Auction Date:2012 Aug 15 @ 18:00 (UTC-5 : EST/CDT)
Location:5 Rt 101A Suite 5, Amherst, New Hampshire, 03031, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
TLS, one page, 7.25 x 10.25, personal letterhead, March 22, 1972. Letter to Margot Chadwell of Santa Barbara, California. In full: “I was pleased to have your letter of March 12, which I read with special interest and all the more so since you consider that by my decision regarding the atom bomb, your husband’s life was spared. I appreciate your wanting to share with me your personal experience. I am glad to enclose the autographed photograph requested by you.” In fine condition, with some light soiling along bottom edge. Accompanied by a matte-finish 3.5 x 5 photo, signed and inscribed in blue ballpoint.
The husband of this letter’s recipient was Lieutenant Colonel George T. Chadwell, who served in the Pacific with the 19th Bombardment Group during World War II and conducted daylight raids against strategic objectives on the Japanese home islands, bombing targets in Tokyo, Nagoya, Kobe, and Osaka. On August 6 and August 9, 1945, atom bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Five days later, President Truman received Japan’s unconditional surrender and—to the relief of his wife—Chadwell was spared from flying further dangerous missions over Japan. “We have used it in order to shorten the agony of war,” said Truman of the bomb, “in order to save the lives of thousands and thousands of young Americans.” In this exceedingly rare letter, the former president acknowledges the spouse of a WWII airman and her appreciation for his fateful decision. Only a handful of known Truman letters have content pertaining to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and this is possibly the only letter in private hands in which he mentions the atom bomb saving American lives.
Auction Location:
5 Rt 101A Suite 5, Amherst, New Hampshire, 03031, United States
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