Letters Home episode 14 'Holidays in Arizona' 1942
“The Letters Home” weekly podcast episodes are based on letters from Major James Bruce McMahon to his parents, as found by daughter, Laurie Summerfield, in the basement of their family home on Reservoir Hill, about a decade ago.
“We had a collection of ideas,” said podcast host Annie McMahon Whitlock. “It was a good learning opportunity. We decided to record audio files.”
Whitlock, McMahon’s granddaughter, is a history buff, an Associate Professor of History/Social Studies at Grand Valley State University and author of Place-Based Social Studies Education: Learning from Flint, Michigan.
“We partnered with the museum to digitize the letters and make visual displays,” she said.
The collection of ideas came from more than 250 letters written by McMahon in beautiful cursive, first from his training time in Santa Ana, and then from WWII years through 1945.
Unlike the Lowell Area Museum’s oral histories, the ambitious project included the digitizing of the letters, the reading of the letters by family members, recording them and visual displays. “It’s a combination of all of these things,” Whitlock said. “We teamed up with Dale Kropf to do this.”
The podcast episode “Holidays in Arizona” wraps-up podcasting season one, which covers the year 1942. The letter dated, Dec. 15, appeared in The Lowell Ledger on Dec. 24, 1942, with the headline “Bruce McMahon is flying Big Ships.”
The letter in the newspaper was edited to leave out the Christmas presents which McMahon received. However, the podcast talks about these gifts: a sewing kit from family friends, Kittie and Burt, pictures from home with snow by the pump switch-pole, as he continued to receive gifts past Christmas time that amused soldiers stationed in the dessert of Arizona.
On Dec. 26, McMahon wrote about packages with divinities in two fruitcakes. “Being a pig, I ate them all.” He also writes about going to Bisbee in Arizona to a beautiful church. “How do I reciprocate for all this?” he wrote. “I’ll be home after this is over. Thanks for the money and Helen’s divinity in the fruitcake.”
Then he wrote about a bunch of entertainers for 3,000 soldiers stationed in Douglas, including dummy Charlie McCarthy, played by ventriloquist Edgar Bergen, who ended up in Radio Hall of Fame.
On a more serious note, McMahon wrote about flying “big jobs” for two weeks. “About all I can tell you about these ships is that they are quite similar to ‘Airliners’ you have seen in the past. Of course, they land a lot “hotter,” around 120 miles per hour. The cockpit is a maze of instruments and would certainly look complicated to one who didn't see them every day. Really, after you study the instruments, what they do, it isn't nearly as difficult as you might expect. One of the first things, one must be able to pass a blindfold test, touching each control, instrument and dial with the forefinger, without seeing them. This "touch system" is imperative when you realize it is pretty dark in a cockpit at night. Not only this, but when you have to do maybe eight different things in three seconds, it sure pays to be able to put your finger at exactly the place it is supposed to be. I'm not overstating a bit - for instance, upon taking off you must get wheels up, r. p. m. back to climb, prop pitch set and proper pressure and this. This should be done in three seconds. It takes eight separate movements of the hands plus reading your instrument panel.
These desert nights are beautiful, cold, yes, but so clear the stars seem to be within arm's reach and a half moon is hanging over the dark mountains. Our ships with their red. green, white and amber lights also add to the picture. And to think you are back home with Christmas just a few days off and snow, it’s hard to believe out here.”
The podcast puts into context both the happenings in Lowell and worldwide as the countries entered WWII, including Mexico, on May 22, 1942, as Aztec Eagles.
McMahon wrote about his visit to a border town in Mexico, where he wanted to buy a statue of St. Mary, and taste some tequila.
On Dec. 30 he wrote about actor Glenn Ford, who had enlisted in the marines and his love for his parents: “Each day I love my mom and pop more. I received The Ledger today and I didn’t sound that bad. I am healthier than I’ve ever been and I am serving my country.”
McMahon flew a total of 38 missions, including flying during D-Day, and taking pictures with his camera. For his heroism and leadership, McMahon was awarded the nation’s second highest medal- the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal. McMahon continued to fly, after the war, for supplies and dropped off flowers and letters to his wife, Margaret, over the Reservoir Hill, he flew under the railroad bridge, and built a sailboat on Murray Lake.
Dale Kropf, a retired teacher, read all the letters, scanned them in and matched them with visual content to create stunning visual online displays, along with historical context. “Our community was responding to this big global event,” Whitlock said.
The podcast team would like to see community involvement in the project. “We’re looking for guests from the community,” Whitlock said. “We want community interaction from this to help piece some of the family mysteries together.”
The podcast team used The Lowell Ledger as one of the many sources for the project. “The paper is a big part of our project,” she said.
Listen in to learn about Lowell’s history and how it connects to the world’s history. You’ll be able to find everything for the podcast under the Collections & Research tab on the website www.lowellmuseum.org. In addition to listening to the podcast, you can also view the primary sources and actual letters and watch a YouTube video that accompanies the audio podcast.
The weekly episodes go live on Thursdays.
