PFC Rhoades F. Sawyer, US Army, 112th Infantry

Pvt. Coy Lee Padgett, USMC 5th Division KIA Iwo Jima March 7, 1945

In this episode of War and Family Letters Home, we remember Pvt. Coy Lee Padgett, USMC, who was killed in action on Iwo Jima on March 7, 1945. His story reflects the courage of a generation and the enduring promise to remember those who gave their lives in service to our nation. During WW2 men and women were deployed throughout Europe and the Pacific and their only means to communicate home was through letters, handwritten notes to assure those at home they were alright and waiting for letters from their loved ones to provide semblance of support and normalcy. Over the years I have collected letters with the intention of returning to family - but first I’d like to share who these men were, where were they from and the context of where the soldiers were and what role they played in the War. Please sit back and get to know these members of the greatest generation. It is my hope that All letters in these podcasts will return to family. If you recognize the servicemen or families, please reach out to me at and help me get the letters home

PFC Rhoades F. Sawyer, US Army, 112th Infantry

In this episode, we follow the remarkable journey of PFC Rhoades Ferguson Sawyer of Company I, 112th Infantry Regiment, from his childhood in Massachusetts to the brutal battlefields of the Hürtgen Forest and the Battle of the Bulge. Through a letter he wrote home in April 1945, we gain a rare glimpse into the daily life, hardships, and quiet humor of an American infantryman nearing the end of the war. After surviving some of the fiercest combat in Europe, Sawyer returned home to build a life of service as a forester, husband, and father—leaving behind a legacy of courage, resilience, and sacrifice that deserves to be remembered. Welcome to War and Family: Letters Home.  I am your Podcast Host/ Lauren Muise More than eighty years ago, members of the Greatest Generation sat down with pen and paper to write home from training camps, ships at sea, foxholes, air bases, and distant battlefields. Most never imagined those letters would survive long after the war ended. But some did. They surface today in antique stores, estate sales, and auctions—small pieces of history separated from the families who once treasured them. They are personal stories of the men and women of WW2, whose words somehow survived the decades. These letters belong back to their families and that is what this podcast is about!  – maybe this letter was meant for you!

Cpl James Edwin Gledhill, US Army AirCorp, 21st Weather Squadron

Welcome to War and Family Letters Home. For most people, the weather is simply something we complain about. For Corporal James Gledhill and the men of the 21st Weather Squadron, it was a weapon, a lifesaving tool, and sometimes the deciding factor in history itself. Their forecasts helped determine when armies would move, when aircraft would fly, and ultimately when the liberation of Europe could begin. And thanks to one simple V-mail letter, we have the opportunity to remember not only the man who wrote it, but the remarkable—and often overlooked—unit in which he served. More than eighty years ago, members of the Greatest Generation sat down with pen and paper to write home from training camps, ships at sea, foxholes, air bases, and distant battlefields. Most never imagined those letters would survive long after the war ended. But some did. They surface today in antique stores, estate sales, and auctions—small pieces of history separated from the families who once treasured them. They are personal stories of the men and women of WW2, whose words somehow survived the decades. These letters belong back to their families and that is what this podcast is about!  – maybe this letter was meant for you!

Sgt Norman E Beck, US Army, 195th Truck Company China-Burma-India

Sergeant Norman E. Beck. From a boy growing up in Pine Grove, Pennsylvania… to a National Guardsman called into federal service… to a soldier living in bamboo huts deep in the jungles of Assam, helping build one of the most important supply routes of World War II. Welcome to War and Family: Letters Home.  I am your Podcast Host/ Lauren Muise More than eighty years ago, members of the Greatest Generation sat down with pen and paper to write home from training camps, ships at sea, foxholes, air bases, and distant battlefields. Most never imagined those letters would survive long after the war ended. But some did. They surface today in antique stores, estate sales, and auctions—small pieces of history separated from the families who once treasured them. These are not just military records or casualty statistics. They are personal stories of the men and women of WW2, whose words somehow survived the decades. These letters belong back to their families – maybe this letter was meant for you!

PFC Arnold John Nerthling Jr., US Army, 232nd Port Company

Arnold John Nerthling,  A young man from Buffalo, with roots reaching back to the Seneca people of the Tonawanda Reservation, Arnold carried out the unglamorous but essential work that kept the Allied advance moving across the Pacific. His words—written between cargo ships, tropical rain, mosquito nets, and distant islands—remind us that victory in World War II depended not only on the men in the headlines, but also on those whose names rarely appeared in history books. Welcome to War and Family: Letters Home.  I am your Podcast Host/ Lauren Muise More than eighty years ago, members of the Greatest Generation sat down with pen and paper to write home from training camps, ships at sea, foxholes, air bases, and distant battlefields. Most never imagined those letters would survive long after the war ended. But some did. They surface today in antique stores, estate sales, and auctions—small pieces of history separated from the families who once treasured them. These are not just military records or casualty statistics. They are personal stories of the men and women of WW2, whose words somehow survived the decades. These letters belong back to their families – maybe this letter was meant for you!