In early May 1943, our uncle Private Lester LaVerne Zornes mailed home to Spokane this beautiful (apparently government-issue) Mother’s Day Card. He was going through basic training at Sheppard Field near Wichita Falls, Texas. The card revealed one mystery to which we have no certain answer: Up until he went into the service, he always went by “Verne.” He signed “Les” to more than 100 letters he sent home while in the Amy Air Force. But, why did he sign this one card to his mother “Private Lester (Verne) Zornes”?
Description: The front of this 1943 Mother’s Day Card has a white background with an embossed image of the Statue of Liberty. Over the image is a “V” shape made with two red-white-blue cloth ribbons. The ends of the ribbons are tucked through slits in the paper and taped on the back of the page. The tape adhesive has bled through the paper and discolored the front at the ends of the ribbons. The frame along the outside has red, white, and blue stripes. The blue script lettering at the top reads “Happy Mother’s Day” and blue script lettering at the bottom reads, “From Your Son in the Service”.The unfolded inside of the card has on the left an illustration of a 48-star U.S. Flag, and on the right the following in light blue script lettering, “Mother, I wish I could be there To spend this day with you And how much I miss you, too. But till that day you know my thoughts And wishes, Mother Dear, Will go to you across the miles Each day of all the year!” At the bottom of the page is written by our uncle’s hand, “All the love in the world, Private Lester (Verne) Zornes.Dark black and white image of a soldier in uniform and cap, smiling slightly and looking directly at the viewer. The picture has several cracks in it. The cardboard frame has discolored to a light purple. This photo is enlarged from a 2-inch by 3-inch photo booth picture taken in 1943 and found by family in 2014.
