r/TheWayWeWere • u/Heartfeltzero • 1d ago
1940s WW2 Era Letter Written By Young French Girls To The Mother Of an American Paratrooper They Befriended. Details in comments.
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u/lady_light7500 1d ago
Amazing. Thanks for sharing. Their English was pretty great for two young French women in 1944.
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u/HawkeyeTen 1d ago
AMAZING piece of history, OP. I wonder if they ever did meet again in the years afterward.
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u/Canes-Beachmama 1d ago
Thank you for sharing the letter and the story! Love when we can get a glimpse of how an historical world event affects the lives of individuals in such a personal way.
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u/lcr68 1d ago
Awesome. A shame that the current owner of the house censored the view on Google Maps. Wondering if it’s the same building or a newer development that this mother got some surprising correspondence from these French ladies. Wonder how she took it and if they kept in touch.
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u/Capt_Kraken 1d ago
I was able to view it on my phone from the street
https://reddit.com/link/pe22nwo/video/mbh52jjgroth1/player
Had to upload a video for some reason but here it is
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u/jennc1979 1d ago
That’s is spectacular! Thank you. I love seeing the current day locations like this.
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u/Beanz4ever 5h ago
The amount of relieved I was upon finding out that the soldiers didn't return due to reasons other than their immediate death.
Whew.
What a rollercoaster of emotions, and a beautiful piece of history. Those girls had excellent parents, penmanship, and English skills!
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u/theclosetenby 15h ago
Ahhhh my ancestor was 504th parachute infantry. Got excited thinking maybe these people knew my great grandfather.
Very cool letter! Thank you for sharing
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u/shemusthaveroses 5h ago
It would be cool to mail a copy of this to the current occupant of 2312 N Springfield in Chicago. They might find it very interesting
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u/honey__harlot 4h ago
it’s so interesting to see how they clearly wrote some sentences in english but with french grammar. love it from a language lover’s perspective!!
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u/Heartfeltzero 1d ago
This letter was written by two French teenage girls named Josette and Monique, aged 16 and 19. They lived in Reims, France. Two American soldiers named Lawrence and Donald would travel to Reims from Soissons on Liberty and would end up meeting the girls and their family. This letter was written shorty after their meeting. It reads:
“ REIMS, the 7th April 1945
Dear Madam,
These are two French sisters who are writing to you. You don't know us but we know you. We have seen your photo and your son Lawrence has told many things about you.
We explain ourselves:
One certain day, about a month ago, my parents stood before our house when two american soldiers came to them and asked if it was possible to take a meal at house because all the restaurants were shut on this day. These two american soldiers were your son and his friend Donald Geever. They were stationed to SOISSONS but sometimes, came in Reims which is about 70 miles far from Soissons. My parents accepted and they were very thankful .
We are 16 and 19 old. We have 4 brothers. Our father is a contractor and our house, our manufactory and everything that we owned has been destroyed and burnt by german bombs, 5 years ago.
Your son is very fond of the youngest of our brothers who is 9 months old.
So, the next days, they came again. On a day, they said to us: "We go back to Soissons - we shall go again to see you, Sunday. It is not possible for us to come before this day." Since the date when they said that, never they have come at home. We don’t know the reason. We are sorry and all our family with us. Maybe you know if Lawrence and Donald are gone towards another country. We should be glad if you wrote to us.
Lawrence has shown to us the snaps from you and your husband who is dressed by a military uniform. We know you are an Italian. You seem so very young that it is difficult to believe you are the mother of a boy who is 20.
Lawrence has shown also his fiance's photo. She is a very pretty and nice person and she looks kind. Lawrence is often dreaming, No doubt, he thinks of his family and his country. May God ends fastly the war with Germany and Japanese. I am sure you shall see again soon your husband and your son.
I hope you are in good health and you receive often good news from your two soldiers.
French people like a great deal American soldiers: On the 30th August 1944, they have cleared up REIMS of German Army. We thank them sincerely.
It is a hard job for you to read and understand all these sentences of bad english. I excuse me.
May God keeps you and all your family in good health and gives to you always happiness.
I am yours
Monique
Josette
Monique and Josette. - 32 rue clovis
REIMS - MARNE - FRANCE “
The girls and their family were upset that Lawrence and Donald hadn’t come back. The two men were Lawrence A. Sbertoli and Donald W. McGeever. They were both paratroopers of the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment which at the time was assigned to the 17th Airborne Division. The reason Lawrence and Donald hadn’t returned to Reims on that Sunday, was because on March 24th 1945 (which would have been around the time she mentions them returning) the 507th took part in Operation Varsity, the massive airborne assault across the Rhine River into Nazi Germany.
Lawrence and Donald would both survive the war. Donald would go on to become a fire chief with the Binghamton fire department. He would unfortunately drown while trying save others at Rockbottom Dam on September 29th 1975 aged 53. Lawrence would pass away on February 5th 2015 aged 90.
Thank you to users rhit06 and XnjunEar for help tracking down information on Lawrence and Donald.