WWII Heartstrings

When found, old family letters are mighty moving. Especially when letters are found which date back several decades or more. These letters tug at our heartstrings.

The following are a couple of letter fragments from dear cousin Ellen who found them in her attic recently. The letters are from WWII when her father, James R Glenn, Jr (1913-2001) was stationed in North Africa and Italy from the fall of 1942 through 1946.

Undated letter fragment

It rained all night night before last, and all day
yesterday, and we're deep in mud and misery, so I
can't write long but I wanted to write long enough to
tell you about the lovely poems I'd been reading and
let you infer how very much I'd like to be reading
them to you.
I love you,
Jim

9 January 1945
Dear Mrs. Glenn:

I am pleased to inform you that the latest report
states that your husband is making normal improvement
on 15 December. You will be notified immediately when
additional information is received.

Sincerely yours,
J.A. Ulio
Major General,
The Adjutant General

Cousin Ellen writes, "The reason it is funny, is the dates. In fact, Mom got
the letter from my dad saying that he had been
wounded, but was in the hospital recovering before she
got the telegram from the War Department saying that
he had been wounded. It's incredible in this day of
cell phones and email to imagine that they didn't see
each other or hear each other's voices for nearly 5
years..."

"The day I found them in my mom's old suitcase, I spent the
entire day reading through many of them."

"What a day it was! They were not only alive again, if
only for a few hours, but they were young and vital
too."