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Zusatztext "Bush's collected letters in this book offer readers not only a better understanding of Bush as president! politician! diplomat! and head of the CIA! but also his thoughts and feelings as a father and husband! thanks to the many personal letters that are included." Informationen zum Autor George H.W. Bush, forty-first president of the United States (1989-1993), is the author of Speaking of Freedom , a collection of his speeches and coauthor with Brent Scowcroft of the critically acclaimed 1998 book A World Transformed . Born in 1924, he died in 2018 at the age of ninety-four. Klappentext "Updated with new letters and photos"--Dust jacket.All the Best, George Bush UNITED STATES NAVY CHAPTER 1 Love and War When Japan bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, I was a seventeen-year-old high school senior at Phillips Academy, Andover. I could hardly wait to get out of school and enlist. Six months later, Secretary of War Henry Stimson delivered our commencement address and advised my class to go to college. He predicted it would be a long war, and there would be plenty of time for us to serve. My dad, Prescott Bush, with whom it was not easy to disagree, hoped I would listen to Secretary Stimson and go on to Yale. After the ceremony, Dad asked me if I had changed my mind. I told him no, I was “joining up.” Dad simply nodded his okay. On my eighteenth birthday, June 12, 1942, I enlisted in the Navy’s flight training program as a seaman second class. My mother kept all the letters I wrote to her and Dad during World War II, so most of these come from her collection. You will find only one letter to a Barbara Pierce of Rye, New York. Barbara lost her “love” letters during one of our many moves after we got married. This first group of letters was written from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where I was enrolled in Naval Aviation Pre-Flight School. For some reason I did not date these letters, but I was stationed there from August to October of 1942. Dear Mum and Dad, . . . Today I felt better than I have since I’ve been here. It was hot but not unbearable. One fellow fainted at drill just to remind us that it was still hot. It is amazing how our moods change here. So many little things affect us. A cold Coke after drill can do more for one than you can imagine. I have never appreciated little things before. Ice cream, movies, a 15 minute rest, a letter, a compliment to our platoon. All these little things amount to so much in your mind and it is fun. Spirits go way up and way down, but when they’re up you feel so wonderful . . . I have gotten to know most of the fellows in the platoon. They are a darn good-hearted bunch . . . There are so many different types here. We have a pretty friendly platoon—also good spirit . . . On our 5 hr. hike tomorrow my heart’ll be with you in the “docks.” 1 So drink a sip of water for me. It is our greatest luxury—a swallow of cold water. I think I’m really going to get a lot out of this place. Already we have learned a lot about people & discipline and tired muscles. Much love, Pop 2 This is a letter to my sister, Nancy, who was two years my junior. I was one of five children: Prescott (whom we called Pres or Pressy), myself, Nancy, Jonathan, and William (nicknamed Bucky), who was only four years old when I joined the Navy. Dear Nance, . . . There ...
