October 1963 letter to
Margot:
When I came back to the
U.S.A I intended to send for
you, but after I got back here
there was so much segregation… I am married now and
have a family over here but I
hope you will not have any bad
feeling for me.
You know I would send him
back. I doubt if he would stay
with me always any way. I
would like to keep him because
I know it would be better for
him over here but I know you
love him too, and he loves you,
so I don’t want to take him..
My father and all of his children. From left, Kenneth Edward Copeland, William H. Copeland, Monica
Fountain and Walter Klien.
March 1964:
I am writing because I haven’t heard from you. I hope that by now you
have decided to let Walter come over.
March 1964:
Dear Son:
I wish so much you could have been with me (Xmas) I think about you
all the time, and love you very much. I know there are a lot of things about
me that you don’t understand now because you are so young, but as you
grow older you will know why daddy can’t be with you. You will also find
out that Daddy is a good man and not a soldier who play dice and get
drunk. When you get older you will find out the truth for yourself….
1965:
I was so happy you said Walter could come and visit with me…You did
not understand what I said in my other letter about my wife. I said my
wife will be very very happy for Walter to come. But she said she do not
want Margot to come (smile).
Date unknown:
I know you think all Americans are rich, but this is not true. I am
going to college and not making a lot of money at present time, but as soon
as I finish, I will be able to make more money.
However, I think you should explain to Walter that for six years I did
not know where he was most of that time I was able to do more for him
than I am now.
And you should remember that I have never seen my son, as a matter of
fact, I don’t know for sure whether or not I have a son. I only have your
word. And also the reason I can’t do the same for him as I do my other
son is because he is not with me. He is 3,000 miles away. I never had the
opportunity to pin diapers on him and feed him his bottle and watch him
take his first steps to walking and grow up.
But this does not mean that I do not love him just as much as I do my
other son. It just means we have not had the opportunity to get to know
each other as father and son.
However, whether you let him come to visit me or not I am going to send
him something whenever I can because I know when he gets old enough he
will want to see me.
It doesn’t matter what people tell children when he sees me he will find
out that it was all lies. I am not the same man I was when I was in the
Army, however I don’t think I was too too bad then, and I am much
better now. I don’t drink at all neither play dice. I am dedicated to the
ministry.
…I hope you will answer and tell me Walter can come and stay one
year. ..There is a lot of things a father needs to teach his son. A son needs
to come up knowing his father.
The last letter, date unknown:
Dear Margot and Walter,
I wrote you a letter but it came back to me. I have been hoping I would
hear from you…I have been worried about you because I did not know
where you were so I decided to send another letter to see if you would get it.
So if you get this letter answer soon.
With all my love,
William H. Copeland
CONTINUED ON PAGE 28
Fall/Winter 2013 The Well Magazine
23