A few years ago, my buddy Filipe and I went hiking in Maryland. We stumbled across this tree, with at least a half dozen names of lovers carved into it over the years.
The oldest pair of names on the tree belong to Leo and Edna, dated 4-27-45.
I wonder what became of Leo and Edna? Perhaps Leo had recently returned from the European Theatre, where victory was declared less than two weeks later. Could he have been a veteran of Normandy, or the Battle of the Bugle? He might have served as an enlisted aircrew on a B-17 Flying Fortress, or as an officer piloting the P-51 Mustangs that escorted them on the daylight bombing runs.
While the war was winding down in Europe, the deadliest battles in the Pacific were just getting under way. That afternoon in April of 1945 might have been Edna's last meeting with her beau, as he headed off for Okinawa, or duty aboard the USS Indianapolis.
Maybe Leo and Edna are still out there somewhere.
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