By now with everything the families of the Buslee crew had all been through together, they considered each other friends. Not a happy friendship, but one brought together by sadness and loss. More of a family, really, as their loved ones were as close as brothers as they served their country in WWII.
Raleigh Mae Farrar hadn’t received a letter from one of the crews’ families in many months, but in November 1945, Gerald Andersen’s wife took the time to write.
Gerald Lee Andersen
November 19, 1945
Stromsburg, NebraskaMrs. Raleigh Mae Farrar,
Atlanta, Ga.Dear Friend:
I have wondered so many times if your son S/Sgt. Geo. Farrar has gotten home after I received word from you that he had been released from prison Camp. I have been so in hopes that he could give us some information.
I received the following information from Quartermaster General, Washington, D. C. concerning my husband’s burial.
“The remains of your husband were interred in the United States Military Cemetery at Margraten Holland, Plot R, Row 3 Grave 51. This cemetery is located twelve miles Northwest of Achen, Germany and eight miles Southeast of Maastricht, Holland.”
I do hope your son is in good health. Was he near this Cemetery?
I am trying to contact someone in the Occupational Forces, to visit the cemetery and get pictures of a same.
I am teaching again this year. The time passes and when you are busy you don’t have time to think.
I would appreciate very much to hear from you and to know if your son has come home.
Sincerely,
Your friend,
Mrs. Esther E. Andersen
Gerald Andersen has since been reinterred in the Fort McPherson National Cemetery in Maxwell (Lincoln County), Nebraska, Section F, Site 1229.
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2014
The Arrowhead Club 