A gift from your child—always a treasure, especially when he is thousands of miles away. Frank’s mother makes the most of it. My guess is (given it’s a “star”) is that it’s a version of his Army Air Force Patch shown here. As always, I keep a lot of my grandmother’s misspellings to give a sense of how hard she worked to communicate with her son despite her struggles with English.
Date: early April, 1943, based on content
My Dear Ebner.
I have your lovely gift, the star in front room mittel [middle] window. The most wunderfull pin. I like it very much. And tank you with big hug love and kisses. Everyting is a part of my Ebner. I [always] thought he will be good and [with] clean thoughts and lovely in life.
Gartz Family, January 16, 1943 L-R top Fred (Dad), Will, Ebner. Seated: Lil (Mom), Josef & Lisi Gartz
I am happy you taking care yourself of your T.M. [Trench Mouth-see Ebner’s previous letters of suffering from Trench Mouth]. In all ways watch out for your health. Then you always winning in life what you wish.
Your friend must be likable boy. Why not…take a snap[shot] of you two [so] I have your friend’s [picture]? You know I like them.
At the polling place on 6 April, I sure got used to it quick. Shirley was here for a while. We have a lovely visit. Now with lot of love and kisses from
Pa, Ma,Will and Lil [and] [Fred].
[All the people depicted in this photo]
The love you have and the fear you feel for your child is universal. i can hardly imagine how it intensifies when your child is in another country on the other side of the world.