December 2012 Auction Ends Tuesday, December 18th, 5pm Pacific
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/18/2012
Rene Gagnon group of 36 autograph letters signed, all dated 1943 while Gagnon was stationed at training camp on Parris Island; lot also includes 34 original envelopes, all but one signed by Gagnon. Rene Gagnon was one of the six WWII soldiers elevated to icon after appearing in the famous photograph ''Raising The Flag on Iwo Jima,'' the most recognizable photograph of the war and symbolizing the relief of victory over Japan and the beginning of the end of WWII. Of the six soldiers in the photo, only three survived the hard-fought battle, and the remaining men were reportedly plagued with survivor's guilt, including Gagnon. This lot comprises 34 of his earliest WWII letters along with two postcards sent by the young Marine enlistee to his sweetheart and fellow mill worker Pauline Harnois. In the touching and candid letters, Gagnon expresses his strong desire for the war to end and his determination to survive it, so that he may return to New Hampshire and marry her; goals he ultimately accomplishes. Letters begin in May of 1943 with Gagnon's train ride to basic training at Parris Island, South Carolina and run throughout his entire stint in boot camp, ending when he goes on furlough in July after his promotion to Private First Class. The excerpts to follow are uncorrected for his frequent minor punctuation and spelling errors. The very first letter is postmarked Beaufort, SC, and datelined onboard train, 20 May 1943. Here, he mentions the medical condition that would nearly get him discharged from the military before the famous Iwo Jima photo was taken. Letter reads in part, ''...Theres only one thought in my mind today; the sooner all of us get together and end up this war the sooner we'll be back together again...You know kiddo once I make up my mind to get something I usually get it, and right now my mind's made up to come back to you, and neither hell nor high water or Parris Island can stop me...With the meat and coffee [priced] this high I don't have to worry about my blood pressure because at those prices I won't eat much of either...RENE GAGNON''. The letters, sentimental and frequently even poetic, tell of an unexpectedly sensitive young man: ''...Then the band played 'Somebody Else is Taking my Place' and its no secret that a lump came up in my throat and that wasn't all dirt that the fellows got in their eyes when the drops started to come down their cheeks. All the fellows are true to their girls here and they are a swell bunch of fellows too. Tell Andrew and all the people that I sort of had arguments with, which must have been my fault, that I'm sorry...even Marines have a heart...5 weeks ago today since I went away...I still recall your blurry blue eyes As you said good-by...do you want me to get you an ENGAGEMENT ring when I go home. Well please ask your father...No matter what happens I'll still come back to you...by the time I get home you will have your evening gown and we can take the train up to Boston and go to a nightclub somewhere where you can try it out. Of course we'll bring Helen or some other girl along as a chaperone. Because I wouldn't want it to look bad for you...'' He adds his full name and address to one of the first letters: ''Rene Arthur Gagnon / U.S.M.C.R. 808275 [a mistake he later corrects as 808276] / Platoon 382 Marine / Barracks / Recruit Depot Parris Island S.C.'' He unabashedly expresses his desire to protect the country and writes about the fast-approaching prospect of engaging in deadly warfare: ''...this afternoon we went out for bayonet practice, and believe me Kiddo it certainly gives you a funny feeling to know that in my hands I hold two means of killing a person; Either stabbing him with the bayonet or shooting him with my rifle...inside of six months I'll be using my rifle and bayonet to kill, and kill untill there's no more japs to threatened [sic] the girl I love back home. No I won't be fighting to cram my religion into them, nor to make them obey my orders, no that's not what were fighting for the right to go back to the mills...to marry the girl I want and not have to share her with some German or Jap that happens to want a girl for a night. Those are the things were fighting for, and until those things have become a reality and not only a dream, I'll keep on fighting. I guess when I was a kid I never realize that I one day would actually kill a man, as a matter of fact none of us really like the idea of killing, but if that's the only language the Axis understand then that's what it will have to be...it was like nothing mattered anymore as long as you were safe. That's the one thing that matters most. If I was just here learning to use a rifle and bayonet just for the fun of going over there and killing that wouldn't make much sense. No there's something greater than that behind it - were learning to use those weapons to make sure that the ones we love are safe...food rationing is a bother but you can still eat regularly...you can still take a hot bath and go to bed without fear of being blown out of your bed. Well these are the things that I'm fighting for...Honest to God I'd rather be with you for 1 minute than be a Lieutenant in the marines...'' Gagnon lays bare his innermost thoughts on the grueling training: ''...to a marine Parris Island is just a hell on earth...guard duty is...being a guard at some post and telling the other recruits when they can sit down to eat, and when they can take a shower, and as the water is very hard to get here we have to watch the fellows so they don't spoil it. Sometimes we have to walk back and forth in front of the barracks to make sure that no one runs over the hill at night...If someone should try to sneak out or in, well we yell halt three times then fire to hell, I guess it sounds brutal but it's the only way some people understand...They used to say Perris Island is the next worst thing to hell, now they changed it around and say hell is the next worse thing to Parris Island...some days it is almost unbearable...'' He tells his ''Darling Kiddo'' of his daily routine: ''... We are 64 men in a platoon...Our day starts at 4:00 a.m...we wash up and shave...sweep the floor and wash it every morning...At 6:30 A.M. we go out and do exercises for about 20 minutes then we go in and get ready to eat...we drill till 10:30...at 1:00 we usually drill till 4:30...yesterday morning a man fainted from the heat, but there was one thing that kept me going the hope of getting a letter from you...we can't go anywhere right now, not until we get our 7 weeks done...After dinner we went to get injections for typhoid fever...[The vaccine] stiffened up my arm so that I could barely move it, but yet we had to march for three hours in the blazing sun with our rifles...Next week will be our last on this Island after that we will move up to the rifle range...'' He relates his development as a military man: ''...I am writing to you from the rifle range now...this place is like heaven, no more drilling...If I don't qualify with my rifle, what I mean is not get over 268 points they might give me guard duty, or make a cook or baker out of me...From 292 to 306 are considered as sharpshooters they are the ones that go across. And from 306 to 340 which is the highest score possible are classified as expert rifleman, they are the ones that get three months combat training and then are shipped overseas...I asked for guard duty...The ones who shoot the highest on record day, get a P.F.C. stripe before they go home on furlough. Well you always wanted me to get a stripe before I came home so I guess I'll just have to shoot high tomorrow...I qualified yesterday I got a score of 279...as a marksman...P.S. Your boyfriend is a P.F.C. Now did you notice it on the envelope. I hope it will make you proud...that deal still goes about the ring if you ever change your mind...the truth is, it was really tough when we first started I mean the first two weeks...I never thought Id get out of it alive...But if that's what I have to go through to make sure that my girl, I mean you, is safe from the Japs and the Germans, well I'd be willing to go through it again...'' Each letter is signed ''Rene'' at minimum, with many signed ''Rene Gagnon''. Most are written on Marine Corp stationery and measure 7.25'' x 10.5''. Each is accompanied by its original envelope filled out in Gagnon's hand, with all but one signed again by Gagnon. Creasing and toning are minor, else near fine. A very moving lot from Gagnon's first taste of being a wartime Marine, which, unknowingly at the time, he would come to personify. For all images. please visit: http://photobucket.com/Gagnon40256
Lot of 36 Autograph WWII-Dated Letters Signed From Iwo Jima Hero Rene Gagnon -- ''...in my hands I hold two means of killing a person; Either stabbing him with the bayonet or shooting him with my...
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