WWII soldier's last letter home finally arrives

Associated Press

POOLE, Neb. - It took more than 60 years, but the final letter of a soldier killed in World War II finally has made it home.

It happened after Gary Mathis of Ravenna bought a box of old newspapers at a yard sale in Kansas. Inside a newspaper from 1915, Mathis found a letter with military markings from France, postmarked March 6, 1944.

The letter was addressed to W.J. Krotz of nearby Poole, about 120 miles west of Lincoln.

Mathis placed an announcement and picture of the letter in the Ravenna News, hoping someone might know the Krotz family.

Louise Kisling said she heard about her brother's letter through word of mouth. Clinton Krotz, an infantry soldier in France during the war, was killed in action on May 8, 1944. The letter was the last one he sent home.

"Everyone's calling, wanting to know what was inside," said Kisling of the letter, which was actually two separate letters.

Her brother told his parents he received the candy and nuts they sent him, and he thanked them for a wristwatch, which his family sent as a birthday gift, said Kisling, of Pleasanton, about 20 miles north of Kearney.

She said her only disappointment was that her parents never got the chance to see the letter.

An envelope within the letter was postmarked by the Poole post office, Kisling said. She was not sure how it ended up in Kansas.

"I don't know why it wasn't delivered," she said.

Mystery aside, Kisling is grateful.

"We sure appreciate the man that saved it," she said. "It's amazing a letter can come back after all these years."

Kisling's other brother, Leo Krotz, also died in the same war. The Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Pleasanton is named for the two men.