TREASURES IN THE WALL

Recently, a young couple was remodeling their home on Sixth Ave., in Lake Odessa, when they discovered some items in a wall. Tucked inside the wall they found letters, postcards, envelopes, advertising, a grade school diploma and a few dishes. These items all apear to have come from the Kart/Sargeant family and underneath all the dust and dirt lies a little bit of history. Two of the letters were written by Leo Kart in 1944 during World War II. One letter was to his mother, Esther Kart, and the other to his sister. The Lake Odessa Area Historical Society was glad to accept these items as a donation to the museum and will add them to our collections. Many have asked "why did people put stuff in the wall?" Does anyone have a good answer? The letter shown above is dated Sept. 10, 1944, and reads as follows:

"Pvt. Leo B. Kart 36956256 Co. H 3rd Group 1st Regt. Camp Reynolds Greenville PA Sept. 10, 1944-

Dear Mom,
I am getting along o.k. and feeling fine so I have nothing to kick about. We sure have some swell fellows here. I don't think it is half bad here. I suppose LeRoy is about ready to go to the navy. I know one thing, he won't run so much there, that's what makes it bad for so many fellows. Here we can only get a 12 hour leave so I think that was what was the matter with Raymond and Bob. Although they get a lot of K.P., and other details here every day, and sometimes at night. I got your letter and those papers you sent back. There is some of the fellows here with me that was at Camp Lee with me. So it isn't so bad. And I got a lot of new buddies here too. Did Clare Lambert hear any more about Jack? I sure hope he is on his way back. There was a bus wreck here last night but I don't know whether anyone got hurt or not. I sure am glad Carol got an ice cream cone. Well that is all I can think of this time so will close and try to write again. P.S. Oh, yes, there were around 1800 War Prisoners at Camp Lee.

As ever,
Leo