85-year-old woman receives WWII love letters 70 years late

Seven decades from the date they was sent, love letters from a World War II sailor finally arrived to their intended recipient. Dorothy Bartos Carlberg, 85, received the wonderful news while at the assisted living facility she is residing in Wisconsin.

According to Yahoo News, Al Fragakis, a Navy sailor, wrote Carlberg the letters in 1945. The war was nearing its end and it appears Fragakis still had thoughts of Carlberg.

One of the letters contained a touching yet lighthearted remark from Fragakis. He wrote, “You were the last girl I’ve been out with and I’m sort of disgusted with myself for not even trying to kiss you.”

Fox News reported that Martha Rodriguez, who lives in Carlberg’s home now, received the letters last month, one right after the other. She was able to find Carlberg and delivered the letters to her so she could read them for herself.

Carlberg remembers Fragakis in a fond way. She said, “He was a really nice guy. Not fast. My dad was very strict, but he liked boys in the military. He thought they were decent.”

It was common during World War II for people back home to write to the soldiers preparing for or out in the battlegrounds. “I wrote a lot of boys in the services,” Carlberg said. “We did it to keep their spirits up.”

Carlberg and Fragakis never saw each other again. But Carlberg still ended up marrying a man in the military. Her husband, Victor, served in the Army. He died in 2012. They were married for 62 years and had six children.

Sandra Jacobson, one of their daughters, said her mother “always loved a guy in uniform.” She continued by saying, “She (her mother) has a whole other life that we weren’t aware of.”

In June of last year, ABC News reported on another lost letter being delivered in New York City. Abbi Jacobson found the aged envelope in her mailbox a few month prior. It was addressed to Mrs. Joseph Matthews, who once lived in her New York residence with her husband.

“I knew it was obviously old and when I started reading it, I realized it was a very sweet love letter from World War II,” Jacobson said.

Eventually she was able to find Scott Matthews, the son of the couple, who was also residing in New York. Although his parents were no longer living, their son was happy to find out about the letter.

“It’s very interesting,” Matthews said. “I don’t know much about my dad’s life before I was born. I wonder what he was feeling about shipping out [for war].”

“It was so awesome that this letter connected so many different people together, searching for the couple, and then finding their family,” Jacobson said.