Anne Morrow Lindbergh's challenging life

Dear Editor,

Anne Morrow Lindbergh's challenging life is covered in the book, "Anne Morrow Lindbergh — War Within and Without, Diaries and Letters 1939-1944"

In 1932, the kidnapping and death of little Charles A. Lindbergh III was covered in U.S. Newspapers.

Charles Augustus Lindbergh Sr. (1859-1924) was a congressman from Minnesota. His son, Charles A. Lindbergh Jr., was born in 1902 in Detroit, Mich.

He attended the University of Minnesota for two years. Then he took a solo flight from Lincoln, Neb., where he learned to fly. By 1924, he had enrolled as a flying cadet in the U.S. Air Force Service Reserve.

Lindbergh's first solo flight was made in 1923 in a plane that he bought for $500.

He wanted to win a prize of $25,000 for making the first solo flight from New York to Paris. Crossing the Atlantic in a plane that mostly was weighted down with gasoline, he landed at Paris, France. A crowd of 1,000 people met him at an airfield.

Overnight, he was famous. The New York Times paid him $250,000 for the story of his flight. The book "We" became a best seller.

Lindbergh met Anne Morrow, the daughter of Dwight W. Morrow, U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, and married her in 1929. She was born in 1906 in Englewood, N.J.

They took long flights together. She became a licensed pilot and radio operator.

After the tragic kidnapping and death of their first child, they moved to Europe and lived in Paris. They openly opposed the entering of the U.S. into World War II. Then, Pearl Harbor was attacked by Japan onDec. 7 1941. (Jon Lindbergh, Land Lindbergh, little Anne Lindbergh and Scott Lindbergh were added to the family tree between 1933 and 1942.)

The Lindberghs moved back to the U.S. in 1939. Charles worked at the Ford Motor Co. plant, building planes in Detroit, Mich. Then, Charles offered his services and received authorization to go into combat in the South Pacific. He flew 100 very dangerous missions and was stationed in Australia.

After Lindbergh's death in 1974, Anne's life moved into a new direction. She became involved with community service, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Helen Ruth Arnold,

Trenton, Neb.