I am fortunate that I have many,many letters that freinds and family had written back and forth to my Uncle JR.I have read almost all of them,,,,a series of letters talked about a "RING",,,,"Eddie,,did you get that ring back yet?" "Eddie,,what happened to your ring?" "Eddie,,did you give Irene your ring?" It was very intrieging reading.Irene was my Uncles sweetheart when he left for the war.

One of my quests was to see if I could find any relatives of Irene Brandt"s,,,and I did,,and I did not have to go far,,about a mile from my house in Butler was a girl named Sue Goebel. Sue was related to a Wally Goebel that ended up marrying Irene Brandt after she had learned that Eddie was not coming back home.She put me in touch with Irene's only daughter,Barb,,who lived in Minnesota.I called here and explained who I was and what I was intersted in finding out.She acknowleged that her mother did talk about those day's with Eddie,and that she would look around to see if she had anything.She also mentioned she was coming back to visit her relatives in the area and perhaps maybe we could meet.About 2 weeks later I am grilling out with my family and my grandaughter AVA,,bring me a package that came in the mail.I looked at the shipping label and knew instantly who it was from.It was from Barb,,Irene's daughter.I did not know what to expect,,upon opening it ,,I read a letter(diplayed here) saying that her time schedule coming back home was full and she doubted having any time to visit,,but the contents of this box was mine to keep.Each piece was wrapped seperately in tissue paper.The fist couple pieces contained some of my uncles "bomber wings" and some pictures of him,,his crewmates,,,both of Eddie and Irene together,,,but the last tissue I opened floored me to tears,,,,,,,,IT WAS THE RING(diplayed here)…Oh thank you Lord!

The ring is from Shorewood High school 1943

Etzel, Edward R.