Long-Lost Love Letters of WWII Finally in the Right Hands

Caption: Martha Rodriguez, Dorothy Bartos Carlberg and Sue Lilly are featured in a Chicago Tribune video story

Sue Lilly’s Downers Grove home hosted a sentimental reunion this week as two long-lost love letters written by a sailor finally found their way back to Lilly’s mom, Dorothy Bartos Carlberg.

The letters were written in 1945 by Al Fragakis, stationed at a U.S. Navy base in San Diego, to a young Dorothy.

The Chicago Tribune recently featured a story about Martha Rodriguez, who lives at South Kolin Avenue home in Chicago where Carlberg, 85, grew up, and her quest to find Dorothy.

On July 18, the 69-year-old letters into which a young sailor poured out his heart were delivered to Rodriguez’s house, the yellowed envelopes wrapped in plastic by the postal service. Rodriguez and her daughter were struck by what Al wrote, how Dorothy was the last girl he saw before leaving for San Diego, how he lamented not having kissed Dorothy — whom he called “Bugs” — good-bye.

The letters were dispatched from the Navy’s Coronado Heights Annex in San Diego. Where they’ve been for the last seven decades is a mystery, but recently they were dropped in a mail collection box and made their way to the postal service distribution center in south suburban Bedford Park. The postal service secured them in protective plastic and delivered them.

Rodriguez tried to find Dorothy Bartos, tracking down three women in Illinois with the name.

“I know if these were my grandparents, I’d sure want to have these letters,” Rodriguez said. “It was sad to me because these letters were lost for 70 years.”

One Dorothy Bartos lived in Naperville, another lived in Orland Park. Rodriguez called, but the letters didn’t belong to them. The third was deceased.

And the mystery might have ended there if not for reporter Bonnie Miller Rubin’s story.

Tim Carlberg saw the story and wondered if that Dorothy Bartos might be his mother. He contacted his sister in Champaign, Sandy Jacobson, who confirmed their mom indeed had lived on South Kolin Avenue.

On Tuesday, Carlberg’s family reached out to the Tribune to bring Rodriguez, their mom and the letters together. Carlberg now lives in an assisted living home in Wisconsin.

In Downers Grove, one of Carlberg’s daughters read the letter to her mom, pausing to ask questions.

“It’s pretty interesting to get a different perspective on your mother ... you see she had a whole different life you’re not aware of,” said Jacobson, who drove up from Champaign for moment.

Carlberg and her friends had written to many boys in the service “to keep their spirits up.” At first, she didn’t recall Al, but after hearing his words read aloud, her memory stirred.

“He was a really nice guy,” she said. “Not fast … my dad was very strict, but he liked boys in the military. He thought they were decent.”

The letters have now found Dorothy, but Al’s whereabouts these days are unknown.

FIND THE FULL STORY ON CHICAGOTRIBUNE.COM

» Watch Lost WWII Love Letters Finally Delivered

» Watch 70-Year-Old Lost Letter Ignites Search for Original Recipient