Below, is an excerpt from a letter
written by an 18 year old kid who sent it to his Aunt Patty about meeting a
childhood friend for the first time. The year was 1962
Dear Pat,
So sorry not to have written before
(I plead insane) in bluebottle voice. Exit right amid deafening applause.
I do hope you're very well. We have
survived yet another glorious English Winter. I wonder which day Summer falls
on this year?
Oh but my dear I have been soooo
busy since Christmas beside working at school. You know I was keen on Chuck Berry
and I thought I was the only fan for miles but one mornin' on Dartford Stn.
(that's so I don't have to write a long word like station) I was holding one of
Chuck's records when a guy I knew at primary school 7-11 yrs y'know came up to
me. He's got every record Chuck Berry ever made and all his mates have too,
they are all rhythm and blues fans, real R&B I mean (not this Dinah Shore,
Brook Benton crap) Jimmy Reed, Muddy Waters, Chuck, Howlin' Wolf, John Lee
Hooker all the Chicago bluesmen real lowdown stuff, marvelous. Bo Diddley he's
another great.
Anyways the guy on the station, he
is called Mick Jagger and all the ........
Keith Richards
____________________________
A speech writer, H. R. Haldeman,
sent this letter to President Nixon’s chief of staff Bill Saffire, just is case
should the first attempted moon landing ended in disaster. Thankfully it never
had to be read out in public and the landing was a success.
From: Bill Safire to H.R. Haldeman
July 18 1969
IN EVENT OF MOON DISASTER:
Fate has ordained that the men who
went to the moon to explore in peace will stay on the moon to rest in peace.
These brave men, Neil Armstrong and
Edwin Aldrin, know that there is no hope for their recovery. But they also know
that there is hope for mankind in their sacrifice.
These two men are laying down their
lives in mankind's most noble goal: the search for truth and understanding.
They will be mourned by their
families and friends; they will be mourned by the nation; they will be mourned
by the people of the world; they will be mourned by a Mother Earth that dared
send two of her sons into the unknown.
In their exploration, they stirred
the people of the world to feel as one; in their sacrifice, they bind more
tightly the brotherhood of man.
In ancient days, men looked at the
stars and saw their heroes in the constellations. In modern times, we do much
the same, but our heroes are epic men of flesh and blood.
Others will follow, and surely find
their way home. Man's search will not be denied. But these men were the first,
and they will remain the foremost in our hearts.
For every human being who looks up
at the moon in the nights to come will know that there is some corner of
another world that is forever mankind.
