Chester Collins didn’t think much about the letters he wrote to a pen pal while serving in the Army more than 50 years ago. That was, until his pen pal recently resurfaced
The 72-year-old Louisiana veteran wrote a teenaged pen pal who lived in Mississippi during his time in the service. He wrote to Mattie Mae Coleman as part of an assignment. She was a student in a class taught by his friend’s girlfriend. Coleman recently found the letters and called Collins to reconnect.
He’s not sure just how many letters were exchanged, but Collins recalled he would always encourage Coleman to stay in school.
The two never met, but Collins’ daughter is trying to make that reunion happen. Sha Carter has reached out to major talk shows to see if a reunion can be arranged.
“I think they really need to meet. This is something very rare. It doesn’t happen on a regular basis to anyone so I think this is going to be a very momentous occasion when it does happen,” Carter told KPLC.
Even if the reunion can’t be televised, Carter still plans to have her father meet Coleman soon.
