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| Bruce working at his art table in about 1941 at the Woodmen Building on 14th Street, downtown Omaha, Nebraska. |
I have yet to figure out why Bruce seems to have traveled alone to Mexico in the summer of 1941. Maybe, at age of 24 he was trying to get away from his family, as his mother was extremely over protective. Possibly he was wanting to get away from his girlfriend, who was a married woman. Possibly the traveling "alone" was a rue, and his girlfriend was actually on the trip with him. We really don't know for sure. The 1940 census record tells us that he was living in the same building as his mother and sister, though it was a separate apartment. The evidence given in the correspondence indicates that he was alone in Mexico. Perhaps with his success in advertising art, he was finally able to fulfill a life long dream. Just a young, handsome artist doing what artists should do...travel with paper aplenty.
While traveling that summer, Bruce would have been unaware of the coming events that would change their lives forever. Germany, Italy and Japan, the Axis powers had been waging war across Europe and China, but America was yet to become involved in the second world war. Bruce was someone who would read the daily newspapers, so he would have been not only aware but likely nervous about the war. Less than a year had past since Hitler invaded Denmark and Norway. This must have had an emotional impact on Bruce.
Grandfather, Peter "Jeppe" Jepsen and great grandfather, Lars P. Jepsen (a decorated Danish soldier) came to Nebraska from Denmark in 1873 followed by Christina Paulsen who would become Bruce's Grandmother. In 1911, along with their son Harry, the family left Nebraska to invest in real estate and live out the remainder of their lives in Indian River City, Florida.This is where Harry met a young woman from Alabama, Bruce's mother, Edwina. Bruce was born and raised in Florida until the age of 13 because of Peter and Christina Jepsen's wishes to live the remainder of their lives among citrus groves. His mother, Edwina Wilson was a descendant of early settlers. I am a member of the DAR, Daughters of the American Revolution, through her long line of patriots.
In 1941 the French were under German occupation and Great Britain had suffered with the Germans nightly bombing of London, which was referred to as "the blitz". As a pursuant of all things planes, Bruce would have been keeping himself informed on the progress of the RAF, the Royal Air Force. He would not know that after earning his wings, he would be invited to fight along side the Royals.
But keeping on story with the Artista in Mexico, on June 11, 1941 at 11PM, Bruce arrived in San Antonio, Texas. This was his first time there, but not his last. He would send another telegram from San Antonio later as a cadet. This first time he sent a Postal Telegraph addressed to his mother, Mrs. H.C. Jepson, South 31st Street, Omaha, Nebr. He dictated, "Plane arrived in San Antonio. 7:00 AM taking bus to Monterrey. Love Bruce." I'm not sure how it was possible for him to fly, but I suspect that he had friends in the air travel industry. His girlfriend at the time was the daughter of a mail delivery pilot with rank. In my research I discovered she was not only the wife of a man who founded an airline in Miami, Florida (possibly as part of the war effort) but she herself, was one of the first American women to serve as a WWII mail delivery pilot. Bruce may have already begun flying lessons or at least had caught the flying fever. It's also interesting to note that the very day he flew south for the first time to Texas and then Mexico, the U.S. government announced new restrictions on private flying.
US News Headlines June 1941
The day he left Omaha for San Antonio, newspaper headlines would read, "$75,000,000 War Materials To Great Briton, President Reports Aid Program." and "Uncle Sam Bomber Will Out Perform Nazi Stuku." And "U.S. Probes Sinking of Robin Moor". There were also reports of a simulated attack off the coast of Cape Cod by the Army Infantry, which shows a general feeling of nervousness. The following morning Bruce most likely purchased a local newspaper as he boarded a Greyhound bus from Laredo, Texas to Monterrey, Mexico. The headlines read, "Report From American Consul in Brazil; Nazi Sub sank the Moor, 11 Survivors." And "Report states, Commander of German Sub was fully Aware the Robin Moor Was An American Vessel." newspaperarchives.com This may have been the last U.S. news for the duration of his adventure in Mexico. One has to wonder if Bruce did have some idea of what was coming.
© Julie Ann Cambridge, Inkwashletters, 2018. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Julie Ann Cambridge and Inkwashletters with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
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