World War II Letters Home

About the Book

During World War II, as letters arrived from my husband, a frontline combat medic in Italy with the Tenth Mountain Division, I was given assurance he was alive. I had to believe, though letters often arrived two months after they were written. That letter home was the only communication available in 1944 and 1945 from the Italian front, and all letters and cards were censored. Newspapers, radios, and newsreels at the movies told the world of the mountain peaks captured, rivers crossed, heroic details, lives lost. That letter home held our hearts together during the war. Letters were often written on the surface of his helmet, on a rock, or a board, and on any writing paper that was available. The letters home have been lovingly transcribed for easier reading because I wish to share them.

About the Author

Audrey Syse Fahlberg was born and raised in Blanchardville, Wisconsin, by Norwegian parents. She was married to Willson J. Fahlberg on July 30, 1938—a marriage that lasted seventy-three years. Mother of four children, she has four grandchildren, six great-grandchildren, one great great grandchild. She attended University of Houston, majoring in communication arts. And was initiated a member of Scholastic Honorary Journalism Fraternity Kappa Tau Alpha on May 3, 1966. Audrey has held membership in Women in Communication (Ladies of the Press), World Association of Women Journalists and Writers (AMMPE), Texas Society of Association Executives, American Advertising Federation, World Trade Club, International Business Committee of Houston Chamber of Commerce, and Traveler’s Century Club (traveled to one hundred fifty countries), published her newspaper, Convention Scene Houston, and headed her own corporation for more than thirty years.