July 2016 Auction Ends Thursday, July 21st, 5pm Pacific
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 7/21/2016
Ten letters written by Leon Nye, bomber pilot in the 706 Bombardment Squadron Heavy, from September 1943 to October 1944, just a month before he was reported missing in action. All letters are to Nye's friend, Aldo Vittelli in New Britain, Connecticut; an additional, 11th letter, is a December 1944 Christmas card to Nye from Vitelli which was returned to Vitelli and marked ''Missing''. The archive begins with Nye's first letter, dated 19 September 1943, when he was a private entering Army Air Forces basic training in Miami. The next seven letters are written from various U.S. training locations. Letter dated 11 September 1944, from Europe, reads in part, ''...I made staff...and those 4 stripes sure look swell...It's beautiful over there in the good old states, but the picture sort of changes over here. Those Nazis are still plenty tough and I don't feel too sure about this war being over yet awhile. They can shoot pretty straight too...'' In his final letter to Vitelli, dated 13 October 1944, Staff Sgt. Nye writes, ''...Our ground forces are sure doing a grand job...Maybe Hitler will call it quits one of these days...It's a tough life over here and up there. I got the Air Medal award and it's a beauty...'' The final piece of mail in the archive is the card, marked ''Missing 30/11/44'', returned to Vitelli. Minor soiling and creasing to letters written on U.S. Army Air Forces stationery of varying sizes. Significant soiling and chipping to envelopes. Overall very good.
10 WWII Letters by a Pilot Before He Went MIA -- ''...Those Nazis are still plenty tough...Maybe Hitler will call it quits one of these days...the girls are all loused up and the town is wicked...''
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