Vincent Gisriel Jr. discovers a treasure trove of letters that reveal a partial history of World War II entwined with his parents’ love story.
By Melonie Magruder / Special to The Malibu Times
Vincent Gisriel Jr. was doing research for a book about his father’s service in World War II. While sifting through dusty papers in an attic, he found more than he anticipated. He had discovered a cache of yellowed airmail envelopes written between his parents while they were separated during the war.
“As I tackled the letters, I realized that there was a whole love story to tell,” Gisriel Jr. said in a phone interview with The Malibu Times from his home in Maryland.
That love story was revealed in more than 1,100 letters, postcards and telegrams written by the young couple during the 34 months Vincent Gisriel Sr. was serving as a bombardier in the 8th Air Force, stationed in Podington, England. The collection of correspondence had been waiting quietly in the attic of one of their daughters, when Gisriel Jr. came across them.
Gisriel Jr. will read excerpts from his book, “Hearts Away, Bombs Away,” which details his parents’ love story and his father’s service, at Diesel, A Bookstore this Friday.
After his father’s death in 2003, the younger Gisriel said he was gratified when several men who had served with his father in the Army Air Forces came forward to laud a side of Gisriel Sr. his son never had known.
“They told me about his heroics,” Gisriel Jr. said. “I knew that Dad had earned the Distinguished Flying Cross, but, like many vets, he would never talk much about his experiences during the war. But he made four major hits on a German oil refinery and flew many dangerous missions.”
Gisriel Jr. did research in Washington’s National Archives and scoured information on the B-17 Flying Fortress, a four-engine heavy bomber aircraft his father commanded. With the discovery of the letters, he was able to assemble a timeline of his father’s service and the flowering of his parents’ relationship.
Vincent Gisriel met his future wife Martha in March of 1942. He was a 19-year-old baseball jock. She was a jitterbugging beauty queen. He proposed the next month and enlisted in June. Martha was only 20 years old, so she waited in Baltimore for her Army sweetheart to go through basic training and pre-flight school in California, corresponding extensively. Sometimes they wrote to each other three times a day.
“Because it was war time, dad couldn’t say much about what they were doing,” Gisriel Jr. said. “So they would talk about marriage and life, and trifling incidents. It’s how they got to know each other. Dad told mom about a little black dog on base called ‘Black Out,’ who would run out whenever they played taps and stand in formation till everyone was dispersed. Mom would write dad about her large Catholic family back home.”
Early on, Vincent wrote to Martha that he believed the war would be over in six months. But by March 1943, he wrote, “Hon, we are far from winning this war … the American people don’t realize what our soldiers are up against.”
In May of 1943, Martha finally joined Vincent in Pecos, Texas where they were married five days later. Before too long, she was pregnant with Vincent Jr., and her husband was heading to England, where he flew 35 missions during the last year of the war, carrying Martha’s letters with him. He didn’t know about the birth of his son for four days.
Many of Vincent’s compatriots didn’t return from missions and the specter of death subtly shrouded their conversation.
“I tried to paint a picture of what people endured during the war,” Gisriel Jr. said. “They never wrote about fear; maybe because they both had a very deep faith. When dad heard about the bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, he thought, ‘Well, this could end things quickly.’ But he also said, ‘What is civilization coming to?”
After Vincent finished his service, he and Martha settled in the Baltimore area, where he worked for the local telephone company. They had more children. They were happy. They bundled the 1,154 letters and other correspondence away for future generations to read, with Martha commenting, “Well, we’ll have a lot to tell our grandchildren someday.”
She died at age 55, before she ever got the chance to meet most of them. Grandson Vincent Gisriel III lives in Santa Monica and runs a catering company. He said he was astounded at some of the revelations in his father’s book about his grandfather.
“Dad started out to write a ‘guy’ book about my grandfather’s war service,” Gisriel III said. “He ended up with this beautiful love story. My grandfather was a real war hero. But the story we have of them comes out of a thousand letters.”
When Gisriel Jr. was preparing galleys of his book, he read aloud some of his parents’ tender passages of longing and hope to family members. His sister’s mother-in-law listened quietly.
“She said that it seemed my parents saved these letters all those years for us to discover someday and get to know what they were really like,” Gisriel Jr. said. “I think she was right. I’m honored to finally be able to tell their story.”
Vince Gisriel Jr. will read passages from “Hearts Away, Bombs Away” at Diesel, A Bookstore Friday, June 26 at 7 p.m. Complimentary refreshments will be served. To RSVP, email info@liquidbarcatering.com or call 310.310.2806.