When a president takes the time to write you ... ‘that means a lot’
As George Herbert Walker Bush was laid to rest Thursday, one northwest Ohio man surely looked back on the former president and Navy veteran who had a profound impact on his life.
Michael “The Cowboy” Stevenson and Mr. Bush exchanged several pieces of correspondence during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Mr. Stevenson proudly displays the letters and even a signed photo from Bush on a wall in his garage.
“When the president of the United States takes time out of his life to write you a letter, that means a lot,” Stevenson said. Stevenson’s fascination with the Navy and World War II started when he was 7 years old. His grandfather took him to Toledo to see several Navy ships that came to dock in town.
Stevenson said he had trouble with bullies while attending DeVilbiss High School until a coach suggested he go to the library and find a book about Guadalcanal — a battle fought between American and Japanese forces in the South Pacific theatre in 1942 and 1943.
He said reading about how soldiers persevered during that brutal battle helped him do the same in his own life.
After high school, Mr. Stevenson joined the Navy and later began publishing Navy Life magazine.
“During World War II, there was Our Navy (magazine),” Stevenson said. “That was published from 1898 to 1972. So when I got out of the Navy, I vowed to pick up where it left off, so I did this for 20 years. It was a magazine about the soldiers and sailors in the service and what they did. And of course there were stories in there about President Bush.”
Bush noticed and sent a letter to Stevenson thanking him for his coverage of veterans and Naval affairs.
In 1988, then-Vice President Bush sent a copy of his new book with a personalized note inside.
“He had his personal aide deliver it to me in my hotel room,” Stevenson said. “It was around midnight and a guy knocked on my door.”
Bush served as a naval aviator during World War II. In September, 1944, Bush flew a mission over the Bonin Islands attacking targets on Chichijima. Despite his plane being severely damaged from enemy flak and flying with a burning engine, Bush carried out the mission and managed to hit several targets.
He eventually bailed out of his cockpit, as did one other crew member. Another crew member’s parachute failed to open.
Bush remained in the Pacific Ocean for four hours before the USS Finback came to his rescue.
That anecdote was the basis for one of the letters Bush sent Stevenson following a gaffe made by Dan Rather on national television during the late 1980s.
“Dan Rather said ‘George Bush was shot down in the Pacific and picked up by a U-Boat.’ He informed 33 million people Bush was picked up by the Germans,” Stevenson said. “So I wrote Dan Rather and sent a copy of it to someone in the White House.”
President Bush wrote back to thank him.
“You are certainly a good friend,” President Bush wrote. “I am most grateful for your standing up for me and setting the record straight ... Best wishes to you and your nice looking family.”
Stevenson called the 41st president a “very humble guy.”
“He was a people’s president,” Stevenson said. “He had heart, and I don’t think people realize that. He had compassion for people and he really wanted to make America a kinder and gentler place. That’s what the war did to him.”
Stevenson is researching to write a book about 90 DeVilbiss graduates killed in World War II. He said Bush was one of his biggest inspirations for writing it, and plans to include him in the forward.
“I’ll remember (President Bush) by telling the stories of all those guys,” Stevenson said. “I really believe he would be proud of me.”