Fortunately for those of us who write about people’s stories, most folks wrote letters back in the day, leaving us with communication that lasts. Here on this page, you will find a series of letters sent back and forth between two love birds – my mom, Dixie Boyer, from Trenton, Missouri and my dad, George Boller from Wayland, Iowa.
Dixie Boyer graduated from the University of Colorado in the spring of 1944 and accepted her first teaching job at Heart Mountain – the WWII Japanese-American Internment Camp located in the far northwest corner of Wyoming (near Yellowstone National Park). My dad, George Boller, joined the U.S. Army in 1942, and after two years at Jefferson Barracks near St. Louis, he ended up being stationed at Heart Mountain, arriving there in September of 1944. Read more about their WWII stories here.
So now, let me start this love letter story with an intriguing letter to Dixie – but not from George!
Note the Red X we placed on the letter – Sgt. Frank Smolcich requests the pleasure of Miss Dixie Boyer’s esteemed company. Yowsers – quite the way to ask a girl out for a date, huh?
Other notes of interest? Note the little check marks. Do those checks mean that those ladies (including Dixie) said Yes to the invitation? Does the little x mean that Miss Helen declined? And, of course, does no mark at all mean that poor Pvt Cecil Bryce struck out in finding a “fairly tall girl?” Inquiring minds want to know!
It’s our humble opinion that there’s a reason my mom kept this letter, and we’re thinking it’s not because she yearned for Sgt. Frank Smolcich! We’re surmising that George Boller might have been one of the other five guys who already had a date for that evening, and here’s a fun question to consider…
As one of the company clerks, was it George, himself, who typed up this official “invite” letter?
So many questions, but this one thing we do know – if Frank & Dixie did see each other beyond the wiener roast, it didn’t last, because at some point around this same time, George & Dixie started dating, and as we know, that started a romance that lasted for a lifetime.
As my mom told the story, the very first moment she saw this handsome young soldier from Iowa walk into the PX (George), she “knew” with certainty that she was going to become his wife!
So, here’s the scenario. George & Dixie started dating during the fall/winter of 1944/1945 (obviously after the Weiner Roast). By early February, they’ve decided to do something very serious about their budding relationship. Wow! My dad didn’t waste too much time getting down to business with this cute teacher from Trenton!
On February 6, 1945, 9:30 PM, George is on “15-day leave,” on his way home to Wayland via train. His first stop is Billings, MT where he’ll catch a train to Omaha. Interestingly enough, Billings will be the city where George & Dixie will be married on March 17, 1945! In Omaha, he’ll change trains for a train to Ottumwa. Once there, his grand father will pick him up and he’ll be in Wayland for a week, where he’ll catch up with family, look at wedding rings, and miss his “honey” back at Heart Mountain!
“I’ll probably go to Washington (Iowa) Saturday and get the ring. I picked it out Friday and they were getting it mounted for me. Do you know that you wear a size 4 1/2? Gosh, baby, you have a small dainty hand…It’s nice to be home, darling, but honestly, bunny duck, I miss you so-o-o much. I can hardly wait to put that lil’ ole diamond on your third-left. Gosh, I’m going to be proud of that! … Write again, real soon, honey, and we’ll soon be seeing each other again. The days are flying by, and it’s less than a week before I’ll be boarding the Zephyr, westbound.”
(M-0043) and (M-0044) Here’s a 1921 Iowa License Plate (George’s year of birth) and a 1923 Missouri license plate (Dixie’s birth year) – Two people matched in heaven! As the letters we shared here indicate, George and Dixie tied the knot, taking a quick three-day leave from Heart Mountain, getting married at 4:35 p.m. in a Presbyterian parsonage on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, 1945, in nearby Billings, Montana. Click here to read more details.
Our Iowa Heritage 