Forty-two years ago on August 24, 1945, a telegram was sent via U.S. Naval Radio that relayed personal messages from civilian internees liberated from Weihsien Internment Camp located in present-day Weifang, Shangdong, China.
These very brief messages usually gave a few words of reassurance “…family all well…,” “Advise Mother all concentration camp liberated…,” “Health perfect spirits high,” and then signed by the internee.
However, one is very unusual. Found on page 10 it was written to G. P. Putnam, Amelia Earhart’s widower – it reads: G P PUTNAM 10042 VALLEY SPRING LANE NORTH HOLLYWOOD CALIFORNIA CAMP LIBERATED ALL WELL VOLUMES TO TELL LOVE TO MOTHER
Unsigned and rather mysterious – the message to Putnam was sent anonymously and it has never been determined who actually sent it. According to conspiracy theorists, “Love to Mother” was a phrase Amelia Earhart used to say. The fact of its anonymity is what makes the telegram so interesting, and (along with never finding Earhart’s plane or remains) has led to a few theorists saying that this was proof that Earhart survived on an island in the Pacific for years during the war and ended up in a Japanese camp, and after it was liberated, decided to live out the rest of her life in quiet anonymity instead of coming back the States as a rescued celebrity.
Could it be her?
Quiet Lunch is a grassroot online publication that seeks to promote various aspects of life and culture with a loving, but brute, educational tinge. When we say, “Creative Sustenance Daily,” we mean it.