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World War II love letters reunited with family after being found at Arkansas Goodwill

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KLRT) — One of the most romantic mysteries has come to a close as hundreds of World War II love letters were reunited with the couple’s family. 

Goodwill Industries of Arkansas wrote about the letters in a Facebook post last month. They were addressed “My Darling Husband” but no name. 


When Jessica Hunter saw the pictures of the box she knew it was the love story she grew up admiring.

“We knew them as Mimi and Papa,” Hunter said.

Hunter and her sister Candace Owen describe their great aunt and uncle’s relationship as a fairytale. Jim and Mildred met in the 1930’s and they say it was love at first sight.

“I never once heard her call him Jim. It was always hunny,” Owen said.

More than seven decades of marriage are detailed in pictures and postcards. One thing, however, was always missing. 

Hunter saw a post pop up on her Facebook page about handwritten letters from a woman named Mildred to her husband off fighting in the second world war.

“I scrolled down to the pictures and I saw the box, and I went I know that box,” Hunter said.

She and Owen remembered seeing the box as kids but never knew what was inside.

“It said private,” Owen said.

They knew the mysterious Mildred was their Mimi.

“I had to get them, they had to come back to us,” Hunter said.

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The box is where it belongs. There are hundreds of letters written every single day Jim and Mildred were separated.

“It just details their love,” Hunter said.

As they sift through each handwritten note, they are happy they can pass this love story down to the generations to come. 

“It’s a piece of our family, it’s a piece of our heart and we’re just grateful to have it now,” Hunter said.

They don’t know how the box ended up at Goodwill. They said half of the letters are still missing, the ones written by Jim. They hope to find those someday as well.