一千多页书信揭露父母在二战期间的浪漫情史

2013-11-14 10:58:57来源：网络

　　Before Darrow Beaton passed away from lung cancer in 2008, he sent his eldest daughter, Jane Bartow of Tucson, Arizona, four boxes of family photos. But the boxes contained much more than just pictures. To Jane’s surprise, when she pulled out the photos she found over 1,000 pages of love letters that were exchanged between her father and her mother, Elinor Landgrebe Beaton, from December 1941 to November 1945.

　　2008年在达罗比顿死于肺癌之前，他交给了大女儿简巴托四个盒子。盒子里装的不只是照片。让大女儿惊讶的是，当她把照片拿出来时，她发现了多达1000页的信件，这都是她父亲和母亲埃莉诺比顿在1941年12月到1945年11月之间写的。

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Darrow and Elinor Beaton达罗和埃莉诺比顿

　　Knowing her dad was a private man who neverspoke about his experience during World War II, she believes that he did not mean to include the letters. Jane told KVOA News 4 Tucson that it was special, "To know my dad at this age, and to see what he was like and how hopeful he was.”

　　她知道父亲是一个沉默寡言的人，从来不谈论自己在二战中的经历。她相信父亲没打算让她看到这些信。简告诉KVOA新闻这感觉很特别，“了解我父亲在这个年龄的样子，和他怎样充满希望的生活。”

在二战期间达罗巴顿是海军陆战队的无线电话务员.png

　　Darrow Beaton was a radio operator in the Merchant Marines during World War II.

　　在二战期间达罗巴顿是海军陆战队的无线电话务员

　　The unintentional gift allowed Jane to learn so much about things that were never discussed, like her parent’s love story, her family history and far more about the world at that time. She said, "I learned so much about the war. I learned how tough it was. I learned how hard it was for these men, and how lonesome it was for them, but I also learned how tough it was on the women. It was like their lives stopped because all of the young men were gone."

　　这个意料之外的礼物让她知道了很多之前没有被谈论过的事，比如她父母的爱情故事，她家庭的历史甚至那个时期的世界。“我了解到了战争，知道了战争有多残酷。我明白了战争给这些男人带来的艰难和孤独，但同时也了解了它给女人带来的艰难。这就好像她们的生命突然停滞了，因为所有的年轻男人都去了战场。”

在二战期间达罗和埃莉诺比顿交换了1000页的书信.png

　　Darrow and Elinor Beaton exchanged over 1,000 pages of love letters during WWII

　　在二战期间达罗和埃莉诺比顿交换了1000页的书信

　　The letters inspired Jane to self-publish a book to tell her parent’s story titled, To Elinor: A Romance in Two Voices. In the book, Jane explains that her father, a radio operator in the Merchant Marines, fell in love with her mother at first sight and pursued her with his letters from the war. Jane said that her mother Elinor was a spirited woman who had dreams of becoming, “something big,” during a time that traditional roles of women were changing.

　　这些信件给简带来灵感自己出版的一本书来讲述她父母的爱情故事，书名叫《致埃莉诺：两种声音同一种浪漫》。在书中，简写到他的父亲，一名海军陆战队的无线电话务员，对自己的母亲一见钟情，并在战争时期通过书信对母亲展开追求。母亲埃莉诺是一位意气风发的女性，梦想自己能成为一名了不起的人。在那个时期女性的传统角色正在发生改变。

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　　Elinor Landgrebe Beaton埃莉诺比顿

　　While Darrow’s ship was hobbled he returned to Los Angeles, where Elinor was pursuing a singing career and the two spent time together. On his last day in the U.S. Elinor told Darrow she believed she was pregnant and the two were married on June 14, 1944. In March 1945 Jane was born. After Darrow’s service ended he finished his degree and upheld a promise he made to his wife during the war: He would make $2 million someday. By producing weekly pill organizers and children’s medicine spoons, the veteran made his millions, and the couple was married for more than 60 years.

　　在达罗的船靠港之后他回到了洛杉矶，埃莉诺当时正在追求她的歌唱事业，他们两个在一起度过了一段时光。在美国的第一天，埃莉诺告诉达罗她怀孕了，所以两个人在1944年6月14日结婚。1945年3月简出生了。在达罗的服役期满后，他完成了自己的学位然后开始履行自己在战争期间对妻子的承诺：他有一天要赚到200万。通过生产药盒和儿童药勺，这位老兵转到了自己的百万存款，这对夫妻一起幸福生活了60多年。

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　　To Elinor: A Romance in Two Voices by Jane Beaton Bartow

　　致埃莉诺：两种声音同一种浪漫

　　Jane wishes she had talked about her family history with her parents before they died. The WWII veteran’s daughter is now encouraging others to discuss those wartime stories with “The Greatest Generation,” and started the blog WorldWarIIDaughters.org with the goal of preserving war stories.

　　简希望在父母去世之前和他们谈论家族的历史。这个二战老兵的女儿现在在鼓励其他人与“最伟大的一代人”讨论战争时期的事，并且开通了一个博客来保存战争故事。

本文关键字: 二战浪漫情史