An American soldier was stationed in Germany during World War II when he wrote a letter to his mother. The letter was finally sent to his home in Massachusetts, but his mother was no longer alive, so it was accepted by his 89-year-old wife.
The New York Times reported on Saturday (1/8) that in December 1945, then 22-year-old Army Sergeant John Gonsalves was stationed in Bad Orb, Germany, where they had just liberated a prisoner-of-war camp a few months earlier. Gonzaves wrote a letter to his mother:
"Dear Mother, I have received a letter from you today, and I am glad to hear you say that everything is fine. As for me, I'm fine, life here is OK, but when it comes to food, it's hard to eat most of the time."
In his letter, Gonzaves asked his mother not to send the parcel again, because he would probably be transferred out of there soon. He also said that the weather was bad and he wished to go home in January or February 1946. At the end he wrote: "Attach love and many kisses, your son Channing." P.S. I'll see you soon, hopefully."
The letter was not delivered to Gonzawis's house until the 9th of last month. About 76 years later, his mother has passed away, and he also died in 2015 at the age of 92. His wife, Angelina Gonsalves, was surprised to receive the letter.
Angelina said the letter was found at a Post Office in Pittsburgh. Last November, a Pittsburgh post office officer called her eldest son and said he wanted to talk to him about his father, but he thought it was a fraud and ignored it; the church that helped Gonzavis to hold the funeral also received a call from the Pittsburgh post office and relayed it to Angelina, but she also thought it was a fraud.
Ignored by the whole family, the Pittsburgh Post Office sent Gonzavis's letter by register. The post office also attached a note stating that the letter had only appeared in their receiving warehouse 6 weeks earlier, and that they did not know where the letter had drifted over the past seventy years, "Considering the time and the importance of this letter to your family, it is very important for us to send it."
After receiving the letter, the Gonzawis family called the Pittsburgh Post Office to thank them. Angelina said that if you think about it, 76 years is unbelievable, and her husband cares deeply about his relatives and friends in the letter, "He is such a person." I swear that when I read this letter, I felt his presence." It's been years since Christmas and New Year's eve without a husband, but this year "it's like he came back to me, you know how it feels?"
Post office staff told New Time that they didn't have more details to provide, but letters weren't necessarily lost in the postal system, "people sometimes find old letters and postcards at flea markets, antique shops and even the Internet and then retransmit them to the post office."