'What I am fighting for'

The following is a letter written in 1943 by World War II veteran Medford Upchurch, who originally hailed from Bollinger County. The letter was recently found by a family member. Upchurch's grandson, Edgar Upchurch Jr., is currently serving at Ft. Leonard Wood. The letter was published in the most recent Banner-Press newspaper.

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"I am fighting for that big white house with the dark brown roof, and the big front lawn, the house that I lived in before Hitler and the Japs came into my life. I am fighting for those big oak trees out there on the hill where my brother and I spent so many happy and never-to-be-forgotten hours.

"I am fighting for that little white church with its small glass windows, its big organ, with the magnificent tone, its choir, its people who were always so glad to see us; that little church with its great principles and ideals, its ever-placeable position in the community, its educational programs for the young, its living testimony to the creator of us all.

"I am fighting for those sisters of mine, the ones that shed so many tears when their brothers went marching off to war. I am fighting for those two gray-haired grown-ups who live in that house now. Those two hard working and intelligent people who planned the lives of those two boys who went marching off to war. Those two people who fought so hard to give those boys a good education, to keep them well clothed, well fed and clean of body and mind.

"I am fighting for that little white school house. That nice little roadster I used to have. My room at home, the radio in the living room, the piano and that little black bull dog with his bright eyes and funny walk.

"I am fighting for Washington. I am fighting for those two houses of Congress, for that dignified and magnificent Supreme Court, for that President, who has led us so brilliantly though these trying years, and for the man who succeeds him.

"I am fighting for everything America stands for. I am fighting for the rights of the poor and the rich. I am fighting for the rights of the American people to choose their own leaders, to live their own lives, to save their money if they like or to spend it if they like.

"I am fighting for the freedom that so few of us seemed to realize we had before the war struck at us. I am fighting for that American belief in equality, in justice and in an Almighty God.

"These are a few of the things I am fighting for and there are 10 million more in the armed forces fighting for them too, and back home on the home front another 120 million are buying the bonds to help pay for the weapons of war and working day and night on the production line to produce the weapons of war. We cannot lose!

"I hope it isn't so hot there, it's warm here but isn't so hot. It hasn't rained here for a long time, but they say it starts raining here about the middle of September. The grass out here has been dead for two months.

"We won't be here very much longer, but I think we will be in Oregon a couple of months yet.

"Tell Mrs. Hansen hello. I think of all the neighbors back there often."