My boyfriend was drafted before I
graduated from high school. We considered ourselves just good friends at the
time he entered the Army. We wrote letters and exchanged thoughts on his
training, my graduation and the second World War.
Seven months after he left for Army
training, he came home on a short leave. During this leave we both knew our
chemistry was saying, “This relationship is more than good friends, it’s
love.” We agreed to continue our friendly relationship on these terms.
Fritz had a war to win, and I had a
lady’s life to live; we were not going to be tied down. Our future together was
only going to be after the War, if things worked out that way for us.
Fritz went overseas to New Guinea and the Philippines, having rough battles
on a landing boat. I was employed at home in Washington, D.C.
Our letters continued -lots of them.
We both wanted the war to end. We
were lonely and in need of seeing each other. The War did come to an end. That
was a happy day. Fritz and I ended our separation three days short of three
years. We were married six weeks after he returned home.
Myrtle May Duin
George, Iowa
Back in 1955 a call
went out from the editors of the then Capper’s
Weekly asking for readers to send
in articles on true pioneers. Hundreds of letters came pouring in from early
settlers and their children, many now in their 80s and 90s, and from
grandchildren of settlers, all with tales to tell. So many articles were
received that a decision was made to create a book, and in 1956, the first My
Folks title – My Folks Came in a
Covered Wagon – hit the shelves. Nine
other books have since been published in the My Folks series, all filled to the brim with true tales from Capper’s readers, and we are proud to
make those stories available to our growing online community.