Letters To Rose

Mariela Cadena

Mr. Blas

Honors U.S. History, Per. – 4

16 October 2014

Levi D. Kinsel Personality Traits

In our U.S. History class, our teacher, Mr. Blas, brought an antique box containing letters from World War II. Mr. Blas came across this box at an estate sale. We as a class believe that it is our duty to effectively preserve these letters, and to pass on the story of Levi and his wife, Rose Kinsel, to their family. While reading the letters from Levi to Rose, my group and I noticed many repeating personality traits in Levi. Three main personaltiy traits in him were that he was a serious, but also very optimistic, and sweet husband.

Levi was serious because in many of his letters, he never really joked around. He was very straight-forward when talking about his day. For example, in a letter he sent to Rose on January 21, 1941, one of the first things he writes is, “Well here it is sunday again and I’ve slept and read nearly all day.” In almost every letter Levi writes, he starts off by being very direct and straight-forward when talking about his day. This also shows he never really went out much. He would usually stay in and play poker with his friends. Many times he would send the money he won to Rose, which was very sweet. Another reason why Levi was straight-forward is when he wrote a letter to Rose on March 30, 1939, he wrote, "This sure is a lousy station, it is all together and is called the naval operating fane, it is old and decrepit." This shows how straight-forward and blunt Levi was.

Even though Levi was serious sometimes, he also had a sweet side to him. He would always start off his letters with, “Dearist Rose,” and end his letters with, “Love Levi.” He would also call Rose cute nicknames, for example, “baby, sugar, and Rose Bell.” He would even send her money orders. In a letter he wrote to her saying he would send her a money order. He wrote, “I am sending you a money order for $75. You can get yourself a Easter hat or something.” He also bought her some stockings. He could have easily said he didn’t have time, or that there weren’t any but he went out and looked for them because she wanted them. Levi also wrote in his letter to Rose on January 23, 1939, “How about sending me a small picture of yourself. I got me a free fold and it has a place for one in it.” This shows that he really misses Rose and wishes she would always be with him. Levi would also try to have a conversation with Rose in his letters. On January 23, 1939, he asked Rose how she was doing. He wrote, "How have you been? and what do you do all the time?" This shows that no matter how Levi was feeling, he always thought about Rose.

Not only was Levi sweet, he was always optimistic. Whenever Rose didn’t write to him, he would always say she had a reason not to like, “bad weather” or something else. But he always believed she would write back to him. He was also optimistic because he would always hope that Rose would visit him where he would be stationed. Levi would always hope that he would not get stationed to far from home. In his letter to Rose on March 20, 1939, he writes, “I doubt if I will get to see them they have another list of men eligible for Panama and I am on the top of it. I really hope I don’t get it I don’t know what we would do with her and the pups if I got transferred down there…” In another letter to Rose written on Feburary 7, 1941, "I hope you don't feel like I do, I think this is the first time I've ever been really homesick... I guess the best thing to do is just wait and see what turns up." This shows that no matter how Levi is feeling he believes that everythhing will get better. Also, while reading some of the letters, my group and I noticed that Levi used the word hope very much. This means that Levi was always optimistic in many situations.

Based off of these observations, my group and I have come to the conclusion that Levi’s personality was serious, but also very sweet and optimistic. He was very straight-forward and direct, but also sweet, caring, and optimistic. He would always make sure to let Rose know how he was doing, and ask how she was doing. Even though this box was temporarily lost, I am honored that our class had the opportunity to re-discover Levi and Rose Kinsel's story.