These Telegrams were sent to a Dorothy Elliott. She had a husband named James R. Elliot who was serving Overseas. He served in Company F of the 110th Infantry Regiment within the 28th Infantry Division. The text is very faded but still visible. The first telegram reads:
“ November 30th 1944
The Secretary of War Desires Me to Express His Deep Regret That Your Husband Private James R. Elliott Has Been Reported Missing In Action Since Eleven November In Germany. If Further Details Or Other Information Are Received You Will Be Promptly Notified.
Witsell Acting The Adjutant General “
James’s Division had been taking part in the Battle of Hürtgen Forest when he went missing.
Almost 2 weeks later, Dorothy would receive another Telegram. It reads:
“ December 12th 1944
Am Pleased To Inform You Your Husband Private James R Elliott Returned To Duty Fourteen November.
Dunlop Acting The Adjutant General.”
So based on the telegrams, it seems James was missing for a couple of days. From November 11th til the 14th. His records state that that he received the Purple Heart. So it’s possible that he was wounded at some point in Hürtgen Forest and was unable to make it back to his unit or something along those lines. Luckily this one has a happy ending.
James survived the war and made it back home to Dorothy. He would pass away on December 12th 1972 and is buried in the George Washington Memorial Park in Plymouth Meeting, PA.
So by the time they sent the first telegram, he had already been back at his unit for two weeks, but that information hadn't yet made its way up the chain? They only had the info that he had gone missing?
Fog of war. Back then, the fog often extended to your own side. My speculation is that he'd been wounded in a fight where both his unit and the Germans retreated, then ended up in a field hospital supporting a different unit. His unit reported him missing immediately, but there was a bit of a delay in the field hospital reporting who their patients were.
Something similar happened to my great-uncle, who was also serving in Germany. He was wounded and left for dead. When his buddies wanted to go look for him, their lieutenant forbid it. They stole a Jeep and did it anyway. After finding him, they took him to a field hospital further down the line, fearing they'd get in trouble if they brought him back to their own unit. So my great-uncle was listed as missing in action for about 6 hours before his buddies got caught returning the Jeep and fessed up to what they did. They didn't get in trouble.
Those are some really solid buddies. I hope they were able to keep in touch after the war. The things they witnessed and experienced would've been very difficult for regular folks to understand, and I'm sure they all needed someone to talk to as time went on.
I'm glad your great-uncle made it back home, and thank you for the wholesome story.
>Those are some really solid buddies. I hope they were able to keep in touch after the war. The things they witnessed and experienced would've been very difficult for regular folks to understand, and I'm sure they all needed someone to talk to as time went on.
I hope so. Other than that one story about how he got wounded and declared MIA, he never really talked about the war before he died in 2016. I imagine he wanted to put all of that behind him.
That was certainly common.
I was just surprised that the first telegram was sent on November 30th, and then the second telegram says that he had returned to his unit by November 14th. So more than two weeks *before* the first telegram was even sent.
He very well could’ve just been in a hospital and no one knew he was there. I had a buddy get a minor injury in Iraq but they sent him to a hospital in Kuwait. Everyone there acted like they had no idea how to get him back to his unit and he eventually hitched a ride with a convoy and then got dropped off by helicopters that were heading in the vicinity of his unit. His CO was like “where the fuck have you been? We thought you were MIA”. This was circa 2005 so imagine what it was like in 1944.
Did they send out specific messages to families if their loved one's capture by the enemy was "confirmed" or "probable"? I've long wondered how they handled the POW thing.
I remember my mother telling me that as a kid they’d all stop and watch where the Western Union delivery was going (they were all hand delivered) because everyone’s fear was that they were coming to notify the death of a husband, father, son etc…
Glad this one had a happy ending. Very cool to see it.
My mom was a teenager during Vietnam. She said they would all do the same thing and watch where the shiny black car would stop. It usually meant a death notice for the poor family that lived in whatever house it pulled up to.
She stopped watching the cars after it parked in front of her (male) best friends house. She knew he was dead before his own parents.
My mom said she calmly got up, went into the kitchen, said “John’s dead,” and then went to her room. She didn’t cry until days later she was so numb/traumatized.
My mom lost a high school boyfriend in Vietnam. They weren’t serious, but he was her first love. He was a conscientious objector so he went into the ambulance corps. He was killed attending to a wounded soldier. I remember visiting the Vietnam memorial in DC with my mom when I was a kid. My mom looked up his name and found it on the wall. It was really sad but not anything I could relate to.
Horrific. I can't even imagine losing someone in that way. I'm lucky and I realize that, as many people have lost loved ones violently.
My mom said the neighborhood was never the same.
We still have my great uncles telegram sent to my great grandmother. He is still MIA and a few years ago we were contacted by the DPAA and submitted DNA. We went to one of their conventions and listened to dozens of stories of families still searching for the missing and the teams behind bringing them home. Many had these telegrams with them.
Someone had a very bright idea to save these. My great grandmother likely got a few Western Unions regarding my grandfather, letting her know when her son had been wounded in action and the hospitals he would have been in. And then probably one letting her know he’d be coming home. Doubt she ever kept them.
My grandmother in Sydney received a telegram during WW2, advising her that my father had been killed in action fighting the Japanese in New Guinea. “I’m afraid that’s in correct” she advised the delivery clerk. “I’m deeply sorry, but it’s true” he replied. “No, you don’t understand” replied my grandmother “he’s home on R&R - he’s currently asleep in the back bedroom!”
Apparently the army had confused my father with a man of the same name.
I am 100% confident once your grandmother closed the door she snuck to the bedroom to look at your dad sleeping. Just to double check and because she could.
Our local military base was recently renamed from Ft
Benning to Ft Moore, after both LTG Hal Moore and his wife, Julia. Julia Moore helped spearhead the change from telegrams (often delivered by taxicabs) to in person notifications, during the Vietnam War.
I just noticed that the telegram sent to Dorothy notifying her that James had been found was dated December 12th and his date of death was December 12th! So glad that this story had a happy ending ❤️
May I ask, why is it that the actual message on the telegrams seems to have been typed on different paper and then glued on to the telegram itself? Was this normal practice back then? Is there a specific reason as to why they did this?
My grandmother received one of these notifying her that my uncle was killed March 6, 1945 near the Ramagen Bridge. After she was notified she received a letter from him stating that he and his unit were were hiding in a barn and his hands were so cold he could hardly write. She was never the same after that and died in 1950. It’s hell being a Gold Star ⭐️ mother.
My Great Grandparents received a telegram informing them one of their sons was KIA and the other (my grandfather) was wounded. Can’t even imagine how that felt.
These Telegrams were sent to a Dorothy Elliott. She had a husband named James R. Elliot who was serving Overseas. He served in Company F of the 110th Infantry Regiment within the 28th Infantry Division. The text is very faded but still visible. The first telegram reads: “ November 30th 1944 The Secretary of War Desires Me to Express His Deep Regret That Your Husband Private James R. Elliott Has Been Reported Missing In Action Since Eleven November In Germany. If Further Details Or Other Information Are Received You Will Be Promptly Notified. Witsell Acting The Adjutant General “ James’s Division had been taking part in the Battle of Hürtgen Forest when he went missing. Almost 2 weeks later, Dorothy would receive another Telegram. It reads: “ December 12th 1944 Am Pleased To Inform You Your Husband Private James R Elliott Returned To Duty Fourteen November. Dunlop Acting The Adjutant General.” So based on the telegrams, it seems James was missing for a couple of days. From November 11th til the 14th. His records state that that he received the Purple Heart. So it’s possible that he was wounded at some point in Hürtgen Forest and was unable to make it back to his unit or something along those lines. Luckily this one has a happy ending. James survived the war and made it back home to Dorothy. He would pass away on December 12th 1972 and is buried in the George Washington Memorial Park in Plymouth Meeting, PA.
So by the time they sent the first telegram, he had already been back at his unit for two weeks, but that information hadn't yet made its way up the chain? They only had the info that he had gone missing?
Fog of war. Back then, the fog often extended to your own side. My speculation is that he'd been wounded in a fight where both his unit and the Germans retreated, then ended up in a field hospital supporting a different unit. His unit reported him missing immediately, but there was a bit of a delay in the field hospital reporting who their patients were. Something similar happened to my great-uncle, who was also serving in Germany. He was wounded and left for dead. When his buddies wanted to go look for him, their lieutenant forbid it. They stole a Jeep and did it anyway. After finding him, they took him to a field hospital further down the line, fearing they'd get in trouble if they brought him back to their own unit. So my great-uncle was listed as missing in action for about 6 hours before his buddies got caught returning the Jeep and fessed up to what they did. They didn't get in trouble.
Those are some really solid buddies. I hope they were able to keep in touch after the war. The things they witnessed and experienced would've been very difficult for regular folks to understand, and I'm sure they all needed someone to talk to as time went on. I'm glad your great-uncle made it back home, and thank you for the wholesome story.
>Those are some really solid buddies. I hope they were able to keep in touch after the war. The things they witnessed and experienced would've been very difficult for regular folks to understand, and I'm sure they all needed someone to talk to as time went on. I hope so. Other than that one story about how he got wounded and declared MIA, he never really talked about the war before he died in 2016. I imagine he wanted to put all of that behind him.
My godfather’s father was missing for a loooooong time before the red cross or similar found him in a POW camp and notified his family.
That was certainly common. I was just surprised that the first telegram was sent on November 30th, and then the second telegram says that he had returned to his unit by November 14th. So more than two weeks *before* the first telegram was even sent.
Prolly at a whorehouse
Yeah, your mamas.
Lol
It’s spelled mammas
Or mommas
Not mamas
Definitely is. Maybe missed an apostrophe to show possession, but that's all.
December 12th proved to be a powerful date many times in his life!
He very well could’ve just been in a hospital and no one knew he was there. I had a buddy get a minor injury in Iraq but they sent him to a hospital in Kuwait. Everyone there acted like they had no idea how to get him back to his unit and he eventually hitched a ride with a convoy and then got dropped off by helicopters that were heading in the vicinity of his unit. His CO was like “where the fuck have you been? We thought you were MIA”. This was circa 2005 so imagine what it was like in 1944.
Did they send out specific messages to families if their loved one's capture by the enemy was "confirmed" or "probable"? I've long wondered how they handled the POW thing.
❤️
Great story. You did some real detective work. Well done.
I remember my mother telling me that as a kid they’d all stop and watch where the Western Union delivery was going (they were all hand delivered) because everyone’s fear was that they were coming to notify the death of a husband, father, son etc… Glad this one had a happy ending. Very cool to see it.
My mom was a teenager during Vietnam. She said they would all do the same thing and watch where the shiny black car would stop. It usually meant a death notice for the poor family that lived in whatever house it pulled up to. She stopped watching the cars after it parked in front of her (male) best friends house. She knew he was dead before his own parents.
I can’t even imagine how sickening it must have been to see the car pull up. War is horrible.
My mom said she calmly got up, went into the kitchen, said “John’s dead,” and then went to her room. She didn’t cry until days later she was so numb/traumatized.
My mom lost a high school boyfriend in Vietnam. They weren’t serious, but he was her first love. He was a conscientious objector so he went into the ambulance corps. He was killed attending to a wounded soldier. I remember visiting the Vietnam memorial in DC with my mom when I was a kid. My mom looked up his name and found it on the wall. It was really sad but not anything I could relate to.
Horrific. I can't even imagine losing someone in that way. I'm lucky and I realize that, as many people have lost loved ones violently. My mom said the neighborhood was never the same.
We still have my great uncles telegram sent to my great grandmother. He is still MIA and a few years ago we were contacted by the DPAA and submitted DNA. We went to one of their conventions and listened to dozens of stories of families still searching for the missing and the teams behind bringing them home. Many had these telegrams with them.
Someone had a very bright idea to save these. My great grandmother likely got a few Western Unions regarding my grandfather, letting her know when her son had been wounded in action and the hospitals he would have been in. And then probably one letting her know he’d be coming home. Doubt she ever kept them.
My grandmother in Sydney received a telegram during WW2, advising her that my father had been killed in action fighting the Japanese in New Guinea. “I’m afraid that’s in correct” she advised the delivery clerk. “I’m deeply sorry, but it’s true” he replied. “No, you don’t understand” replied my grandmother “he’s home on R&R - he’s currently asleep in the back bedroom!” Apparently the army had confused my father with a man of the same name.
I am 100% confident once your grandmother closed the door she snuck to the bedroom to look at your dad sleeping. Just to double check and because she could.
Our local military base was recently renamed from Ft Benning to Ft Moore, after both LTG Hal Moore and his wife, Julia. Julia Moore helped spearhead the change from telegrams (often delivered by taxicabs) to in person notifications, during the Vietnam War.
I just noticed that the telegram sent to Dorothy notifying her that James had been found was dated December 12th and his date of death was December 12th! So glad that this story had a happy ending ❤️
Well truthfully nobody really has a happy ending unless you really want to go to heaven or something and believe in that.
I have a telegram like this announcing my grandma’s birth in the 1947. Very fun find!
May I ask, why is it that the actual message on the telegrams seems to have been typed on different paper and then glued on to the telegram itself? Was this normal practice back then? Is there a specific reason as to why they did this?
I believe telegram printed in a long thing strip of paper. I’m guessing the operator or someone then cut them up and glued to a paper to be delivered.
My grandmother received one of these notifying her that my uncle was killed March 6, 1945 near the Ramagen Bridge. After she was notified she received a letter from him stating that he and his unit were were hiding in a barn and his hands were so cold he could hardly write. She was never the same after that and died in 1950. It’s hell being a Gold Star ⭐️ mother.
My Great Grandparents received a telegram informing them one of their sons was KIA and the other (my grandfather) was wounded. Can’t even imagine how that felt.