Capt. George Montgomery returned home to Iowa after the war and married Arline in 1946. But, as Montgomery hinted in his letter, he was well aware of how precarious life was in battle and that every day could be the last. This realization plagued those who fought, and many made certain they wrote an "in the event I don't make it back. . . ." letter just in case. Some gave the letter to a friend with instructions to forward it should the worst happen. And some, like twenty-five-year-old 2nd Lt. Jack Lundberg, mailed it home themselves before they went into combat. Lundberg wrote his "final" letter a few weeks before D-Day to assure his loved ones in Woods Cross, Utah, he was more than ready to die and only regretted the pain it would cause them, and his new wife, Mary.
19 May 1944
Dear Mom, Pop and family,
Now that I am actually here I see that the chances of my returning to all of you are quite slim, therefore I want to write this letter now while I am yet able.
I want you to know how much I love each of you. You mean everything to me and it is the realization of your love that gives me the courage to continue. Mom and Pop - we have caused you innumerable hardships and sacrifices - sacrifices which you both made readily and gladly that we might get more from life.
I have always determined to show my appreciation to you by enabling you both to have more of the pleasures of life - but this war has prevented my so doing for the past three years.
If you receive this letter I shall be unable to fulfill my desires, for I have requested that this letter be forwarded only in the event I do not return.
You have had many times more than your share of illness and deaths in the family - still you have continued to exemplify what true parents should. I am sorry to add to your grief - but at all times realize that my thoughts are of you constantly and that I feel that in some small way I am helping to bring this wasteful war to a conclusion.
We of the United States have something to fight for - never more fully have I realized that. There just is no other country with comparable wealth, advancement, or standard of living. The U.S.A. is worth a sacrifice!
Remember always that I love you each most fervently and I am proud of you. Consider Mary, my wife, as having taken my place in the family circle and watch over each other.
Love to my family,
Jack
Almost prophetically 2nd Lt. Jack Lundberg had, indeed, written his last letter home. Two and a half weeks after D-Day, Lundberg was the lead navigator on a B-17 flying over Abbeville, France on a mission to bomb the town's railroad station. Struck by German antiaircraft fire, the plane burst into flames and crashed. His body was not recovered until nine months after his death. Although Lundberg's family had the option of having him returned to the United States, they chose to have him buried with his comrades at the American Cemetery in Normandy, France.
