Alvin Gauthier went the extra mile to deliver letters sent by a soldier in World War II to its rightful recipient.
Gauthier, who has worked for the USPS as a letter carrier, found the letters in a bin.
“I was getting ready for my route and found some letters that were dated back to 1942, so World War II,” Gauthier told NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth. “Being a veteran myself, so I’m like man, this is some history! Because once again, mail boosts morale for all soldiers, so my main thought was I have to find this family.”
But there wasn’t much to go on. The envelopes had the name of the soldier and his return military address. The letters were addressed to just Jacksonville, Arkansas.
The letters, from 1942, 1943, 1944 and 1945, were undelivered, according to NBC affiliate KARK, adding the letters all had U.S. Army stamps on them.
The letters were addressed to his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Lamb, per People.
“I don’t know how it got there, I am clueless,” Gauthier said to KARK.
The scant clues were enough, though.
The NBC station in Little Rock ran a story and the family of soldier Marion Lamb was found living in Jacksonville.
“I could have stuck them in the mail, but it’s kinda like sometimes you have to go above and beyond,” Gauthier said, per NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth. “Just go the extra mile … or 379 miles.”
Gauthier delivered those letters on his day off by driving from Grand Prairie, Texas, to Jacksonville, Arkansas. He paid for the gas and hotel out of his own money.
But whatever Gauthier paid to go to Jacksonville was paid back in dividends. He delivered those letters and built a connection with Marion Lamb’s family.
“For me, it’s a connection with my family,” Jo Ann Smith said to KARK.
Smith’s older brother Marion went to war when she was 2 years old.
Another family member sent the letters to Smith’s daughter, the family historian, in Grand Prairie, Texas. The letters fell out of the package before they could be delivered.
“They had the name of the recipient and they had the address of Jacksonville, Arkansas; which if you think about it, in 1941 we were just a small community and we got the mail like that no problem,” Jo Ann Smith said.
“It restores your faith in people,” Debbie Smith added. “And we saw the connection, the real connection, between military families.”
Smith’s five older siblings have all passed and the letters serve as a reminder of “the sacrifices her brother made,” per People.
“I just appreciate Alvin,” Jo Ann Smith said to KLRT-TV. “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 feels the same.
“They are like my family now,” Gauthier said. “And if kinda something like this happens next week, I will do the same thing again!”
