08/13/2026
I shared this post on my personal page...but also wanted to share it here too. Enjoy!
Warning: Long Post
I had a request from one of my customers to be on the lookout for some vintage love letters as she wanted to frame one for her gallery wall. I was fortunate to get a box full of letters and correspondances from a WWII Lieutenant working in medical units and dispenseries. These letters were written to his "Darling wife" and to the child he never met, as she became pregnant before he left for France (not sure if he was enlisted or if he was drafted-I am thinking the former).
I love a good historical fiction novel-these letters (more than 140 of them) were better than any novel I have ever read. This was a real first hand account of the conditions in which he worked, played, lived and ate. He moved often from one unit to the next-sometimes sleeping on a cot, but more often sleeping on the ground in a pup tent. He wrote home requesting simple things like a can of tuna or sardines, airmail stamps, and clean t-shirts. I only have the letters he sent, as he had burned many of the ones he recieved from her-he wrote "because I don't have room for them". A lot of censorship was going on during the war-so I wonder if that played a part of it or if they were needed for building fires to stay warm. (firewood was rationed to one stick a day).
My intenet was to bundle these up and sell them on eBay-because...well that is what I do-I sell things. My head and my heart told me to do something else...I went on a Google search which lead me down a huge "rabbit hole" to the find the family. I found a grandaughter and reached out to her on Facebook. I told her what I have and asked if the family would like to have the letters back., and of course she said "yes". I don't think the family knew they even existed. The letters were written from late December 1944 until August 1945, after that they just ended-the last few letters he wrote were about his "deportation" orders...so like any good cliff hanger I was left hanging....Did he go home-was he safe? (the war ended September 2, 1945).
I loved reading this love story-about the loss of missing the birth of a first born son, the heartache of missing your "Honeychild" and the pain of yearning to have the warm body of your wife sleep next to you. I wanted to know more-did he come home in August? Did he stay in Germany or France for another year or was he able to go stateside? I will never know...This story did have a happy ending though. He returned from the war, met his son of two years and went onto have 3 other children. These two lovers were married for 60 or 68 years (depending on which obituary you are reading). and were blessed with many grandchildren and 7 great grandchildren.
Now here's the part that makes me cry. I fell in love with this couple-I really did. I wanted these letters for me, but they were not mine to keep, as much as I wanted to adopt them, I just couldn't do it. So today with an ache in my heart and a tear in my eye I sent them "home" to his family where they rightfully belong.
Thank you for your service Lt. Your story will not be forgotten.
P.S. I am out the money I spent on these-but the family said they will send me a book of the letters once they are all scanned...so I will get the letters back in a different form, which makes my heart happy. And remember that baby-the grandaughter I found was his daughter, whom passed away at the age of 58.
