Bucks County family discovers lost World War II love letters

BUCKS COUNTY, PA. - A Bucks County family is sharing more than 100 love letters written in 1945 by Mary Jane Peel to her fiancé, John Lynch, who served in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II.

What we know:

"This is the love story between my mom and my dad at the end of the war," John Lynch Jr. said. 

The letters, postmarked in Philadelphia and addressed to locations including Fort Bend and San Francisco, were never delivered or opened for unknown reasons, according to family members. 

"They were the love of each other’s life," Melissa Berkowitz, Lynch’s daughter, added.

Rita Lynch, John’s wife, described Mary Jane Peel as "not a fuzzy, warm, kissy, huggy" person — "but she sure was to him."

The letters, written in cursive and sealed with a kiss, remained in pristine condition for more than 80 years, the family said. 

The collection surfaced after Mark Farrar purchased the letters at a World War II military auction in Kentucky, where they had been for several years. Genealogist Ed Adams later helped connect the letters to the Lynch family through Ancestry.com, according to FOX 29 reporting. 

"Where have they been all this time? Why did they all of a sudden pop up in Kentucky?" John Lynch Jr. said. "That’s the big mystery."

He added that when contacted, the seller agreed to return them at no cost.

The family said they're now preserving the letters in a book that will include transcriptions, photographs and documents.

"These letters completely changed their perception," AJ Berkowitz, Lynch’s grandson, added. "I think it’s really cool that they’re finding a new side to someone they had known for years."

What we don't know:

The reason the letters were never delivered, and how they ended up in Kentucky, remains unknown.