In 1953, parents and my older sister went to live in Las Vegas, when my dad was stationed at the nuclear testing facilities. At the beginning of the year, they hadn’t yet found out what his next orders were to be. Not long before, Thorgel had returned to the USA, after serving two years in Korea.

These are PDF files viewable in Acrobat and probably in most browsers, as well.

Here are the first two letters mom sent home to her sister, who saved them for 50 years.

JANUARY 2, 1953: 1953_ltr_01_02_5pp

JANUARY 8, 1953: 1953_ltr_01_08_2pp