Danny and Vic, then “Slug” or “Jr.” and “Honey Pants” or …many more…, were separated by World War II. Danny was a writer, and Vic a keeper. This blog is a history of The Greatest Generation as told mostly through the love letters sent by my Uncle Danny (Daniel Robert Byrne 1911 – 1986) to the woman who would later become his wife, Ethel Vicktoria (Vic/Vickee) Frisk (12/16/1917 – 11/7/2003). Here and there there might be another letter… but I am reading them for the first time just a few days (or less) in advance of publishing them.
Vic saved many or all of his letters; if he saved hers, they are lost in time. I don’t think anyone knew about the collection until after Vic’s death. After the funeral surviving nieces and nephews browsed through her things to collect memories. No one else seemed interested in this box.
All in all there are hundreds of letters. I have only one from 1942, then maybe a couple of hundred in 1943 and 1944 as his division trained for D-Day.
Indirectly, these letters frame a story about 101st Airborne Division, 327th Glider Infantry Unit. The Box of Letters itself contained a typescript describing the 101st Airborne History.
I’ll keep a diary (as well as I ever have) about how I’m putting these letters together and what I’m reading into them as I go along. Check the About page.
