To the editor:
Re: Parallel 44 by Colin Woodward [WWF Sept. 04].
One of the officers on board the CARROLL A. DEERING was Herbert Bates (born 1887) of Islesboro. His mother, Eliza Coombs Bates, received a request from the Secretary of the Navy to submit a handwriting sample of her son’s. She then received a letter from the U.S. government saying that indeed the note found had been written by Herbert Coombs. She and the family sustained hope that he was still alive.
The family is still in possession of the letter… and they were never informed that it was later discovered to be a hoax. His sister was Elsa Coombs Bates of Islesboro, the youngest of nine children. She had three brothers lost at sea, along with a sister-in-law.
Sharon W. Ashley
Islesboro