To review:  On March 16, 1948, the Buslee’s wrote to the American Consul General in Czechoslovakia asking for assistance in the delivery of their son’s ring to them from the finder of the ring in Czechoslovakia.

Mr. B, the translator of the letters between America and Czechoslovakia, received a letter from the finder of the ring’s father.  Mr. B translated the letter and sent it to the Buslee’s, adding some information of his own.  In the translated letter from Z’s father, Mr. B occasionally also inserts commentary of his own by placing the information between slashes.

Richmond, Texas, March 26, 1948

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Buslee:-

Thank you for your letter, dear Mrs. Buslee, and I am very happy to know, it will be possible for Z, to send the ring to you direct. That is the way, I understand his letter. But first, here is the translation of Z’s father’s letter. Please, you must understand, Mr. and Mrs. Buslee, my English is no good, and to be true, I am ashamed for my bad English, but I came to this beautiful and FREE country, when I was 32 years old, and I am telling you, English is a very hard language to learn. We have a daughter, she was six years old, when she came here and her English is better than those born here. But she started from “ABC” in school and that is different. In 1943 she join the Cadet Nurse Corp and went to New York, and she is still there. So please, forgive my bad English, and here is the translation of that letter:

Esteemed Mr. Buslee !

I received your letter dated 3-8-1948, and I am informing you, that I am answering your letter for my son, who by now is in the service in certain town, which is located far from us. /You know, Mrs. Buslee, they cannot tell in which town, because there must be a censorship in Czechoslovakia and I am sure, it is forbidden to mention that/So I am not able to give you all information about the plane and Mr. Lt. Buslee, who found his heroic death. But soon, as my son will come home for furlough, he will tell you all he knows.

As far as I know, my son he has the ring, which belong to Mr. Lt. Buslee and the other things, which he did have, he send some time ago to the American Consul in Prague, where he asked for informations about the kins of Lt. Buslee./Here Z’s father means some things which his son found by the plane. And I just wonder, why the American Consul General in Prague, did not inquire in Washington, D.C., and did not try to find you-!!!/

It will be a great honor for us, to deliver the remembrance /he means the ring/ to the kins of a dead, who sacrificed his life for the restoration of human rights.

I do not believe /this is the part of Z’s father’s letter, which pleased me very much, because – as I told you Mrs. Buslee in my letter, – I was afraid it would not be possible to mail the ring directly to you by Z/ there will be any difficulty from the Czechoslovak authorities, to deliver the ring to you, and soon, as my son will come home, we will do so. /that mean, they will send the ring/

Please, forgive me, I am late with my answer, but there is nobody here, who would be able to read English and I send the letter of yours to the city to be translated in Czech. Forgive me again please, I am answering in Czech, because I hate to keep you waiting, by sending my letter in Czech, for the English translation and so I am writing in Czech and hope, you will find someone, who will read it for you. After my son will come home, he will tell you all, he know about the plane and the crew and I am terribly sorry, I am unable to ease your sorrow.

I am wishing you a very pleasant Easter and remain with a friendly respect yours:
Z’s Father
Czechoslovakia

Over-:

So, dear Mr. and Mrs. Buslee, that is the translation of Z’s father’s letter. He is the father of that boy Z and the letter shows, they are good peoples. I am very—very happy, it will be possible for him, to mail the ring directly to you. As you know I suggested in my last letter, to ask the Amer. Consul in Prague to ask for the ring and I told Z, in case, the Amer. Consul General will ask for the ring, just mail it to him. But, now, after Z’s father told you- and I am greatly disappointed about that kind of service from US Consul- that his son some time ago asked the US Consul for information and send him some things he found by the plane, and the Consul DID nothing to find you, it really will be better, if Z will be able to send the ring directly to you. I am writing this very moment to Z and tell him about that, and will ask him, if it is possible for him, to send the ring to you direct, just forget all about my idea, to send the ring to the Amer. Consul in Prague, and send the ring Air Mail and registered and I will pay all the expense, or send some my stamps from my collection.

I and my wife, dear Mr. and Mrs. Buslee, we will be so happy, after you will have the remembrance – the ring – from you beloved son-! We have only one child too, -daughter- and we know, how terrible it would be if she would be lost for us, because she is all we have lived for, just like your dear son was-! May God bless you and please, write to me again and after I will know, you did get the ring, we will be happy with you-!!

Please Mrs. Buslee, do not thank me-! It was not a bit of trouble for me, but pleasure to help such a wonderful people. We too, are wishing you a Happy Easter and please, believe me, how happy I would be, if I would be able to ease your sorrow.

Sincerely yours:
Mr. B and wife

This transcription is a careful reproduction of the original except for occasional spelling and punctuation corrections. Some names have been masked to protect the privacy of those individuals and their families.  In some circumstances, based on relevancy or a desire to mask locations, some material may not have been transcribed.

Thank you to John Dale Kielhofer, John Oliver (Jay) Buslee’s nephew, for sharing these letters with me.

© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2015