At my parents today and discovered a ton of material on the death of my great grandfather, more stuff than I'm able to take pictures of and post.

The picture below was in a tube and as far as anyone knows it hasnt been unrolled since 1945. Purple Heart citations along with a few other things like a notice from Hap Arnold were in there as well.

My question is, the signature at the bottom is Harry Truman. The ink is blue and Im curious is there any chance that signature is real? Or is it most likely from a machine or stamp?




In the stack of things are the western union telegram announcing his disappearance. Fascinating stuff. Thanks for any insight.

It's interesting in lots of ways, including the fact that is was signed by President Truman, who was a senator from Missouri at the time of your great grandfather's death. It makes me wonder if these were sent out after the war was over, as a sort of thanks and recognition. There's also the possibility that because your g-grandfather was MIA, and not confirmed KIA until after the war, that's why this was not sent until 1945.

Given the sheer number of casualties, it seems unlikely that it is a personal signature. WIki tells me that Truman was one of the first presidents to make use of an autopen. I tried to find an online image of his autopen signature, but failed. Maybe you can Google up and find some others to compare.

He has another letter just like this one with Franklin roosevelts signature.

I have multiple of these letters signed Presidents over the years for my father and brothers. Many are repeats, but different Presidents. They can be requested for Military Service.

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At my parents today and discovered a ton of material on the death of my great grandfather, more stuff than I'm able to take pictures of and post.

The picture below was in a tube and as far as anyone knows it hasnt been unrolled since 1945. Purple Heart citations along with a few other things like a notice from Hap Arnold were in there as well.

My question is, the signature at the bottom is Harry Truman. The ink is blue and Im curious is there any chance that signature is real? Or is it most likely from a machine or stamp?




In the stack of things are the western union telegram announcing his disappearance. Fascinating stuff. Thanks for any insight.

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Irish - Do you know the circumstances of your G-grandfather's death?

I requested his missing aircraft crew report and it was very detailed in describing what happened to him.


He was stationed somewhere around Masacault, Tunisia and was bombing a railyard in Italy. Tbe first run was unsuccessful and he volunteered to make a second which was successful.

On his way back home he and his formation were jumped by 25 ME 109's. Two planes went down in the fight that followed, his being one of them. Some witnesses say a parachute opened but he wasn't rescued. A naval ship made it to the area with 30 minutes but by that time any sign of them was in the depths of the ocean with the aircraft.

He flew a B26 Martin Marauder

As someone else already pointed out, the signature is probably auto pen. I would also agree with the assesment that since the status of your GGF changed from MIA to KIA, that Truman would have signed it late in the war or after. Not unusual for the first decade after the war.