WWII-Era Letter Arrives At Calif. Hospital 70 Years Late
LOS ANGELES (CBS) — A letter postmarked in Alabama nearly 70 years ago has just arrived at its California destination.
KNX 1070's Chris Sedens reports the World War II-era letter is addressed to a Miss R.T. Fletcher at the American Red Cross Station Hospital in Camp Roberts, about 60 miles northwest of Bakersfield.
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Camp Roberts was closed in 1970, so the letter was redirected to the Camp Roberts Historical Museum curator Gary McMaster, who says the post office doesn't know how the letter went missing for so many decades, or how it was found.
McMaster said the letter was delivered "just like another piece of mail, with no explanation."
The postal service has no idea what might have happened.
"It's just a guessing game as to where it came from," said Joseph Breckenridge, a postal service spokesman in Atlanta.
He said there's no way the letter could have been floating around in the postal system since 1944.
"No equipment, or transportation, or storage stuff is still in service from 66 years ago," Breckenridge said. "Now if it were three years ago, I would think it could have been in a tray or a sack or something."
Having a letter delivered from World War II is unusual but not unheard of, said Breckenridge, who has been with the postal service for 35 years.
"I've encountered this a half-dozen times," he said.
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