Phil Wood's Letters
Letter #81
All Who Knew Him Will Be Finer Men
From Albert Tate, Jr.
To Margretta Wood
17 August 1944
Somewhere in New Guinea
Thursday, 17 August 1944
Dear Mrs. Wood,
The tragic news of your great loss just reached me in Gretchen’s letter, and I wanted to express sympathy to you in your great loss. I should try to think of consolation for you, but there is none I can think of. Phil was the finest man in our class, as any of us would tell you, and his high idealism and practical ability would undoubtedly have carried him far. This is no consolation to you, but all of us who knew him will be finer men for it. I would say he was the most popular man in the class, and this was not only due to his friendliness and his personality but to the respect we felt for his evident fineness and character. You can certainly be proud of having raised so fine a boy and I am sure much of his fineness comes from you.
Mrs. Wood, I only wish I could be there where I could be of practical help perhaps, but if there is anything at all I can do, please feel free to call upon me.
Very sincerely yours,
Al[1]
PS. Please excuse the inadequacy of this letter.
I feel as broken up as if Phil were my brother.
Footnotes
[1] This letter is postmarked from SSgt. Albert Tate, Jr. 210th Counterintelligence Corps Detachment. Al Tate was a Yale classmate of Phil’s, and a one-time romantic interest of Gretchen’s.
Coming soon.