2016-06-08 Wed

Some letters are not just made of words; they are drenched in emotions which can’t be expressed any better than the one who pens it down. Porter Rich was a brave Unites States Navy officer who sacrificed his life for the nation during the Pearl Harbour attacks on 7th December, 1941. Two months before that tragic morning, he had written a lovely letter to his expecting wife Margaret. After 65 long years, the letter with the envelope made its way to the stock of military postal historian and dealer Kurt Stauffer, who sold them online on January 2nd for $1,750.

The cover is postmarked 13th October, 1941 on USS Oklahoma. The last line of Rich’s return address reads “T.H.”, which stands for Territory of Hawaii. The letter had an image of USS Oklahoma at the top which indicates that Rich used stationery that was aboard the ship.

Many other covers like these exist today but this one was unique as it was written closest to the attack. That’s the reason why it fared well at the auction. Also, only USS Arizona was known to the public, the recent findings about this historical event might have generated more curiosity among bidders. Experts state that the story behind the collectibles is what excites bidders like Jeff Omdahl of California, who owns the cover.

Collector Omdahl, had particular interest in covers featuring the work of the respected cachetmaker Walter G. Crosby. He already had two other letters written by Porter Rich. This letter was addressed to Mrs. Porter Rich and the previous two letters were addressed to Miss Margaret Lehmkuhl.

After picking up clues from the letters, Omdahl found out that Margaret had divorced her earlier husband and between the end of January and September 1941, she got married and enjoyed a honeymoon trip with Rich. It is believed that Margaret never saw her new husband again after his return to his duty in September.

Rich’s Oct. 12, 1941 letter to his wife beautifully takes you though the joy and excitement of newly wedded partners and expecting parents. In the letter, Rich calls his unborn child as Carolleigh which is a combination of Carol and Leigh. He also indicates that the Oklahoma will be repaired and revamped in May 1942. He ends his letter with a touching line “written about all I can think of except to tell you how much I love you, adore you, miss you and cherish you. - Your Loving Husband Porter.”

Omdahl is hoping to collect more envelopes like these, contribute to Pearl Harbour postal history and finally exhibit his entire collection, with the star letter being this final one written by Rich.