Soldier's WWII letters finally reach his kids after 80 years — and they reveal the only thing he cared about
The notes, written by a 19-year-old serving overseas, showed that even in war, his thoughts never left home.
A Pennsylvania family just opened three letters their late father sent home from World War II, 80 years after he wrote them. The discovery was reported by CBS News Philadelphia and shows how a postage collector’s curiosity helped a soldier’s words finally reach his children. Most importantly, it showed how, through all those times, all he valued was family. It started when Erik Martin, a postage collector in Massachusetts, ordered a batch of old war envelopes online. "This batch had four letters to the same woman, and I saw that three of them were still sealed, so I've never seen that before," Martin told CBS News Philadelphia.
According to the National World War II Museum, in 1945 alone, the Army Postal Service handled about 2.5 billion pieces of mail, while Navy post offices managed another 8 million. To keep communication flowing across the globe, the military had to build an extensive postal network and adopt new ways to move letters efficiently. One of those innovations was V-mail, short for "Victory Mail." It was introduced during World War II to save space and speed up delivery by converting letters into microfilm, which could be shipped more easily and then reprinted on arrival. Though the system was in use only from June 1942 to November 1945, it processed more than a billion messages during that time.
Martin decided to track down the family, posting what he knew on a Drexel Hill Facebook page (now-deleted). Within a day, he connected with the soldier’s children, Kathleen Morris Rosati and John Morris, who live in Delaware County. The letters belonged to their father, Jimmy Morris, who served in the 83rd Thunderbolt Division of the US Army during World War II. The two carefully unfolded the envelopes addressed to their grandmother, reading words their father had written in 1944 when he was 19. The letters, dated between May and June 1944 around D-Day, were filled with updates and affection.
"Dear Mom and Pop, Well I'm back in England now. I don't know how long we'll stay but write me anyhow… I had a very nice trip coming here… they lost my bags in the train. I sure hope they find them so I can get them back. I'm fine and I hope this letter finds you all at home the same. Your loving son, Jimmy. I hope to see you soon," it read. Another read, "Dear Mom, Pop and all, Here it is Sunday again and I am fine. Hope this letter finds you all the same at home. I am okay and I am sure it won't be much longer until I'm back home again. I got a letter from Grandma the other day. I'll write you again soon. Your loving son, Jimmy."
"Dear Mom, Pop, and all, Just a few lines to let you know I am okay and I hope this letter finds you all well at home. I haven't had any mail since I've been in England and that doesn't make me so happy. If there's one thing I miss, it's my mail. I hope little Billy is off and running around again. Tell the little rascal I was asking for him," read the third. As they read, both recognized their father’s handwriting. "Oh my gosh, it's just incredible... I feel like my dad's right here with me," Morris Rosati said. "Here he is all the way from home and what's getting him through is thinking about his family," she said.
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