Teddy Roosevelt Letter Of Congrats.

Letter from Teddy Roosevelt To Midshipman Smith was sent to his home and then forwarded to US Naval Academy. Note postage on envelope not free franking. Only thought on that was that letter was sent to Gen Drain to forward to Midshipman Travis with Gen Drain's cover letter. Therefore since letter not mailed by Teddy Roosevelt (see return address on back of envelope) free franking did not apply. Any other thoughts?

How neat, what a fun piece!

That's COOL!
Thank you for sharing

Nice find and thanks for sharing. First to your question, Brig General Drain did not have free franking privileges for the White House mailings.

All three principals in these letters, President T. Roosevelt, as well as Midshipman Harold Travis Smith and Gen J. A. Drain did well each in their own right.

The 1907 midshipman in 1924 was a Lt. Comdr, assigned to engineering, on the USS Omaha and promoted to Commander on the USS Argonne likely to oversee the rebuild in Mare Island. He retired a Rear Admiral, born 1887, died 1960. He did not attend the 1908 Olympics.

[He is not the later Rear Admiral Harold T. Smith, United States Navy, awarded the Legion of Merit in 1946 (for actions in 1944-45) as he only graduated the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Class of 1924.]

Major James A. Drain was appointed Brigadier General and Adjutant General of the Washington National Guard in 1901, resigning August, 1906. He rose to that rank with service wholly within the Washington State National Guard. Not formally schooled beyond high school he was a self taught Lawyer and Accountant, practicing law in three states and Washington D.C. He also gained the notice of the President who appointed him to, I believe, a national position with the guard. Between then and WWI he lost part of his right arm in an accident. With the rise of WWI he transferred to the Regular Army of the United States, accepted with his handicap at the rank of Major in the Ordnance Corps and shipped with the 1st Division when it departed for France June 1917.

Drain was known as an expert in small arms and helped create tactics and techniques for the deployment of machine guns. A short time later, Major Drain represented the United States in the Anglo-American Commission on tank warfare. The commission was responsible for developing allied tank warfare strategy. His efforts were significant and appreciated. Lt Col James Drain was awarded the Army Distinguished Service Medal for his efforts per War Dept General Order #11, 1922

Brig Gen Drain was also an avid marksman and his policies reflected a change in focus of the National Guard. Under Drain's leadership, soldiers were required to shoot a specified number of rounds each year for marksmanship training. Those who did not were discharged. Drain organized training for leaders at the company level to become proficient in teaching marksmanship further promoting and endorsing its value. Groups of Guardsmen began participating in domestic and international marksmanship competitions. This included in 1908, James leading the US shooting team to Gold Medals at the London Olympic games.

Following WW1, James Drain pushed for the creation of the American Legion. Following its creation, he served 20 months as commander of the department of the District of Columbia, served as the Fourth District Chairman of Rehabilitation Committee of the Legion, elected National Commander for 1924-1925, and was a member of the American Legion national executive committee and board of directors. Drain also served as President of the National Rifle Association and is credited with bringing the organization from the brink of collapse to its prominence.

Wow Parcelpostguy that treatise makes the letter come to life. I will print a copy and keep it with the letter (crediting you of course). Thank you for the great insight.

Worth noting, for anyone who wonders: The NRA which today is a "gun rights" organization that receives a great deal of popular criticism was originally a widely popular gun safety and marksmanship organization. As a Boy Scout in the 1960s, every boy in my Scout troop was automatically enrolled in the NRA, and at Scout camps we regularly practiced marksmanship. NRA marksmanship medals were presented to the top shooters and (ahem) I was one of them. The NRA in this letter would be the earlier NRA before it changed into what it is today which is a kind of lobbying group.

Theodore Roosevelt owned a cattle ranch in North Dakota, served as head of the famous Rough Riders cavalry troop in the Spanish-American War (1898), and was a lifelong advocate of outdoor activities, hunting, and sports like marksmanship.

It also may seem a little odd to have marksmanship gun sports represented at the Olympics, but shooting sports have been in the Olympics throughout the modern era and continue to be today. The U.S. has won far more shooting medals than any other country. In the Winter Olympics, the only gun sport represented is biathlon (x-country skiing and shooting) which I think is based on the hunting tradition in Scandinavia.

Yes it is based upon Scandinavian hunting methods since the advent of the rifle. It is also considered one of the most difficult events due to the very nature of it. Fast cross country skiing demands activity which raises the heart rate considerably. Yet shooting is best done with a low pulse rate as one wishes to shoot between pulse beats. Thus ones needs a quick recovery rate after exertion. With human physiology, this a difficult combination to achieve.

As a side note, shooting is a sport for with downers or depressants which slow the pulse rate is the common type of for which USADA and other drug testing sport organizations are looking for in shooters.

Conditioning exercise to lower ones resting heart rate is desired. Even though shooters must be in good condition, the fact they just stand or lay there and pull a trigger leads to the derisive acronym; NRA = Not Really Athletes. I gave my cousin, a competitive shooter, grief for that and in return he wonder if I was ever going to do a true sport where you wear real clothes and not just fancy pajamas.

What a way cool letter... excellent historical information by all that made comments. Love it!