December 2012 Auction Ends Tuesday, December 18th, 5pm Pacific
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/18/2012
The hero of Iwo Jima, Rene Gagnon fantastic lot of 39 autograph letters signed, all WWII dated. Lot begins in July of 1943 with his arrival at the Naval Prison & Marine Barracks in Charleston, SC immediately following his three months of basic training on Parris Island, and runs through Christmas of 1943. Lot additionally includes 37 original envelopes, all but one signed. Gagnon was one of the six WWII soldiers elevated to icon status after appearing in the famous photograph ''Raising The Flag on Iwo Jima.'' The photograph became the most recognizable one of the war and has been reproduced more than any other in history. Only three of the six soldiers in the photo survived the hard-fought Battle of Iwo Jima. Lot comprises 37 letters along with a postcard and Christmas card sent by the young Marine enlistee to his sweetheart and fellow mill worker Pauline Harnois. In the engaging 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. They also reveal his exemplary personal character, evidenced through his acts of altruism as an MP in the Naval prison, his intolerance for racial injustice and, most interestingly, his resistance to the temptation of going AWOL. The excerpts to follow are uncorrected for his frequent minor punctuation and spelling errors. They begin: ''...I'm in the Naval Prison here, and all I got to do is watch the prisoners...this place is heaven compared to what I had before...don't forget we're getting married as soon as the war is over, and from the looks of things now, it won't be long before I'll be learning to change diapers...'' He adds his new mailing address: ''P.F.C. Rene Arthur Gagnon U.S.M.C. / 808276 / M.B. Naval Prison Detachment / Navy Yard Charleston S.C.'' In another letter he writes, ''...most of [the prisoners] are in here for going over the hill [AWOL]...most of the guards around here think that because they carry a gun and a club, that they can hand the prisoners all the dirt they want to...when they go to chow they ain't supposed to turn their heads or talk, well you know me good old soft-hearted Gagnon, if they talk I turn my head and make believe I didn't see them...other guards...make them go without supper...I ask for a sandwich for myself and I bring it to their lunch after lights out and let them eat, of course if I'd get caught doing that I'd get shot in the brig myself. And down south here they treat most colored people like dogs and that's one thing I can't stand so whenever they pick on these negroes I stick up for them...'' He demonstrates a fierce loyalty to his fellow soldiers: ''...You told me Ann's husband is coming home next month well I suppose she'll be doing some bragging about how smart he is and he could get out of the Army. Well I can't get out of the Marine Corp now that is not without my conscience bothering me, I could throw myself off a cliff too and break a leg, or accidentally shoot one of my fingers off that's a coward way to take out of it. I'm sure if I did something like that and got out, while all my friends like Farnsworth, Sorey, Clement, and Berth...if they had all waited till the draft got them and then injure themselves so they could get out after being in a few months the Americans wouldn't be winning this war, it's the little people like us that all do our share voluntarily that will win this war in the end...'' Gagnon's faithful spirit is surpassed only by his love for Pauline: ''...as long as you're here in America I am going to fight to make sure that you're safe, I know while I'm away there will be a lot of civilians that will jump at the opportunity of taking you out, and you might find someone you like just a little more than me, well that wouldn't stop me from loving you, and I'd still wouldn't try to get out I'd stay right in and keep on fighting to make sure that you're safe even though you'd marry someone else, I guess it's because I really love you and want you to be happy...all those things we used to argue about certainly seem small and silly now...Yesterday...the prisoners wife's and mothers and relations came to see them...I never felt so lonely as I did yesterday...reminded me of the times I used to put my arms around you too, those were the days, You know I almost for a minute yesterday felt like going [AWOL] over the hill too, then they would put me in the Portsmouth jail and you could come up on Sundays and see me...'' His missing her intensifies as he receives word she is seriously ill and may require surgery: ''...I must admit I've been giving a lot of thought to going over the hill, and going to you...If I wasn't afraid of getting picked up before I got home I'd go over the hill tonight, but I know you wouldn't want me to do that...I'm asking God above to send me to combat, let me be wounded or sick but to make you feel better...I asked for an emergency furlough and the Red Cross might check up on you...you wrote me about your not getting any more long love letters...Don't you remember the reason I enlisted, maybe you've forgotten that now but I haven't, you said you wanted a decent wedding, well I loved you so much I went away to make sure that when I come back we'd be old enough and we could have that big wedding you've always wanted...well maybe I can't give you castles and diamonds but if my little girl wants a big church wedding and all dressed in white that's what she'll have, nothing is too good for you, because you're the only one I want to make happy now and forever...All I got to do is get rid of the Nazi and Jap army...'' By the end of the lot, he informs her: ''...I was transferred to the Marine Barracks...Use the same address only leave out Naval Prison Detachment...I'm getting transferred...for combat training...'' Each letter is signed ''Rene''. Most are written on plain or plain ruled stationery, with a few appearing on Marine Corp stationery. They measure approximately 7.25'' x 10.5''. All but the Christmas card and postcard are accompanied by the original envelope filled out in Gagnon's hand, and of these, all but one are signed by Gagnon. Creasing and toning are minor, else near fine. A telling lot revealing Gagnon's remarkable moral courage as a wartime Marine.
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Rene Gagnon Lot of 39 WWII-Dated Autograph Letters Signed -- He Writes of Going AWOL, ''...I must admit I've been giving a lot of thought to going over the hill...'' & Racial Injustice, ''...they...
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