Tuesday, August 14, 2018

13/ Found Poem: Letters From the Vets

In 1995, the 50th anniversary of the end of WWII, I helped a large number of WWII veterans locate their military buddies. This poem is from some of their letters.

Letters From the Vets

It's been 50 years
Our reunion is coming up
Last known address was in 1942
Can't remember his middle initial
Please try
We were buddies
I'm praying that you might locate
I would greatly appreciate
He was my good friend
Haven't seen him for over 50 years
If you could find one, any, or all
Some of the finest men
I would be forever indebted to you
These men were my shipmates
We were mechanics on the island of Umnak
We were in Italy
In the Pacific
We all served on the USSSC 1027
Patrol Squadron 45 on Attu
We fought together
The name you found was his son
He died last year
He died in 1949, but I spoke with his brother
I talked to his wife for an hour
Thank you for your help
It's been 50 years



5 comments:

  1. You are so creative, and have lived such an interesting life.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you. That project started on a whim and lasted all year. It meant a lot to me. I told my kids I want at least a line about it in my obit.

      Delete
  2. Susan, this poem is really lovely. I got a prick of tears in my eyes. What it must have meant to those old guys. I bet they would have loved the poem too.

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  3. And for a moment, while reading this, I could almost hear my father's voice. Thank you.

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  4. This is amazing. Fascinating, wonderful.

    ReplyDelete

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