This article is re-posted from USA Today: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2011/03/letter-postmarked-alabama-arrives-in-california-66-years-later/1?csp=34news
A letter postmarked Montgomery, Ala., apparently left the post office just fine, but by the time it arrived in California 66 years later, the Red Cross hospital named in the address had long since been torn down.
Instead, it arrived in the normal mail delivery two weeks ago to Gary McMaster, volunteer curator for the Camp Roberts Historical Museum. The former hospital served thousands of soldiers from overseas during WWII.
The letter, postmarked Aug. 9, 1944, is addressed to: "Miss R.T. Fletcher, American Red Cross Station Hospital, Camp Roberts, California."
A corner of the envelope has been torn off, showing a three- or four-page handwritten letter inside.
Joseph Breckenridge, a Postal Service spokesman in Atlanta, tells the Advertiser that most likely, someone found the letter while sorting out estate items and simply dropped it into the mailbox.
Breckenridge tells the paper he appreciates McMaster's hesitance to look inside, since it is a federal offense to open someone else's mail, but he wonders whether one peek might be appropriate.
"One can make discreet use of what one finds inside," he says.
Instead, it arrived in the normal mail delivery two weeks ago to Gary McMaster, volunteer curator for the Camp Roberts Historical Museum. The former hospital served thousands of soldiers from overseas during WWII.
The letter, postmarked Aug. 9, 1944, is addressed to: "Miss R.T. Fletcher, American Red Cross Station Hospital, Camp Roberts, California."
A corner of the envelope has been torn off, showing a three- or four-page handwritten letter inside.
Joseph Breckenridge, a Postal Service spokesman in Atlanta, tells the Advertiser that most likely, someone found the letter while sorting out estate items and simply dropped it into the mailbox.
Breckenridge tells the paper he appreciates McMaster's hesitance to look inside, since it is a federal offense to open someone else's mail, but he wonders whether one peek might be appropriate.
"One can make discreet use of what one finds inside," he says.
