WWII Solider's Letter Shows Up To His Widow

SAN FRANCISCO – DECEMBER 15: Stacks of boxes holding cards and letters are seen at the U.S. Post Office sort center December 15, 2008 in San Francisco, California. On its busiest day of the year, the U.S. Postal Service is expecting to process and mail over one billion cards, letters and packages. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

A World War II soldier’s letter home was delivered to his widow in Massachusetts 76 years after it was mailed from Germany. The U.S. Postal Service said John Gonsalves’ letter to his mother turned up in late December at a processing and distribution facility in Pennsylvania, sparking a search for the U.S. Army sergeant’s family.

Gonsalves’ mother, the intended recipient of the then-22-year-old’s letter, was found to be long dead, and Gonsalves died in 2015. The USPS was able to find Angelina “Jean” Gonsalves, the sergeant’s widow, living in Woburn, Mass. Gonsalves said receiving the 76-year-old letter and reading her late husband’s words from a time before they had even met was emotional. Read the full story HERE.

More about:

Letter

Postal Service

USPS

Widow

WWII