Dear Mrs. Powers,
sor-rry, we have been way backed up lately, jumping in and out of Iraq and Afghanistan, and then that whole Arab Spring thing happened, plus Libya, and just everyone was distracted. But enough about us.
U.S. Army Air Force Major Gary Powers has been declared killed in action. Like, a while ago. We are so sorry. We will send you his remaining possessions, including his Athens Summer Olympics hand towel and his Ashlee Simpson Autobiography CD. He sure did love that CD. And youuu...!
Take care,
Your friends at the U.S.
Army Air Force
Okay, I don't really know how the U.S. Army Air Force operates, their letters are probably a little nicer than that. In any case, that kind of nips the "dramatic soap opera reentrance" in the bud... UNLESS THERE'S A GOVERNMENT CONSPIRACY. Oooh!
6 comments:
I'm confused. Wasn't the U.S. Army Air Force disestablished in 1945 (it was split into the Army and the Air Force)?
It was in 1947, before the Korean War, kind of reminds me of the Rex Morgan story line from a few weeks ago where the principal was in a reserved Armor Division.
Missing, presumed dead? maybe Gary Powers and Eric Mills are hiding in Shangri La, but it is awful suspicious. Cui Bono?
I think in real life they send someone to inform you personally, usually someone one rank higher than the deceased, and usually accompanied by a chaplain. Then you are connected to an officer who can help you with any arrangements or paperwork.
I think they only did the letters and telegrams during really high casualty periods, when resources were already strained in attempting to keep fewer of those letters from having to go out.
That being said, if this happened today in the real world it would be highly suspect and I'd have to assume that Gary was not actually dead at all, but since this is 3-G I can only speculate that this letter is somehow forty years late and that your attempt to reproduce it was entirely accurate.
Maybe Gary is a spy! And he's been disavowed, so they declared him dead... but really he is on secret missions somewhere!
I think the personal visit already happened, this is the "okay, we've officially given up on him and declared him dead" letter. Although, really, seven years is how long LuAnn would have had to wait to get him declared dead, so maybe this is the official "Okay you can get married again" letter.
What I'm waiting for is to see whether they retcon Gary into dying in Afghanistan, or keep saying "Viet Nam" ... Isn't it a bit depressing that all they have to do is change the name?
I'm a little surprised that Lu Ann even hit the dating scene - and before Piano Mover Paul - before getting the official letter. It doesn't seem consistent with her personality.
I'm also a little surprised at how invested I am in this storyline.
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