PART THREE
The general consensus of opinion seems to be that the only American soldiers with decent manners are the Negros.
Mrs Monk, you have a son to treasure, and feel very proud of.
We love him very dearly, and will do anything in the world for him, all we regret is we cannot have him home more, but duties won’t allow, he does come as often as possible.
We have told him he can look upon our home as his home while in our country, and I will try to fill your place, if only in a small way.
But don’t worry too much about him, while he is here, we shall take … every care of him, if ever he is ill, or in any way wanting us, we shall be there, we look upon him now as our own.
Mother to mother,
Very sincerely with loving thoughts,
Jessie Prior xxxxxx
Jessie Prior (Pontypool war-time resident) referring to Wilson Monk (African-American soldier of the 320th stationed in Pontypool, Wales) in a letter to his mother, as documented by Linda Hervieux in Forgotten: The Untold Story of D-Day’s Black Heroes