{"id":7862,"date":"2025-08-09T08:34:08","date_gmt":"2025-08-09T07:34:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/olddays.co.uk\/?page_id=7862"},"modified":"2025-08-09T10:31:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-09T09:31:09","slug":"buckner-letters-02","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ianwaugh.com\/archive\/buckner-letters-02\/","title":{"rendered":"Buckner Letters 02"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Estimated Date: Thursday, August 9, 1945<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Reasoning:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The filename of the uploaded image is 19450804.2.jpg, which strongly suggests the <strong>year is 1945<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>The letter refers to <strong>Japanese bombings<\/strong> and <strong>freedom news<\/strong>, both consistent with the final days of <strong>World War II<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>It mentions <strong>\u201conly for about ONE WEEK\u201d<\/strong> remaining until a big change\u2014possibly anticipating V-J Day (Victory over Japan Day), which occurred shortly after the <strong>atomic bombings on August 6 and 9, 1945<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>The writer says \u201cuntil the 10th, from then on\u2026\u201d implying the letter was likely written <strong>just before August 10th<\/strong>, placing this <strong>around August 9, 1945<\/strong> \u2014 a Thursday.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id=\"envira-gallery-wrap-7867\" class=\"envira-gallery-wrap envira-lazy-loading-enabled envira-layout-automatic\" itemscope itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageGallery\"><div class=\"envira-loader\"><div><\/div><div><\/div><div><\/div><div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"envira-gallery-7867\" class=\"envira-gallery-public envira-gallery-0-columns envira-clear envira-gallery-justified-public\" data-envira-id=\"7867\" 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class=\"envira-gallery-image envira-gallery-image-1    envira-lazy\" height=\"480\" id=\"envira-gallery-image-7868\" srcset=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAP\/\/\/\/\/\/\/yH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" tabindex=\"-1\" title=\"19450804.1\" width=\"640\" data-caption=\"\" data-envira-gallery-id=\"7867\" data-envira-index=\"0\" data-envira-item-id=\"7868\" data-envira-src=\"https:\/\/ianwaugh.com\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/19450804.1-1024x839.jpg\" data-envira-srcset=\"https:\/\/ianwaugh.com\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/19450804.1-1024x839.jpg 400w, https:\/\/ianwaugh.com\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/19450804.1-1024x839.jpg 2x\" data-title=\"19450804.1\" itemprop=\"thumbnailUrl\"  data-envirabox=\"7867\" data-automatic-caption=\"\" data-envira-height=\"246\" data-envira-width=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/div><\/div><div id=\"envira-gallery-item-7869\" class=\"envira-gallery-item envira-gallery-item-2 envira-lazy-load\" style=\"padding-left: 5px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 5px;\"  itemscope itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"><div class=\"envira-gallery-item-inner\"><div class=\"envira-gallery-position-overlay envira-gallery-top-left\"><\/div><div class=\"envira-gallery-position-overlay envira-gallery-top-right\"><\/div><div class=\"envira-gallery-position-overlay envira-gallery-bottom-left\"><\/div><div class=\"envira-gallery-position-overlay envira-gallery-bottom-right\"><\/div><a class=\"envira-gallery-7867 envira-gallery-link\" href=\"https:\/\/ianwaugh.com\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/19450804.2.jpg\" title=\"19450804.2\" data-caption=\"\" data-envira-item-id=\"7869\" data-envira-retina=\"https:\/\/ianwaugh.com\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/19450804.2.jpg\" data-thumb=\"\" data-title=\"19450804.2\" data-envirabox='7867' itemprop=\"contentUrl\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ianwaugh.com\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/19450804.2-670x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"envira-gallery-image envira-gallery-image-2    envira-lazy\" height=\"480\" id=\"envira-gallery-image-7869\" srcset=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAP\/\/\/\/\/\/\/yH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" tabindex=\"-1\" title=\"19450804.2\" width=\"640\" data-caption=\"\" data-envira-gallery-id=\"7867\" data-envira-index=\"1\" data-envira-item-id=\"7869\" data-envira-src=\"https:\/\/ianwaugh.com\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/19450804.2-670x1024.jpg\" data-envira-srcset=\"https:\/\/ianwaugh.com\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/19450804.2-670x1024.jpg 400w, https:\/\/ianwaugh.com\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/19450804.2-670x1024.jpg 2x\" data-title=\"19450804.2\" itemprop=\"thumbnailUrl\"  data-envirabox=\"7867\" data-automatic-caption=\"\" data-envira-height=\"300\" data-envira-width=\"196\" \/><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><noscript><img src='https:\/\/ianwaugh.com\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/19450804.1.jpg' alt='' class='envira_noscript_images ' \/><img src='https:\/\/ianwaugh.com\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/19450804.2.jpg' alt='' class='envira_noscript_images ' \/><\/noscript>\n<p><strong>In the Office<br \/>\nThursday Evening<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Dear Melvin,<\/p>\n<p>What a magnificent letter! The grandest, most exciting news that you are now a <strong>FREE MAN<\/strong>. Feel more like shouting the news to everybody than sitting here alone, but it is so easy to be alone now because it is only for about <strong>ONE WEEK<\/strong>. WHEE, HURRAH, and thank you with all my heart for everything.<\/p>\n<p>I am so pleased that you wrote me all the little details of these so exciting days\u2014you must be able to taste each minute of them. What a busy boy you are, it is a good thing that being busy comes easy for you.<\/p>\n<p>As usual, I make a general statement about the good news of the Japanese bombings, and you think that I am hiding some news about my getting out soon. You can rest well assured that any news that I will be a free man, will be too absolutely good to keep. You will be the first one to know.<\/p>\n<p>I had a big liberty night last night\u2014went out with the Spanish Class and drank two beers, during which time we tried to converse in Spanish. We had invited two soldiers, Puerto Rican Boys who have lived in the States, to go along with us and they were very nice about helping over the rough spots. One of the boys I would like for you to meet for a little psychoanalyzing\u2014me curiosity.<\/p>\n<p>I am so glad that you are getting a plane, because I have been worried about the slow transportation you might find. Be sure to get a passport in case you want to visit any of the other Isles of the Carribean while you are here. I am so excited I hardly know what I am writing. Life goes on the same for me and will do so until the 10th, from then on every minute will be so exciting I will hardly be able to sit still.<\/p>\n<p>My job seems to be working out beautifully, and at present I know of no reason why it should not continue to do so\u2014until such time as I start fighting for my right to live as a free man.<\/p>\n<p>God be with you always with all the beautiful meaning of the twenty-third psalm. Life grows richer and richer for me.<\/p>\n<p><strong>As always,<br \/>\nEdwin<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Estimated Date: Thursday, August 9, 1945 Reasoning: The filename of the uploaded image is 19450804.2.jpg, which strongly suggests the year is 1945. The letter refers to Japanese bombings and freedom news, both consistent with the final days of World War II. It mentions \u201conly for about ONE WEEK\u201d remaining until a big change\u2014possibly anticipating V-J [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-7862","page","type-page","status-publish","czr-hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ianwaugh.com\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ianwaugh.com\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ianwaugh.com\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ianwaugh.com\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ianwaugh.com\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7862"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ianwaugh.com\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7862\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7870,"href":"https:\/\/ianwaugh.com\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7862\/revisions\/7870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ianwaugh.com\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}