Excerpt from a letter written in June 1945 by Red Cross representative Leone Secara to Jack Brown, friend of George Babich. Jack had been shot down on May 29, 1943 and interred as a POW. Now home, he was seeking information on his buddy, George Babich. Leone Secara, Home Service Chairman for the Madera County American Red Cross. had befriended the young airmen in 1942 when they were at the Santa Ana Army Air Base.

“ I’m afraid I’m just a little bit more in the dark concerning George than you give me credit for. The last letter I had from him was written the day after you failed to return. My answer to it never reached him and was eventually returned to me with his “missing in Action” status confirmed by the W.D. The last letter I wrote was returned in January of ’44 with the status again confirmed by the W.D. on Dec 28th.

I have never heard from his folks and have wondered a lot about him. I’ve never been very hopeful for some reason or other –probably because of his own certainty that he would not return. His last few letters were very much in that general trend. I’m very sure that, unless he heard it on the radio, he never knew that you were safe. The first letter that was returned was the one I wrote telling him about it. I appreciate hearing anything you find out.”

not very hopeful.JPG