Reminiscing, Reflection, and What Really Matters
Reminiscing, Reflection, and What Really Matters
Into a Cloud
Ryan Kelly | November 13, 2019
MY GREAT-UNCLE, Jerry Kelly, was an American pilot in the Second World War. On Oct. 20, 1944, he was flying a close-support mission over Germany when his P-47 Thunderbolt was hit by anti-aircraft fire. After he radioed that he had smoke in the cockpit, his plane began losing altitude and was last seen disappearing into a cloud. Jerry was 20 years old.
More than 71 years later, a UPS carrier delivered a blue box to my home. The box contained a treasure trove—220 handwritten letters Jerry wrote home from the war. The box was a gift from my dad’s cousin, Phil, who spared no expense in shipping costs and tracked the package every hour to ensure safe delivery. Given my strong interest in Jerry’s life, Phil decided I should be the family guardian of the letters.
I’ve read each letter more than once. I now know Jerry better than most people I deal with every day. People I regularly interact with don’t work out their deepest thoughts and feelings in handwritten letters, and—even if they did—they wouldn’t let me read them.
Jerry’s letters have provided me with many valuable life lessons. Here are seven of those lessons:
1. Saving money brings focus to life. As a pilot, Jerry made a good wage and spent less than he earned. On Oct. 8, 1944, he wrote a letter to his mom expressing the satisfaction he felt from seeing his bank account balance reach $1,200, equal to $17,500 in today’s dollars. Jerry planned to study accounting at the University of Utah upon his return from the war.
Jerry’s best friend, who is still alive today, told me Jerry lived a life of high purpose. Saving money has many advantages. One advantage: It helps us maintain focus on our future. There’s a present-day benefit that comes from knowing we are providing for our future self.
2. Determine what brings you happiness, then invest in those things. Although Jerry was a saver, he wasn’t extreme in his frugality. He occasionally splurged on purchases. He knew himself well enough to know what made him happy and spent money intentionally.
Jerry loved writing letters, watching a good movie, listening to a Glenn Miller song and drinking a chocolate milkshake with a buddy. He spent $6, or $87 in today’s dollars, on a fountain pen.
He wrote almost every letter home with that pen. He purchased a radio to listen to news broadcasts and hear music. And the word “milkshake” is found several times in his letters.
Financial planner Allan Roth has said, “The goal isn’t to be the richest guy in the graveyard.” The goal, rather, is to use money to enjoy life and maximize happiness. Save money to promote future happiness. But if drinking a chocolate milkshake with a friend will bring you happiness today, then buy the milkshake.
3. Triumph is often preceded by struggle. Jerry convinced his dad—but not his mom—to sign a release form allowing him to enlist in the Army Air Corps one month before his 18th birthday. He set his sights on becoming a pilot.
He went through basic training and then began preflight training in early 1943. That summer, he started flying airplanes, but always with an instructor. His primary instructor had a temper and would yell constantly at Jerry, harshly criticizing every little mistake. Jerry worried he would wash out and never achieve his goal. But he pressed on, working and studying harder than ever before.
A breakthrough happened on Sept. 22, 1943, when Jerry soloed an airplane for the first time. He wrote home that night, “Well, I finally did it! I soloed today!!! My heart was really pounding. But as soon as I got in the air, I felt cool and collected and calm and I just did everything I’d been taught and the rest was easy.
Hooray for me. I got compliments from my instructor and everybody. My instructor said I was really on the ball today. You couldn’t dampen my spirits with three buckets of water right now.”
It has been said that courage is having done it before. After his successful solo flight, Jerry turned the corner and continued to improve as a pilot. Later in his service, he even looked back at his struggles in pilot training as one of the happiest times of his life.
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