St. Ann School · Gloucester, Massachusetts · 1967

The Gloucester Letters

In 1967, Sister M. Roselle’s fourth grade class at St. Ann School in Gloucester wrote to Russell Jacobson, a wounded Navy corpsman recovering at Chelsea Naval Hospital. He treasured their letters for the rest of his life. Years later, their kindness brought comfort to his young son, too.

This collection brings those letters back to the people who wrote them.

The story behind the letters

Newspaper clipping, 1967: Russell H. Jacobson in a hospital bed at Chelsea Naval Hospital, under the headline “Sailor Survives Ambush.” — Russell Jacobson recovering at Chelsea Naval Hospital, where the children’s letters reached him. Tap to enlarge.

When these letters arrived, my dad was going through a painful recovery at Chelsea Naval Hospital. He had nearly died several times, lost a great deal of weight, and was withdrawing from people. He was struggling to eat and often didn’t want to talk.

Into that part of his life came letters from a classroom of children in Gloucester. They shared their everyday lives, wished him well, and offered their friendship.

Dad didn’t talk much about what the letters meant to him, but he would revisit them from time to time. Through everything that followed, he held on to them like gold. That’s how I know they mattered.

What your letters meant to his son

I remember seeing these letters once as a young boy, probably about the same age as the children who wrote them.

Vietnam was something we couldn’t really talk about at home. I could see what the war had done to my dad, but I didn’t know what to do with my anger and confusion about what had happened to him. It was hard to understand how so much could have happened to him and so little could be said about it.

Reading your letters brought me comfort. Here were children about my age calling him a friend and wishing him well. Their words showed me that people outside our family had noticed and cared about my dad.

I couldn’t have explained all of that then, but I never forgot how it felt. I think their kindness helped soften some of the anger I carried and left a little more room for kindness of my own.

If you wrote one of these letters, I want you to know that years after you sent it, your words brought comfort to his son, too.

Small gestures like these matter. They can help a veteran’s child feel that their family’s sacrifices are recognized and that their parent is cared about. A few handwritten words can stay with a family for a very long time.

Dave Jacobson
Russell’s son

The children who wrote

32 children signed their names, and 1 letter isn’t signed. There are 34 letters in all, counting Sister Roselle’s. Tap any name to read that letter. Names are shown as they were signed; [?] marks letters we can’t read for sure.

Portraits are shown with the letters where they were found. Some photographs became detached over the years. If you recognize a face or notice a mismatch, please let me know.

Looking for someone? (optional)

These are photographs of the original letters. Clearer scans and more information will be added over time.

Help identify these faces

These school photos were with the letters, but we can’t say for sure who they are. If you recognize someone, please tell me.

P03
Found resting loose on John Verga[?]’s letter (L04), not in its taped spot. It may belong to another letter.
See letter L04
P11
Taped to page 1 of Robert Geary’s letter (L15). His letter has a second photo too, so neither is confirmed.
See letter L15
P12
Taped next to the signature on page 2 of Robert Geary’s letter (L15). Not confirmed.
See letter L15
P23
Taped to the unsigned letter from 7 Hovey St. (L29). We don’t know who wrote it.
See letter L29

Were you in Sister Roselle’s class?

If you wrote one of these letters, knew one of these children, or have a memory of St. Ann School in 1967, I’d love to hear it. Everything comes to me first, and nothing goes on the site until I’ve read it.

A note from their teacher

Sister M. RoselleTeacher · sent with her students’ letters · L07

About these pages

Each letter is transcribed exactly as it was written, spelling and all. Where the handwriting is hard to read, it’s marked instead of guessed. Names are shown as signed until someone who knows confirms them.