Wednesday, August 27, 2008

World War II letters found in the trash

My colleague Susi passed this to me from the RAOGK Chat forum...

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I saw this on CNN's Robin Meade this morning. I did a bit of a search on found the article on google http://cbs2chicago.com/watercooler/world.war.love.2.803209.html . There is a video on the site.

The address on the envelopes is

Mrs Nadine H. Dawson
107 Delores Street
San Francisco Calif.

They are from her husband Claude stationed in the South Pacific during WWII.

Love Letters From World War II Found In Waste Bin

GRASS VALLEY, Calif. (CBS) ― Dozens of love letters from a World War II sailor were found in a thrift store trash can, and now a local historian is
trying to locate the couple who exchanged the messages decades ago.

A worker at the thrift shop run by AnimalSave, an animal rescue charity, pulled a shoebox full of letters from a waste bin.

"I'm always going through the trash because we throw away good stuff," Vicki
Landucci said. "I saw this box of letters there."

At one point, more than six decades ago, they were the most important thing in the world to two people. The letters are all from Claude Dawson to his wife, Nadine, about his experiences in the South Pacific, and of course, about how much he missed her.

"They were so vivid, it was like being there," said Susan Raub. Raud gave the letters to a local historian, but he has not yet been able to track down Claud or Nadine, or their family members.

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That's a fascinating story, isn't it? Just think of how many boxes of letters and photographs have gone into the dumpster and not been saved over the years!

I wonder who the local historian is? There is a Claude Dawson in Oakland CA in the 1920 and 1930 census, unmarried. There is also one in San Diego in the 1930 census, unmarried. Is this a case for The Genealogue? Or the Unclaimed Persons team?

1 comment:

Craig Manson said...

Randy, I think I've got it! I've posted at The Genealogue. Thanks for passing this challenge along!