Memorial Day Tribute

The story of one is sometimes the story of many. This story is, in particular, about Beulah Inman and her son, Ira I. Inman, but I hope it will resonate with others.

Ira Inman graduated from Churchill County High School in 1938 and enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1939. Because he had experience working in his father’s Fallon garage, he soon qualified as an aircraft maintenance mechanic. He was first sent to March Field, California, and then was stationed at Clark Field in Pampanga, Philippine Islands, as part of the American prewar buildup in the Pacific. He was there when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and the war began in full force.

Beulah stopped hearing from Ira soon after Pearl Harbor, but she wrote faithfully to her son throughout the spring of 1942, convinced that as long as she wrote to him, he would survive on her love and support. The letters are now part of a collection held in the Churchill County Museum and Archives.

Beulah addressed Ira in many different ways, but all the words revealed her heart: Dear Ira, Dear Sonny Boy, My Own Dear Sonny, Dear Little Boy of Mine, My Dear Own Little Boy. Her letters are full of details about family, Fallon, war rationing and whatever war details she had.

On December 18, 1941, she wrote, “Daddy is working on a tractor tonight…. I’m enclosing a program that was given at the H.S. Auditorium this evening. Aleita [Ira’s sister] plays the horn good now. …I spent the evening with Mrs. Chambers. She sends her best wishes & love to you. Said Helen was 30 hours having the baby. …Helen said baby looks like Frank [Ira’s brother]. Also said Frank examined her all over to see if she was perfect….”

December 29, 1941: “…The New Year will soon be here, won’t it, and I wonder what it will bring to the nation. Aleita and myself are making two little dresses for the Red Cross. Also bought Defense bonds so you know we are helping all we can.”

January 12, 1942: “…The air is full of pogonip & no sun for more than a week. …Gladys told me Sat. while I was in Safeway that Donald is joining the Army. I believe Howard will enlist soon in the Navy….”

January 24, 1942: “The last six weeks have seemed like a lifetime & I know you & your Buddies must feel that the days & nights are one. I am waiting for Dad to come to supper & and it is evidently about 11:30 Philippine time…. Will be so glad when we can hear from you again…. Canada and the U.S. go on a sugar restriction of a pound to the person. It seems strange how selfish people are. One woman was going to every grocer in town getting a 25# bag of sugar….”

January 30, 1942: “All day Monday you were in my thoughts continuously. Last night I had such terrible dreams about you. Surely there must be some way to get a message to you or from you…. I hope you come back the same dear sweet boy you were when you left….”

April 18, 1942: “Today spring is in full swing. Flowers blooming, green grass everywhere. Several fruit trees in bloom & the robin hopping around on the lawn listening for the worms to come to the surface….”

May 21, 1942: “You know, Sonny dear, that we haven’t’ heard from you since 12-29-41., but where ever you are and what ever you are doing, I know you are using your best judgment…. They tell me at the office & from radio reports that it is no need to write to you, but somehow I just have to…. The big date has been set for graduation June 8…. Aleita’s dress is a floral design in a misty green shade… Your little baby sister is a young lady now.”

Beginning in May 1942, all mail addressed to Pvt. Ira I. Inman was returned to the Fallon family as undeliverable.

Pvt. Inman was one of 36 local boys killed in World War II. He was awarded a Silver Star Medal for gallantry in action on December 8, 1941, at Clark Field, Pampanga, Philippine Islands. He died during the Japanese occupation of the islands, but his body was not officially identified until 1947.

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