Sharon Estill Taylor was just three weeks old when her father was shot down over Germany in April 1945. Here’s how clues from her parents’ wartime love letters helped her bring him home. Photograph courtesy of The National WWII Museum
Sharon Estill Taylor has no firsthand memories of her father. The World War II fighter pilot was shot down over Germany in April 1945, when Taylor was just three weeks old.
The first page of a letter Mary Taylor wrote to Shannon Estill a few months before their wedding and shortly after he moved from Iowa to Texas for basic training.Please be respectful of copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. In the 1990s, with her own children grown, Taylor spent a summer transcribing the letters, getting to know her father through the resulting 3,000 typed pages. He cracked jokes, sketched pictures, and expressed how much he adored his wife. “I just love to get your letters, sweets, they are so like you, so dear. You are always in my heart, but they seem to bring you even nearer,” he wrote in March 1944.
When Taylor was born a few weeks later, Estill addressed his letter to his “Angel Girls.” He had just one more mission to fly before he could go home on leave. He attached a baby bootie to his flight helmet for good luck.Beyond treasuring her father’s words for their wisdom, perspective, and poetry, Taylor also used them to piece together the mystery of what had happened on that final mission. Her research took her to the Library of Congress and the National Archives.
The telegram that Mary Taylor Estill received relaying that her husband was missing in action. She would receive another telegram six months later declaring that Estill was killed in action, despite a lack of material evidence.Please be respectful of copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Three former Sharon Hill police officers pleaded guilty in Fanta Bility’s fatal shootingBrian Devaney, Sean Dolan, and Devon Smith pleaded guilty to 10 counts each of reckless endangerment Thursday, avoiding the more serious charges of manslaughter that they faced.
Read more »
Ex-Sharon Hill Cops Cut Plea Deal in Shooting Death of 8-Year-Old Delco GirlBREAKING: Three former Delco police officers charged with killing Fanta Bility when they fired 25 shots at a moving car as a nearby crowd left a high school football game pleaded guilty Thursday to reckless endangerment as part of a plea deal.
Read more »
Fanta Bility case: 3 former Sharon Hill officers plead guilty in deadly shooting incidentFormer Sharon Hill officers Brian Devaney, Sean Dolan, and Devon Smith pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment charges Thursday in the shooting that killed 8-year-old Fanta Bility outside of a high school football game last summer.
Read more »
Oakland mayor election: Loren Taylor in lead, but voters must play waiting gameThousands of ballots still need to be counted, and the Alameda County election results may be misleading some voters to think a winner has already been determined.
Read more »