Photo courtesy of Kelly Peterson Kelly Peterson shows her mother, Mary Lou Peterson of Marshall, information she found on Mary Lou’s brother George “Sonny” Ehrreich. Kelly recently started asking Marshall residents if they have any leads on the whereabouts of the letters Sonny wrote home while he served in World War II. Many years ago, the letters were stored in an old milk can in the family's home, and have since been lost.

MARSHALL — The family of a southwest Minnesota veteran killed in World War II is trying to find the letters he wrote home.

Kelly Peterson said she’s trying to spread the word to see if anyone has come across letters written by her late uncle, George “Sonny” Ehrreich, while he was a pilot serving in Europe. Ehrreich’s family lost track of the letters, after they were stored inside a milk can in an attic in Marshall many years ago.

Peterson said finding Sonny’s letters would mean a lot to her mother, 94-year-old Mary Lou Peterson of Marshall.

“She’ll cry about the letters. She just wants to read them again,” Kelly Peterson said.

Peterson recently shared her uncle’s story on social media, hoping a Marshall area resident might have a lead on the letters.

“Letters home from veterans of WWII are in archives and museums all over the country and many people collect them,” she said. “Since the letters were in Marshall, I figured that I’d go back to the source.”

Sonny Ehrreich was born in Pipestone in 1922. He enlisted in the Army in 1942, and served as a pilot in North Africa and Europe during World War II. First Lt. Ehrreich and his partner, 1st Lt. Edmond J. Gibala, flew a Douglas C-47 in the second wave of aircraft to drop paratroopers on D-Day. The following day, Sonny was flying on another mission when the plane went down in bad weather. The plane’s entire crew of six died in the crash.

Sonny’s death was something that was tough for his parents to talk about. It was also hard for his siblings Bud, Jack and Mary Lou, Peterson said. “They were so close as siblings,” she said.

Peterson said her grandmother, Mary Ehrreich, kept Sonny’s letters inside a metal milk can in the attic of her home in Marshall. But family members don’t know what happened to the milk can after that, Peterson said.

Mary Ehrreich died in 1969, and when her husband George Ehrreich went into assisted living in the 1970s, family members moved everything out of his home on West Main Street, Peterson said. She said her grandparents’ furniture and belongings went into storage at warehouses that her father Irving Peterson owned around Marshall. The furniture and other items were later auctioned off.

Peterson said her family doesn’t know if the milk can containing Sonny’s letters got mixed up with the auction items and sold, or if they maybe ended up with his brothers Bud or Jack Ehrreich.

“Jack and Bud have passed in recent years, and the families have gone through their belongings also to look for the letters,” Peterson said.

There was also a possibility that Mary Ehrreich had taken the letters to be bound into a book sometime before she died, Peterson said. However, family members didn’t know if Mary had ever picked up the book.

Peterson said Sonny has been on her mother’s mind recently. In conversation, “The letters come up so often,” she said.

“I was like, ‘I could do something,'” Peterson said. “It would be absolutely incredible bringing (Sonny) back into our lives.”

In addition to searching for clues to the letters online, she also shared Sonny’s story on Facebook. She said she hoped a longtime Marshall resident might know something about the letters or the old milk can they were stored in.

“I received some beautiful encouraging responses. One person was going to check an old milk can they had never opened. No real leads though,” she said.

Peterson said she knew it wouldn’t be easy to search for her uncle’s letters, but it would be meaningful to find them again. “He’s had a very special place in all of our hearts.”