Show kathleen norris says when the dead man comes home ben syndicate features TM 1 ep Q 4 yb 72 it breaks my heart to leave a lovely home and circle of lot friends here in connecticut and take up life again with a man whose nervous tempers I 1 know only too well by KATHLEEN NORRIS T ry HUSBAND was re MY ported dead writes 1 v jelaine foster from bridgeport conn he was a marine L at bataan officially declared killed in that terrible first rush instead he had been sent on a scouting expedition M in 1 which two men were killed and he was taken prisoner one year afterward I 1 married again this time far more happily than the first time my first marriage had been at 18 it lasted seven years during all of which time I 1 knew we had made a mistake we were both young and hot tempered and hard times and the illnesses of our little boy kept our nerves on the rack this second marriage to a MULI man I 1 awill will call david is a much more stable affair he is 40 1 I am 27 1 I look up to him as a guide philosopher and friend as well as love him with all my heart my small boy is devoted to him broken mind and body harry to call my first husband that has come home injured in soul and body he is lame and although capable of doing any clerical work his one idea is to go out to a horse ranch his cousin and uncle run in montana and live there he wants me to go with him and whether I 1 go or not he will claim roy I 1 intend to fight for at least part time custody of my child and it would break my heart to leave a lovely home and a circle of loved friends here in connecticut and take up life again with a man whose nervous tempers I 1 know only too well have you any advice to give in these troubled circumstances the shock of harrys return cost me my ex 1 pecked baby and I 1 am in for some weeks of rest during that time I 1 want to think out the right thing to do and your advice will help me 0 a my dear elaine I 1 cannot help you because these circumstances really come under a theological head you are married to harry and for you there can be no other marriage your choice therefore is either to take your son and go off somewhere to make a life for yourself not seeing david again or to accompany harry to montana and build a new life there and if you are really as spiritually strong as you indi indicate cate in in the more intimate part of your letter you will find happiness somewhere along the road if you follow that course this tragedy of the returning mg dead man is frequent in this war because of the enormity of the operations on a dozen fronts and the fearful destructive tive power of modern munitions in one case in my own family a young naval officer was imprisoned in a camp for two years with no opportunity to communicate with his family then reported lo 10 lost st on the prison ship 0 our ur own men bombed and finally lost to sight for months ahe he is on his way home sa safe fe and sound now another case is that of a friends child who supposedly went down with a lost destroyer this boy swam and floated five miles scrambled up a beach met friendly natives lived with thern them doing underground work for more than a year and is also on AGONIZING DILEMMA fortunately few women have to face the agonizing dilemma that confronts coh fronts the soldiers wife whose letter appears in this issue elaine heard from official sources that her husband harry had been killed at bataan A year later she married again this his t time more happily the first marriage in fact was heading for the rocks when the war came and the separation temporarily solved the problem but harry was not killed he is back now after years in a jap P prison rison camp lame irritable and unable to readjust himself he wants as to go west and live on his cou cousins sires horse ranch taking his wife elaine and their little boy this move is most distasteful to elaine she is happy with her second husband who is in many ways superior to harry in her eyes she likes the new circle of friends she has acquired all this she would have to give up if she goes with harry nevertheless erth eless as miss bliss norris points out harry is still her husband her only husband this second man david is a victim of tragic circumstances blaines El aines duty is to stand by harry the rest of her life says miss bliss norris his way home his wife a pretty girl of 21 was within two weeks of a second marriage when his message came shattered and puzzled to adjust all these broken ends of life into a perfect whole and begin ving living normally again is more than some of these young persons can manage they are shattered and puzzled by different claims and obligations gat ions and dont know where to start in straightening things out infinite patience with the returns returning ing men and a quiet sane study of each problem m is the oy only way through the terrible aftermath of war but in the first case I 1 quote it seems to me ela elaine i ne has one very real compensation in sight to get out into the mountains of montana will be the best possible thing tor for her little boy he wont have to be anguished gui shed as so many thousand children are by being torn between the claims of father and mother perhaps pe r in his improvement and his happiness she will find happiness for herself another great compensation will wl 11 be in the feeling she will hav have e that while it is not a conspicuous s s service ervice to her country it is a very real one to try to make up to at least one wounded veteran the youth and health that the war has drained away if every man coming back had a wife a son and a prospect of rough roughing i ng it on a montana horse ranch for a year or two the greatest problem that america has to meet would be solved it if elaine faces facer this hard change courageously the he t pr prayers a y e rs that s she he is praying for her light will be answered full measure pressed down and running over |