Al Sitarski, left, and Fred Fonda, right, shortly after enlisting in the Navy in 1942. (Susan Sitarski Sturm) Most people never have the opportunity to gain insight into what their parents were like during their younger days, but two sisters in New Jersey did after discovering letters written to their Navy veteran father from his best friend during World War II.Susan Sturm and Cindy Sommer were tasked with the responsibility of cleaning out their parents' home following the death of their 96-year-old mother in January 2021.
The women had lost their father, Al Sitarski, years prior in July 2012 at the age of 91.While in the attic, the sisters came across a brown envelope with the words "A Very Sad Story About WWII" written on the front in Sitarski's handwriting.
Not knowing many details about their father's four years in the Navy, they opened the envelope and discovered it was stuffed with letters from his longtime best friend, Navy Lt.
Fred Fonda.WITH WORLD WAR II AIRMAN'S REMAINS FOUND, RELATIVE FINALLY ‘HAS CLOSURE’ FOR WHOLE FAMILY"The letters in this envelope were a collection in chronological order of all of the letter's that Fred wrote to my dad," Sturm said, adding that the finding was "very touching and amazing."Prior to finding and reading the letters, Sturm and Sommer knew of Fonda, but were not aware of the extent of his friendship with their father – a friendship that would come to a tragic end with Fonda's death in November 1945.