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Serviceman's last letter to wife and son in 1944 had eerie tone of finality
Jewel Alfred Rivers grew up in the New Prospect community as the seventh of nine children. He married Mildred Virginia Clay in 1941. Dr. Grady Ketchum performed the ceremony in the pastor's study of the Jackson Baptist Church. He was "Jack" to her and she "Sal" to him. A son, Alfred Clay Rivers, was born to the couple in 1942. His dad would call him "Alf" or "Little Bo."
Enlisted in service in 1943 Jewel Alfred Rivers enlisted in the Army Air Corps on Dec. 28, 1943. He wanted to be a pilot but the demand for pilots was down and he was deemed too old. So, he trained to be a top turret gunner and an auxiliary pilot on the B-24 Liberator. He also served as an aerial combat photographer and a second engineer. He was stationed at stateside bases before shipping out for New Guinea where he would see action in the Pacific Theater. He was assigned to the 90th Bomb Group-known as the Jolly Rogers. He wrote over 200 letters to his wife during his time in the military. In April 1944, writing from Texas, he referenced a letter from his son. "I hope I can see him before he gets grown. I am missing the sweetest part of his life. It burns me up sometimes. I would like to have a picture of him with my cap on." Repeatedly calling his wife, "Sugar," he told her about the movies that were being showed on base. "Most of the fellows in the barracks went to town tonight. I didn't care about going. We have everything here that I would want in town. We have shows, good libraries and a P.X. I Of course, I am an old married man and naturally I don't want to be running around. We have an excellent library here. I have a good book checked out now...." He told his wife in an October 1944 letter from New Guinea that she and others like her "are heroes of another kind. Your task is to stay at home, to work and to wait for our return. To keep the world we know a place for men to live in peace, to plan, to hope, and to dream the future that is ours and yours." He promised, "I'll fight a good fight, I'll keep the faith. I'll not forget the ones dear to me back home." He joked, "Gosh, this [is] a regular newspaper column. It should make headlines in any paper, me saying all that."
Letter had a sober tone On Nov. 18, 1944 he wrote a short letter that is almost eerie when one realizes what would happen the next day. "I am alone in my tent tonight. The fellows have gone to the show. . As I sit here my mind continuously goes back across the wide Pacific, across the states to a small little town. There lives, the girl of my dreams. The only one I ever have loved and the only one I ever will love. "You possibly can imagine how I feel. I am so lonely tonight. I feel very near to you some how. It seems as if you should say to me, 'It'll be all right Jack.' Some day I trust that my dreams here will be real. Memories I cherish. I hold them precious. I'll never forget the lovely time we had together. "I am living a rather rugged and dangerous life now, but my trust [is] in the Lord. I am sticking it out in order to get my missions completed. "Be sweet as usual. Remember me to Little Alfred. Tell him his daddy loves him. "Take care of yourself my love. "Yours forever, Sgt. Jewel Rivers." The next day, Nov. 19, 1944, the entire plane and crew would be lost in strike enroute to Mindanao. He was declared missing in action and was formally declared dead on March 25, 1945. Alfred Clay Rivers was 2-years-old when his father died. He knows him only from the stories his mother told him and from the wealth of letters they exchanged in 1944.
Memorial erected In 1949, his mother erected the water fountain at the local library as a tribute to her husband. The memorial seems fitting, given River's numerous references to libraries and books in his letters to his wife. Ironically, she would go on to be librarian at the facility for about a quarter of a century. Mildred would later remarry, marrying Leonard Huggins, a World War II veteran who was among the first to hit Omaha Beach on D-Day. They had two children, Janet and Jenny Reeves. He is now deceased.
Became a pilot Alfred Clay Rivers would grow up to join the U.S. Air Force. He became a pilot and eventually attained the rank of colonel by the time he retired after a 25-year career. Now living in Mentone, Calif., Rivers agrees that it is ironic that he followed in the footsteps of a father he never knew and attained the position of pilot that he had longed to be. "I think my career would have been something he would have liked and been proud of," Rivers said. Mildred Huggins is 85 now and living in the Thomasville Nursing Home. Last week when he was home, Rivers brought her to the library for a photograph at the memorial to his father, similar to the one that was made over 50 years ago. It is fitting as Veterans Day approaches that we remember not only Jewel Alfred Rivers but all who have fought and given their lives for their country.
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