Eleanor could both feel the war coming closer to them. She had followed him loyally from town to town as he went through his training, but now he would have to move on where she could no longer follow: overseas to the front line. He had received orders to fly up to Hamilton Army Air Base, near San Francisco, and pick up their brand-new B-24 (the very one that finished up being cannibalized in Marrakech). 10
Eleanor was only 21 years old, and she dreaded being left behind. She had nobody in the world. Just a few weeks earlier, she had received the news that her father had died (her mother had already passed on some years earlier), and within days the terrible blow that her beloved brother Howard, who had joined the Army right after Pearl Harbor, had been killed. After serving through the North African campaign, he had been badly wounded in Italy, and died shortly after. They had been intensely close, just a year apart in age, both keen basketball enthusiasts. Eleanor was knocked flat by the news. Robert was all she had now, and her only home was wherever he was.
Her forebodings had been growing ever since he was in advanced training and the war began to feel like a real, threatening presence that would soon come between them and force them apart, maybe forever. In November 1943 she had written to her best friend, Esther Burk, who was still living back in Lemoyne, Pennsylvania:
I am so afraid for Robert and for us. ⦠I know the time will come too soon when heâs off to the war. I am so afraid Iâll never see him again. I want to keep a part of him with me, you know, have a baby. He doesnât want us to have a child yet though. He says the war will be tough. No saying what could happen. He doesnât want to have a child if it canât know its father. I never realized how important this was to him. He wonât say, but I think his fatherâs running out on the family has a lot to do with it. I think itâs important to him to be there for our kids. His talk doesnât make me feel good about whatâs coming.
The feeling grew heavier and harder to bear. When the time came, Robert went with her to the train station at Riverside. She should have been waving him off, but instead she was the one leaving. There was no home for her in California now, and she was traveling back to Pennsylvania. Robertâs mother would be her companion through the rest of the war, and her life would be dominated by the routine of a drudge job.
Robert looked uneasily at the trunk and two huge suitcases that were being loaded aboard the AT&SF Super Chief that would carry Eleanor as far as Chicago, and he wondered how she would manage it all. In a few short years of itinerant married life, they seemed to have accumulated an awful lot.
The huge red-and-silver diesel locomotive stood hissing patiently on the track. Eleanor sobbed and clung to him, staring up into his face, preserving this last sight of him in her memory. Caught up in the excitement of the adventure that was ahead of him, Robert didnât quite understand how much this moment meant to her. But he could see the tears, and the few words they exchanged stayed etched in his memory forever.
âAre you going to be okay?â he asked, seriously concerned about the long journey she had ahead of her, and the delicate emotional state she was in. He hadnât figured that her state might be delicate in more ways than one.
âOf course,â she said. âIâm strong when I need to be.â He didnât believe a word of it. âIâm okay, really,â she said, and tried to smile. âI just want to see your face clearly enough that I wonât forget those rugged good looks.â
The conductor leaned out the door, yelling, âAll aboard!â
âCome on,â Robert said, extricating himself from her arms. âI donât want you to miss it.â
The horn blew a long, raucous blast. âNow, maâam,
Eleanor was only 21 years old, and she dreaded being left behind. She had nobody in the world. Just a few weeks earlier, she had received the news that her father had died (her mother had already passed on some years earlier), and within days the terrible blow that her beloved brother Howard, who had joined the Army right after Pearl Harbor, had been killed. After serving through the North African campaign, he had been badly wounded in Italy, and died shortly after. They had been intensely close, just a year apart in age, both keen basketball enthusiasts. Eleanor was knocked flat by the news. Robert was all she had now, and her only home was wherever he was.
Her forebodings had been growing ever since he was in advanced training and the war began to feel like a real, threatening presence that would soon come between them and force them apart, maybe forever. In November 1943 she had written to her best friend, Esther Burk, who was still living back in Lemoyne, Pennsylvania:
I am so afraid for Robert and for us. ⦠I know the time will come too soon when heâs off to the war. I am so afraid Iâll never see him again. I want to keep a part of him with me, you know, have a baby. He doesnât want us to have a child yet though. He says the war will be tough. No saying what could happen. He doesnât want to have a child if it canât know its father. I never realized how important this was to him. He wonât say, but I think his fatherâs running out on the family has a lot to do with it. I think itâs important to him to be there for our kids. His talk doesnât make me feel good about whatâs coming.
The feeling grew heavier and harder to bear. When the time came, Robert went with her to the train station at Riverside. She should have been waving him off, but instead she was the one leaving. There was no home for her in California now, and she was traveling back to Pennsylvania. Robertâs mother would be her companion through the rest of the war, and her life would be dominated by the routine of a drudge job.
Robert looked uneasily at the trunk and two huge suitcases that were being loaded aboard the AT&SF Super Chief that would carry Eleanor as far as Chicago, and he wondered how she would manage it all. In a few short years of itinerant married life, they seemed to have accumulated an awful lot.
The huge red-and-silver diesel locomotive stood hissing patiently on the track. Eleanor sobbed and clung to him, staring up into his face, preserving this last sight of him in her memory. Caught up in the excitement of the adventure that was ahead of him, Robert didnât quite understand how much this moment meant to her. But he could see the tears, and the few words they exchanged stayed etched in his memory forever.
âAre you going to be okay?â he asked, seriously concerned about the long journey she had ahead of her, and the delicate emotional state she was in. He hadnât figured that her state might be delicate in more ways than one.
âOf course,â she said. âIâm strong when I need to be.â He didnât believe a word of it. âIâm okay, really,â she said, and tried to smile. âI just want to see your face clearly enough that I wonât forget those rugged good looks.â
The conductor leaned out the door, yelling, âAll aboard!â
âCome on,â Robert said, extricating himself from her arms. âI donât want you to miss it.â
The horn blew a long, raucous blast. âNow, maâam,
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