Letters to Annie

The Letters to Annie describe a young mans' life in the Army and his love for his country and his family. Bill Blahut wrote his older sister, Annie, while training to become an Army Paratrooper in 1943. He achieved that, and was promoted to Corporal as he fought his way from southern France to the Battle of the Bulge in January 1944, in Belgium. Annie saved her letters from Bill. I pulled these letters from the bottom of a large Army issued wooden footlocker, that came into my possession. Almost 70 years later, I uncover a collection of letters that were stored in a dated tin box. These letters that Annie saved, must have been passed on to Bill's son Billy. The letters and footlocker came into my possession after the death of both Bill and his older sister, Wanda. Bill's son was a Bronze Star recipient and died an early death at 42.