American woman finds letter in bottle from WWII

A Florida resident found a bottle with a message on the ocean shore, Liter.kz reports with reference to The Washington Post.

Susan Flament-Smith was collecting trash washed up on the coast by Tropical Storm Debbie. She found water bottles, sunscreen, beer cans and old shoes. Then she noticed a glass bottle sticking out of the trash.

The woman brought the bottle home. Together with her family, they opened the container and found a piece of paper with the date “3/4/45” addressed to someone named “Lee.” The letterhead was from the U.S. Naval Training Base in Virginia Beach. It was founded in 1942 and is still in operation today.

The bottle contained not only a letter, but also a cartridge case, an iron ball, and sand. The paper was thin and worn, and had to be handled carefully to avoid accidentally tearing it.

Much of the writing was faded by the sun, making it difficult to decipher. But Flament-Smith was able to decipher enough to suggest that it was a friendly exchange. In one section of the letter, the writer apparently mentioned a bar near the base that served “pretty good beer.”

“Dear Lee. Got your letter yesterday, was glad to hear from you. I think you were partying a bit the other day. Well, that’s the usual thing around here. They have a bar and they have pretty good beer,” the letter reads.

Susan Flament-Smith, 46, posted a photo of the letter on Facebook in the hope of locating the families of the letter’s author and intended recipient.

Christina Higgins, a spokeswoman for the Naval History and Heritage Command, the unit of the U.S. Navy responsible for preserving and studying the history of the United States Navy, said the letterhead appeared to be authentic, but she did not know who wrote it or why the message was placed in a bottle.

Below, the author writes that they are going to radio school. Towards the end of the message, the author of the letter promises to write to his addressee the next day.

The woman who found the bottle lost her father, Gregory Flament, to throat cancer in 2009. She said she would be happy if someone found a relic of his past. So Susan hopes to pass on the letter, which she keeps in a plastic bag, to family members of the writer or recipient.

She said she has compiled a list of more than two dozen people who contacted her on social media and plans to stay in touch with them in hopes they can help her find the letter’s author and intended recipient.

“It’s so cool to see living history brought to life in a real, tangible form,” Flament-Smith said.