Alvin Gauthier, a Grand Prairie USPS postman, recently went above and beyond to brighten a family’s day by delivering lost letters from a WWII soldier.
Finding the family to give them to was Gauthier’s hardest task, though, since the letters didn’t have many details. They were just addressed to a “Mr. and Mrs. Henry Lamb” who lived in Jacksonville, Arkansas.
The mail carrier of nearly 20 years told KARK, “I’m loading my truck and then I find this envelope with all these letters in it, and you can see it’s from 1942. You got to think World War World War II. I don’t know how it got there (in his work bag filled with mail), I am clueless.”
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The undelivered letters dated from 1942, 1943, 1944, and 1945, and they all bore a U.S. Army stamp. Gauthier also discovered that the letter’s author, Marion Lamb, was a member of the infantry unit. After a closer look, he noticed the letter was written to Marion Lamb’s parents.
He told the publication that he asked a coworker at the post office, who informed him that at the time, they just had zones and no addresses. Gauthier, who had served in the army, understood the significance of staying in touch with one’s family.
Eventually, Gauthier got in touch with KARK-TV, and with their assistance, the station managed to locate Jo Ann Smith, the sister of Marion Lamb, the soldier who had sent the letters to their parents.
Gauthier subsequently decided to utilize his day off to drive from the Dallas-Fort Worth area to deliver the special correspondence by hand. The trip would take about five hours. He even paid for a hotel and gas with his own funds.
Gauthier told KXAS “I could have stuck them in the mail, but it’s kinda like sometimes you have to go above and beyond. Just go the extra mile … or 379 miles.”
Jo Ann Smith could barely believe her eyes when Gauthier showed up at her home carrying the letters. The letters reminded her of her brother’s efforts, especially since her five elder siblings were no longer with her. Her older brother was drafted into the army when she was barely two years old.
Jo Ann Smith said, “I’m very excited and very tearful. For me, it’s a connection to my family. I just appreciate Alvin. He has really gone out of his way and people connect on different levels and I feel as connected to Alvin as I do my family.”
Gauthier told NBCDFW, “They are like my family now. And if kinda something like this happens next week, I will do the same thing again!”
