--- description: In 1945, TIME published a boy's imagining of his father's return from World War II. Now, 70 years later, here's how it happened. title: An 11-Year-Old's Essay About His Father's Return From World War II image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3b2aacf927ea2ce5/698860f4196cf45397037bd7/img002.jpg?branch=production&width=1440&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [History](/section/history/) ## History Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Media](/tag/media/) ## Media Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Read an 11-Year-Old's Heartwarming Essay About His Father's Return From World War II  by [Olivia B. Waxman](/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Sep 2, 2015 1:30 PM CUT  Cabot Brown in 1942. Cabot Brown in 1942.Courtesy of the Brown family  by [Olivia B. Waxman](/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Sep 2, 2015 1:30 PM CUT Seventy years ago Wednesday, when the Japanese formally signed the documents that ended World War II aboard the USS _Missouri_ in Tokyo Bay, many families around the world rejoiced at the prospect that their loved ones who had fought till the end would begin to return home. One boy who would have known that feeling well was Philip Brown, a San Francisco middle-schooler whose father, Lieut. Commander Cabot Brown, had been a medical officer in the Navy. In May of 1945, TIME had [printed ](http://time.com/vault/issue/1945-05-28/page/15/ "undefined")a charming short essay that Brown wrote for his English class on the subject “The First Day My Father Is Home.” Now, in honor of the anniversary of V-J day, we’ve learned the story behind how that came to pass: James “Jim” K. Brown, now 88, recalls that he was 18 years old, sitting at home in San Francisco, where his parents’ friends, TIME’s News Bureau Chief David Hulburd and his Navy aviator brother Jack, had stopped by for dinner and drinks. His 11-year-old little brother Philip came downstairs with his homework, which he shared with the group. “The TIME guy said ‘we’ll publish it,'” Brown says. Here’s how the writing assignment appeared in the magazine: --- > “” --- After the issue came out, Brown says, “Some people said how great it was, others were horrified that an 11-year-old boy would know so much about scotch” (even if he misspelled it two different ways in the piece). He says the homecoming went mostly as Philip predicted it would, except the whole family did not have security clearance to meet their father when he disembarked. Only Jim was allowed to go down there because he was in the Navy. After the war, Cabot would go back to his medical practice, specializing in the treatment of chest diseases and tuberculosis. Philip would go on to college, then work as a merchant marine purser and for American President Lines out of Chicago before he passed away about 15 years ago. Their brother Steve, also mentioned in the letter, would go on to serve in Korea with the Army. As for Jim, a Harvard graduate who now lives in the Osborn Retirement Community in Rye, N.Y., he worked as a pharmacist’s mate in the Navy in Oakland and at the naval hospital on Mare Island from Aug. 3, 1944, to July 3, 1946\. He did not go on to pursue a career in medicine, retiring as a research director at The Conference Board, a nonprofit that conducts business and economic research. When asked if he thought “the greatest generation” was an apt nickname for those who served in World War II, he displayed the same forthright tone that got his younger brother published all those years ago: “There was a draft after all,” he said, “so I don’t know if the number that served reflects the greatness of our generation—or just obeying the law.” **_See the original layout from 1945, here in the TIME Vault:_** [Oh, Boy!](http://time.com/vault/issue/1945-05-28/page/15/ "undefined") ### Post-War Ads from 1945 ![An ad that appeared in the Aug. 20, 1945, issue of TIME. Plastics from the chemical company Monsanto are sold to G.I.s for the "decade after Victory, \[when\] your 'Castles in the Air' will become Homes in America."](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt044f7a7ab9c6ce4b/69885dc92dce01f99e9e4e86/19450820-58.jpeg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp) An ad that appeared in the Aug. 20, 1945, issue of TIME. Plastics from the chemical company Monsanto are sold to G.I.s for the "decade after Victory, \[when\] your 'Castles in the Air' will become Homes in America." TIME / Monsanto  An ad that appeared in the Aug. 20, 1945, issue of TIME. As a group of G.i.s returns to find that those on the home front have done their part, Caterpillar Tractor Co. encourages civilians to keep buying War Bonds with "no slacking off until the evil thing that threatens our homes has been wholly vanquished." TIME / Caterpillar Tractor  An ad that appeared in the Aug. 20, 1945, issue of TIME. The Douglas DC-6 plane is touted as "First home...in war or peace." TIME / Douglas  An ad that appeared in the Aug. 20, 1945, issue of TIME. Wartime research that went into the General Motors Aeroprop propeller will benefit civilian aviation too, this ad explains. TIME / General Motors  An ad that appeared in the Aug. 27, 1945, issue of TIME. The postwar return to full production at factories will be an opportunity for businesses, and "foresighted wiring in postwar plans" will keep those factories efficient. TIME / Anaconda Wire & Cable  An ad that appeared in the Aug. 27, 1945, issue of TIME. Civilians are encouraged to rely on air transportation even as military aviation winds down. TIME / The Airlines of the United States  An ad that appeared in the Aug. 27, 1945, issue of TIME. A G.I. returning to his office job is celebrated by grateful colleagues...who thank him by putting his desk near the soda machine. TIME / Pepsi  An ad that appeared in the Aug. 27, 1945, issue of TIME. "As soon as war conditions permit," Kodak promises, full-color film will be once again available for civilian use. TIME / Kodak  An ad that appeared in the Aug. 27, 1945, issue of TIME. A two-page spread from Buick reminds readers that returning G.I.s deserve cars that are "nice to come home to" even as the war work continues. TIME / Buick  An ad that appeared in the Aug. 27, 1945, issue of TIME. Once radio are fully available at peacetime production levels, this ad warns, demand will be very high—so better to order in advance. TIME / Emerson Radio  An ad that appeared in the Aug. 27, 1945, issue of TIME. The record-keeping needs of war were addressed by Diebold office equipment, this page reminds readers, and the problems of the reconversion period can be thus solved too. TIME / Diebold  An ad that appeared in the Sept. 3, 1945, issue of TIME. Hire a veteran, says this public-service announcement paid for by BF Goodrich, to improve your business' morale and discipline. TIME / The B.F. Goodrich Company  An ad that appeared in the Sept. 3, 1945, issue of TIME. If Army and Navy hospitals—as well as "airmen whose faces are susceptible to frostbite"—use Remington Electric Shavers, why wouldn't those men keep using the same shavers after the war? And if it takes a little while for civilian production levels to increase, the ad notes, the wait will be worthwhile. TIME / Remington Electric Shavers  An ad that appeared in the Sept. 3, 1945, issue of TIME. Exide Batteries honors the Navy and Merchant Marine, while reminding readers that the ships on which those men served contained many battery-powered tools for which dependability was crucial. TIME / Exide Batteries  An ad that appeared in the Sept. 10, 1945, issue of TIME. The medical ultraviolet glass lamps made by Corning that are shown in this ad aren't actually weapons, but the company uses a wartime analogy to compare them to an "ack-ack gun" that could be used against disease. TIME / Corning  An ad that appeared in the Sept. 10, 1945, issue of TIME. What does a sewing machine and a radio program of 1890s standards have to do with the war? This ad for a Tobe Filterizer that prevents household electronic equipment (like the sewing machine) from causing radio static is touted as a way that "your post war home can have both." TIME / Tobe  An ad that appeared in the Sept. 17, 1945, issue of TIME. Though this chocolate advertisement doesn't call out the war specifically, the man giving a woman his hat and a Whitman's Sampler has clearly recently returned from the service. TIME / Whitman's  An ad that appeared in the Sept. 17, 1945, issue of TIME. "If it hadn't been for the war and shortages," this ad declares, "lots of families might never have learned how many different kinds of those good Campbell's Soups there are!" TIME / Campbell's ![An ad that appeared in the Sept. 17, 1945, issue of TIME. This tribute to veterans plays on a little boy asking his father for an explanation of the lapel pin given to honorably discharged veterans—and promises that "as \[servicemembers\] go on to final victory they have first call on Camels."](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaec83b5eb5c71adb/69885dc8428a9e32dacce7c7/19450917-112.jpeg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp) An ad that appeared in the Sept. 17, 1945, issue of TIME. This tribute to veterans plays on a little boy asking his father for an explanation of the lapel pin given to honorably discharged veterans—and promises that "as \[servicemembers\] go on to final victory they have first call on Camels." 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