×

Express to publish letters from 1940s sent to those serving in World War II

LOCK HAVEN — It was 75 years ago today — Oct. 31, 1942 — that The Express community newspaper published the first of 183 weekly columns that were the lifeline between local men and women fighting in far-way places during World War II with friends and family waiting at home for their safe return.

Titled “Letters to Our Boys,” the columns were published every Saturday in The Express for local residents to clip and send to their Soldier, Sailor, Marine, WAAC, WAVE or other servicemen and women.

Penned by “Col. O’Corn” — whose true identity is not known — the articles kept servicemen and women abreast of what was happening back home, including information from families about those who had been injured or killed in the line of duty.

Oft times the letters contained community news, even sporting events, that the boys would enjoy reading about.

Many read about themselves as family and friends passed along news received from “our boys” and shared their words with Col. O’Corn, who gladly passed them onto the pages of The Express for all to read.

Readers were encouraged to send the newspaper clippings along to their sons, brothers, husbands, uncles, cousins and friends in the camp, on the ship or at the front … wherever they were serving.

There was a line at the beginning of the letter to fill in the name of the man or woman the letter was being sent to, and a space at the end to sign their own name.

Contributions for inclusion in the letters — news items, letters or excerpts from a letter from one of the boys, or a suggestion — were to be sent to Col. O’Corn, military correspondent, The Express, Lock Haven, Pa.

The Colonel had plenty of interest from the community and lots to write about.

The weekly letters continued for four years.

That’s right … four years.

The last “Letter to Our Boys” was published in The Express on April 20, 1946.

In 2001, while doing genealogical research in Clinton County, Fred and Anna Snyder discovered the unique and many times emotional columns in decades old editions of The Express.

The couple was delighted with their find and wanted to read “Letters to Our Boys” in its entirety.

As they continued genealogy work at The Ross Library, they decided that the historical significance of the letters was such that they wanted to make copies, re-type them and put all 183 of Col. O’Corn’s letters into one collection.

It took the couple two years to complete the project, which they finished in July 2002.

One of the copies was donated to the Clinton County Historical Society by Bill Eisemann, and the historical society has loaned The Express the more than 400-page compilation that includes an index directing readers to the names of area veterans’ included in the letters.

Beginning today, The Express will print one letter each Tuesday. Today’s letter appears on page A-4.

We hope you will enjoy reading about what was happening here in Clinton County during the war years– marriages, promotions, baseball and football scores, the weather … and most especially about our service men and women overseas during World War II and what they had to say when they wrote letters home to friends and family.

And we thank the Shaws from upstate New York for their interest and hard work in producing this piece of history and the Historical Society for allowing us to again publish “Letters to Our Boys.”

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $3.69/week.

Subscribe Today