EDITOR’S NOTE: For the next few weeks, we will be sharing entries from Old Tillamook Times, provided by Sandi Burgess Botten Dean, featuring Karen Kranweiss Nudelman’s blog in which she describes the search and book writing that started a little over 10 years ago when she first received “the letters” and began reading. Then came the idea for a story, then a book – “Dear Folks” tells a young man’s story through letters he wrote home to his parents in Tillamook, Oregon.
From Sandi Burgess Botten Dean
Blog by Karen Krantweiss Nudelman
Some of you may remember some posts from 10 years ago, and lots of comments in the Facebook group, Old Tillamook Times, regarding an Army Air Corps serviceman from Tillamook.
A frequent bidder of Goodwill online auctions, Maryland-based writer Karen Nudelman had a penchant for wartime ephemera. In November of 2013, she had the winning bid for an extensive collection of WWII era letters from Tillamook, Oregon native Charles “Chuck” Hunter. The letters were written to his parents Alice and Frank Hunter from 1942-1945 and covered his Army Air Corps training & deployment. Every page painted a portrait of a very charismatic and intelligent young man who shared a loving relationship with his parents, his mother, especially. Found in the stack of letters was one condolence note indicating Chuck’s fate – his tragic death in an airplane crash over Tokyo Bay. Chuck saw the end of the war, only to die one month after VJ Day.
As a mother to a son herself, Mrs. Nudelman felt a strong kinship with Chuck’s mother, Mrs. Alice Hunter. Expressing her empathy for Mrs. Hunter’s heartbreaking loss, she said, “I couldn’t accept that her son was gone before he had even really lived. I felt the need to share Chuck’s story and give him the legacy he deserved.”
In March 2014, Mrs. Nudelman and her writing partner Mrs. Kim Varner, began research on a book based on Chuck’s letters. Ten years later, the book is nearly complete (both authors worked on the book when they could while raising their respective families.) They are now busy submitting sample book chapters and proposals to literary agents and publishers.
I was raised to respect and appreciate the men and women who are serving and who have served this country, protecting our lives and freedom, many to sacrifice their lives in the effort. My father served in the Army during the Korean War. My husband Bill served in the Navy during the Vietnam era. My brother Gary was in the Army. My son Matt served in the Air Force in the Gulf. I wrote letters and sent cards to many Vietnam servicemen. I wrote many letters to advocate for finding out more information on our POWs and MIAs and bringing them home.
Many of you know I was born and raised in Tillamook, Oregon. I moved away with my family but have always been very dedicated to my hometown. I love Tillamook.
When doing a search for information on some topic or another, I ran across a post from about 10 years ago about a Tillamook Army Air Corps Sergeant, Charles Hunter. A woman had won an online auction bid on some letters that had been written to and from Charles and his parents during WW2. She and another woman were researching the history of Charles, hoping to write a book and share the story, and had reached out to several groups online to request any information on the family or the other names that were mentioned in the letters. I didn’t recall anything about a Hunter family, but many on the list of names from letters were Tillamook surnames I recognized.
My interest was piqued. A Tillamook serviceman. I read all the blog entries she had posted. Three times. The last entry was around 2015. What had happened? I found that they are still working on the book and will be publishing it soon. They agreed to let me post the blog.
I investigated my military notes folder and found a 2018 post from Bill Hayden regarding some death statistics of Tillamook servicemen who had died There was HUNTER CHARLES W listed there. As a mother who lost a son (complications of diabetes, not service related), I found myself full of empathy for Charles’ parents and grieving for the loss of their son. He represented so very thousands of men and women who died serving our county. What differences would there be in our world if we had not lost these young men and women? New and valuable inventions? Cures created for devasting diseases? More doctors and nurses? More scientists? We’ll never know. But we cannot let them and their sacrifices ever be forgotten.
We will post the first blog. I hope you will follow along with me. Send us any information,questions or comments to editor@tillamookcountypionere.net and we will forward to the author, Karen Krantweiss Nudelman, will be following along, ready to receive any information you might have and try to answer any questions that might come to mind.
