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A Letter from Pavlo Editor's note: As you know, Our Life is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. In commemorating this achievement, we will be re-publishing in each issue archival materials that reflect the history of the magazine, the history of the UNWLA, and the history of the Ukrainian-American community. In last month's issue, we shared with you a translation of an article written in 1944 by Claudia Olesnycky, the first editor of Our Life. This month, we are pleased to share with you the English translation of a letter that was published in Our Life that same year. It is a letter from a sailor to his mother, a member of the Ukrainian National Women's League of America. While the letter was written during World War II, it contains a message that is still fresh and poignant for many of us. As Ukrainian Americans, we are a community that has chosen to embrace two worlds. In this choice, we honor Ukraine, the country of our heritage, and the United States of America, the country that is our homeland. The letter we have selected to publish in this issue of Our Life does the same. Dear Mother: It was better for me when I was in basic train ing in the States because I could write to you in the Ukrainian language. Now that I am overseas I am not allowed to write in any other language but English. I am very saddened by this situation. I went to my supe riors to get permission to write to you in Ukrainian. As you see they allowed me to write to you in Ukrainian and I am very glad to have received this permission. When I write in Ukrainian I have the feeling that I ’m home talking to you. You too [should] write to me in Ukrainian because when I read your letters, it will be as though I hear your voice and I see you before me. Before I joined the Navy, sometimes I com plained to you about you going to your organization and volunteering so much of your time for social ser vices. How unwise I was for not valuing your work. I was not very smart for not appreciating what you were doing in Soyuz Ukrainok. Now and only now, do I realize that your own nest is the most precious possession that one has to treasure, the language that mother taught is to be val ued forever. Work, mama, for your organization as much as you want to, because Ukraine needs many workers! I kiss your good hands, your son Pavlo. This letter, written in Ukrainian, came some where from the jungles in the South Pacific or from a Europe enslaved by the horrors of the Second World War. It was written by an American boy, a sailor in the service of the United States of America, who had never seen with his own eyes the land of Ukraine. The letter shows many things. It shows the young man's great love for his heritage and for the language he first heard from his mother. It also shows courage. The let ter, sent from a war zone and subject to strict military censorship on communication, was not written in the mandated English. Young Pavlo had the courage to ask for permission from the military to make an exception in his case so he could write his letters in Ukrainian. The letter also demonstrates one important characteristic of the United States—it was, and re mains, a country in which individual liberties are re spected. The officers in the military understood the young man’s plea. They did not see his request to write in Ukrainian as a crime or a transgression or disloyalty to the English language or this country. On the con trary, they supported the young man for standing up for his convictions. Permission was granted. The letter arrived in America with a censor's seal that explained “This sailor is sending across the ocean a letter to his mother written in her language.” The editors of Our Life and the Executive Committee of the UNWLA gratefully acknowledge the following gener ous contributions to Our Life Press Fund: $50 received from Jaroslav G. and Jaroslava E. Panchuk of Chicago in memory of Evstachia J. Strutynsky, a long-time member of the UNWLA. $247 received in memory of Zenobia Zarycky, a long-time member of the UNWLA, donated by friends and co-workers of Mrs. Zarycky's son. 12 “НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, ЛЮТИЙ 2004 Видання C оюзу Українок A мерики - перевидано в електронному форматі в 2012 році . A рхів C У A - Ню Йорк , Н . Й . C Ш A.
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