GRAND RAPIDS (WWJ) - A Grand Rapids man is hoping to unite a more than half-a-century old love letter with family members this Valentine's Day after he discovered it in an toolbox.
Rick Trojanowski of Grand Rapids told FOX 17 that "its almost like a true love story" after he stumbled across the letter stuffed in a secondhand toolbox he purchased in 2017 at a local farm auction.
The letter was written more than 70 years ago by Cpl. Irvin G. Fleming, sent out of San Francisco, California and postmarked March 3, 1953 when the U.S. was still involved in the Korean War.
Fleming addressed the letter to Miss Mary Lee Cribbs in Grand Rapids where the Soldier write that he hadn't heard from Cribbs in nearly five months and apologized to Cribbs over an argument they had.
He then professed his love and desire to marry her when he returned.
“Mary, I need you so very much … and I know that I'll always love you," the letter said.
Fleming describes how slow time had been moving the longer he went without hearing from Cribbs. He went on to write how his homecoming in seven months would be the happiest day of his life.
Trojanowski said while he doesn't have use for the letter, he knows it's something special and hopes to reunite the letter with relatives of the couple.
"People just don't write things like that nowadays; it's almost like poetry," Trojanowski told WXMI-TV.
Trojanowski hasn't had any luck so far, but his sharing his story to get the word out.
"...If we can find the people it belongs to, the kids, I think it'd be really neat for them,” he added.
Anyone who knows the recipient or is a relative can contact FOX 17 via email at news@fox17online.com.