Why We Serve Our Country
The following letter was wirtten by a member of the 101st Airborne to his two-year-old nephew. Three weeks later, the author was killed in the Battle of the Bulge.
This letter was submitted by Janet Hague, co-owner of Savory Spice Shop in Princeton. Fred Buschhoff, of the 101st Airborne was 19 when he wrote this letter to his nephew, Dan Buschhoff (my father), for his second birthday. Three weeks after writing the letter, Fred Buschhoff was killed in the Battle of the Bulge. France, January 5, 1945 Dear Danny, It won’t be long now until your second birthday rolls around, and much as I’d like to be with you, your Mother and your Father to help you celebrate, I’m afraid I won’t be able to make it. So, please, Danny, forgive me and accept my best wishes for a very, very happy birthday, and my sincerest hopes for many more like it, and a life of peace and freedom. You know, Dan, there’s a very good …
CaraGia
11:47 am on Monday, May 28, 2012
I hate to say this, but every aspect of this letter rings false, at least from the perspective of who supposedly wrote it and when it was written. First, most or all of the letter appears or could be interpreted to have been written in past-tense form, as though the writer is speaking to his nephew well after the fact of his having been in war or from the position of someone with an agenda well … more ›