World War I-era love letter from U.S. soldier to his girl goes up for auction

Photo courtesy Hansons Auctioneers and Valuers LTD

Let's hear it for old-fashioned amour.

The most romantic tweet in the world couldn't hold a candle to this 100-year-old letter written by an American World War I soldier named Charles.

The letter, which included a pressed French poppy, is going up for auction at Hansons Auctioneers and Valuers in Derbyshire, U.K. Written on American YMCA paper, headlined "On Active Service with the American Expeditionary Force," the letter is as tender as it is mysterious. 

Text as follows:

Dearest Girl, I love you so, for your prayers and your love. If prayers will aide and they will God will take care of everything. Of course it is hard to understand this war in regards to the Lords will and means of protecting his people – but I guess it was not intended that we should understand.

In the meantime I must stop – sweet girl, I will be so careful and you must be good and write very often. Tell me everything as you do and let the French poppy which I am enclosing represent my kisses for you – dearest girl, all my love. Remember me to mother – yours Chas (more kisses).

On the auction's description page, auctioneer Charles Hanson said little is known about the author and even less is known about the woman it was sent to.

"We can be fairly sure — that the French poppy picked up by an American serviceman represents a latter battle of WWI, perhaps when victory was in sight," he wrote.

Historians believe that more than 8.5 million people were killed during World War I, including 116,000 Americans. There is no way to know if Charles was one of the many who lost their lives or if he made it home to his "dearest girl."

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Lost Civil War ring returned to kin of Pa. soldier

READING, Pa. (AP) — A ring lost by a Union soldier from Pennsylvania during the Civil War has completed a long journey home.

The ring was worn by Levi Schlegel, a Reading-area native who is believed to have lost it nearly 150 years ago at an encampment near Fredericksburg, Va.

Relic hunter John Blue found the ring at a construction site in 2005. Though it was engraved with Schlegel's name and unit — "Co. G., 198th P.V.," or Pennsylvania Volunteers — Blue wasn't sure how to find Schlegel's descendants, and kept the ring in a box for several years.

A genealogist ultimately helped Blue track down Schlegel's family. On Tuesday, Blue presented the ring to a distant cousin during a ceremony at Levi Schlegel's grave in Reading.

"This is truly a hero's journey," said the cousin, Ernie Schlegel.

Another distant relative, James W. Schlegel of Reading, said he felt pride as he touched the ring.

"I think about all the time that passed since Levi and so many others fought for our freedom," Schlegel, who served in the Air Force during the Vietnam War, told the Reading Eagle. "As a veteran, I know the importance of fighting for freedom, and I'm proud to know the Schlegel family did its part."

After the war, Levi Schlegel returned to Reading, where he worked as a carpenter and helped raise 11 children. He died in 1932 at age 91.

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Information from: Reading Eagle, http://www.readingeagle.com/

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