Dearest Sylvia: An Airman’s Love Letters from World War II

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G.J. Mazza has collected and edited the love letters that his father, Anthony Mazza, wrote to his mother during World War II. Anthony Mazza was a navigator with the Army Air Forces, serving in Southern Italy at the end of the war in Europe. Anthony Mazza’s letters reflect the spirit of many servicemen at the time, longing for the war to end so he could return home to build a future with his sweetheart.

At 22, Anthony Mazza left the North Side of Pittsburgh in August of 1943 to become a navigator for the Army Air Forces during World War II. He left behind his sweetheart, Sylvia Jacobs, who was in training to become an emergency room nurse. Over an 18-month period, he steadily wrote to her, cataloguing his progress in becoming a flight officer. Toward the end of the war in Europe, he flew combat missions from his posting in Southern Italy. Dearest Sylvia is a collection of about 80 love letters from this time period in which he wrote about his day-to-day concerns, his hopes for the future, and his love for the woman in his life.