Letter Written By WWII Soldier 77 Years Ago Finally Finds Its Way Into His Family’s Hands

The family of a World War II soldier has been blessed with a letter that he wrote 77 years ago.

Pfc. Walter Berezansky wrote the letter for his parents who lived in Clifton, New Jersey, while he was in Belgium in December 1944 on the first day of the Battle of the Bulge. This was the largest and bloodiest battle of World War II, which killed nearly 18,000 American soldiers.

But the letter never quite made it to his mother, and somehow eventually ended up in Somerville Antique shop.

It was found by William Daniels, who gave it to Kevin Gorman, commander of the Athenia Veterans Post in Clifton, in the hopes of getting it to Berezansky’s family.

Gorman decided not to open the letter until he found a surviving member of his family to give it to. Luckily, they were able to find Berezansky’s niece, Sandra Taylor, who was pleasantly surprised to receive the letter.

“I hope this letter finds you all in the best of health,” Berezansky wrote to start off the letter. “As for myself, I am safe and sound.”

Berezansky mentions the danger coming their way during the war and wrote that “Everyone here are really on their toes.” He thanks his parents for a care package that they sent him and said, “some of the boys in other outfits got packages from home too like I did. But they didn’t have a chance to open them. The Germans opened them for them.”

Taylor describes her uncle as a very quiet man who didn’t speak much. When reminiscing about stories he had told her in the past, she remembers that he said he’d sometimes wake up in the middle of the night and bang his head against the wall, due to what he said was probably PTSD.

Hear more of this incredible story in the video below: