That’s Zed Lancaster’s memory of mail call. The 82-year-old Belton veteran served in World War II as pharmacist’s mate.
“Mail - it’s something that means a lot,” Lancaster said. “I got all kinds of mail, letters from school friends, my mom and dad. They were delayed two or three weeks, but they were special. You would get that letter, read every word and memorize it almost because you didn’t have any place to keep it.”
In the seconds that followed mail call, Lancaster said time practically stopped.
“Everyone is on their toes, ready to see what’s waiting for them,” he said. “Getting mail, it was nice.”
With his next words, Lancaster captured the real value of receiving a kind word in the middle of a bloody war.
“When you were handed that rifle and taught how to use it, you knew you were going to use it,” Lancaster said. “You’re a boy one day, and a man the next.”
It was the mail, he said, that gave the mind a chance to revisit things fond and familiar.
That’s why he signs notes of encouragement to today’s soldiers serving in the Operation Iraqi Freedom.
---
tlunsford@temple-telegram.com
