The Love Letter From George HW To Barbara Bush During WWII Is The Most Beautiful Surviving Souvenir Of Their Love

Dec 03, 2018 by apost team

As the nation mourns the death of former President George H.W. Bush, his family and friends remind the world of the incredible love he felt for his wife Barbara. Presidential historian Michael Beschloss recently tweeted a love letter George sent to Barbara at the height of World War II.

The couple’s only surviving love letter is dated December 12, 1943, when the future president was serving as a United States Navy pilot in the Pacific. Written in clear blue ink, the letter begins “My darling Bar.” The defender of freedom then tells Barbara how happy he was to see their engagement announcement in the paper, confessing that despite his joy, he is unable to fully express his emotions in a letter.

George and Barbara Bush’s marriage has been described as storybook-esque. The longest married couple of any president and first lady, the duo met as teenagers at a Christmas dance mere weeks after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor in December of 1941.

George described his first meeting with Barbara years later in his autobiography. As the band played the songs of Glenn Miller, the then aviator in training asked a friend if he knew Barbara, who was standing across the room.

Barbara’s green and red Christmas dress would forever be marked on the young man’s psyche, with George saying that while he usually has a hard time recalling what people wear, Barbara’s dress stood out the moment he laid eyes on her. After a long courtship, the couple was engaged in August of 1943.

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Reflecting on the engagement, George wrote, “to know that you love me means my life.” George then tells of the joy that their marriage will be, saying that their children will be lucky to have a mother like Barbara. In the letter, George confesses that, like most young men of that time, he had a strong desire to go overseas and serve in the war. However, after their engagement, all of George’s mind is set on returning home and living out his life with his soon to be wife.

Conceding that he might sound a bit melodramatic, George credits all of his happiness to his love for Barbara. The couple were married on January 6, 1945 after George’s plane was shot down over the Pacific. Still serving in the Navy, the pilot had the named Barbara emblazoned on his Grumman Avenger torpedo bomber. Their marriage produced six children, including George W. Bush, the 43rd President of the United States.

Barbara died in Houston, Texas on April 18, 2018, after deciding that she did not want to continue treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and congestive heart failure. George would follow a short six months later, dying on November 30, 2018, after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease.

Speaking on his father’s memory, George W. would say that his father was a man of the highest character.

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