WWII soldier's letter reaches daughter after seven decades

WWII soldier's letter reaches daughter after seven decades
The Associated Press
By Martin Griffith
September 22, 2013

RENO, Nev. - A World War II soldier's heartfelt letter to his daughter has finally reached her, seven decades after it was written.

"The letter gave me more knowledge of who he was," she told The Associated Press. "He poured out his heart to me, and a lot of men don't put that kind of emotion in writing. I'm just overwhelmed by everything, trying to absorb everything."

Peggy Eddington-Smith received the letter penned by her father, Pfc. John Eddington, as well as his Bronze Star and Purple Heart medals, during an emotional ceremony Saturday in Dayton, Nev., about 40 miles southeast of Reno.

The father she never met wrote the three-page letter shortly after she was born and shortly before he died in Italy in June 1944. He sent it while stationed in Texas, just before he was sent overseas.

Getting his medals was nice, but the letter meant more because it made her feel closer to her father, Eddington-Smith said. She knew little about him since her mother could rarely bring herself to discuss the love of her life.
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