ATN3 Ralph Scott Purdum

May 24, 1970

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Bletsch,

It was so very nice of you to write to us. We would very much like to have a picture of William and I'm enclosing a snapshot of Scott.

The flight that killed Scott was his first one. We were told that he was one of the eleven that was taken from the plane alive, but he did not make it to the hospital. He died of a head injury and he was not burned.

Scott's things came home last Wednesday. I'm sure you know how hard that has been.

We are a very close family. Scott had a sister Barbara . . , Jill. . ., Johnny . . ., Nancy . . . and Penny. . .

I am also writing to the Commanding Officer of their Squadron for a lot more information than we received. I'll let you know whatever I hear.

Thanks again so much for writing. I hope we will hear from you soon.

Our prayers are with you also.

Maggi and Tom Purdum

PS  I sure hope someday we will have a chance to write to the ones that survived.

Dear Florence and James,

I'm so sorry I haven't written sooner but this has been quite a summer. I'm so glad my friend Elaine called you.  I can't quite yet. I hope she was successful in letting you know how much I have appreciated your letters.

I want so bad to talk to some of the ones that lived. I'm afraid that Scott was not known well enough to be remembered at a time like this. It was his first flight. There are so many questions I want to ask.

. .  . My father died a year before Scott was born. He had never had a healthy son or a grandson. My little brother was very ill from the time of birth. He would so have loved Scott. Our John (17 yrs.) has been beyond what you could ask from such a young man.

I hope you will keep me informed of all of the letters you get from the rest. If you send me their addresses, I'll try to write. I feel I know you . That makes it easier.

. . . . I'm sure we are all alike in wanting to know what happened. Thanks so much for being so nice.

Much Love,

Tom and Maggi Purdum

PS Thank you for Bill's picture. He looks like such a nice kid. They really weren't kids any more. but to me they still seem so young
MOG