WWII KIA Letter Jewish Officer, 17th Airborne in Glider unit of 103rd Div. Patch

Description

You are bidding on one original WWII KIA letter written by an American hero who
gave the ultimate sacrifice for Nation and Freedom. He was
killed in action in France trying to defeat the
Third Reich
.
If you want to know who fought to liberated Europe in WWII and saved the world from tyranny, this is one of those soldiers.
This letter was written by
2nd Lt. Sam Hirsch who
was with the
17
th
Airborne, 411th Airborne Quartermaster Company,
103
rd
Division.
The original letter is dated
Jan. 30, 1945 and the return address has
411th Infantry on the envelope. Lt Sam Hirsch has signed the envelope as censor "Lt. Hirsch". The letter comes with an original WW2 103rd Division.
Patch. The patch is original but was not
Lt. Hirsch's
personal patch but a true WW2 patch I got from a WW2 Vet. who was in Lt. Hirsch's Division.
The letter has great content about a dinner he is having with a family in France or Italy. He is having a good dinner with wine and in the letter he writes:
".... We had the rabbit for dinner today. I watched the woman skin it ... This is the way I'd like to fight the rest of the war."
What makes this letter so rare is 2nd Lt. Hirsch was an American Jewish Infantry Officer of a 17th Airborne Glider Unit. The letter comes with documentation around some of
Lt. Hirsch
military life and how he was killed.
Why Killed in Action letters are important:
Killed In Action letters from men and woman (yes there were woman serving on the front lines who were KIA) who served in WWII are special because they often time represent the only personal record of the individual who in most cases died very early in their life.
A KIA letter is important to have in any WWII collection.
This letter grouping also come with a
5"x 7" photo of Lt. Hirsch taken in 1942-43
(this is a recent direct print on photo paper) and two Glider related photos, these are also recent prints.
The letter also comes with documentation around his military life and his death.
Lt. Hirsch was in many Army Units in Europe and Italy. While he was in Italy he joined the Airborne Glider Unit
which would lead to him to the South France invasion.
With this original letter I am also including 40+ pages of FACSIMILES, the facsimiles will be
black & white pages.
In some of the facsimile letters he writes about Gliders
.
In another facsimile letter also included, while he was in France, less than a month before his death, he writes this:
"I still have my Wings, they are Silver"
Where and how
2nd Lt. Sam Hirsch
gave the
intimate
sacrifice:
2nd Lt. Sam Hirsch was killed in Schillersdorf, France, which is a village about 40 kilometers north of Stracburg in the Alsace region of France. This village had about 500 populations.  The village had been fought over during the Battle of the Bulge and was held by the U.S. 2
nd
Battalion in January 1945 when the 6
th
SS Mountain Division took the town back. By March the 103
rd
Inf. Div. was occupying Schillersdorf but the Germans were shelling it.
2nd Lt. Hirsch was manning a Field Switchboard in the village and had just left his post when he was stuck by shrapnel. I
believe
he died in a field hospital but I am not sure. A
t the time of his death he was in the Army Signal Corps.
Where is the value in this letter grouping and why all the Facsimiles?
When you buy a WWII letter of this type you are not just purchasing a common artifact of WWII, this letter
is unique and an investment on two levels:
First, it preserves history that will be of value to future generations.
Second, it will go up in value as years go by.
In this grouping I provide a number of facsimiles that give evidence to the importance of this Infantryman who wrote the letter and the significance of his individual contribution in defeating the
Third Reich
during World War II.
The facsimiles also add value, they may very well be more significant than the letter itself because what the facsimiles do is tell a deeper contextual story about this Soldier who gave his life for his country, the cause of liberty,
in liberating the world from the
Third Reich.
I believe it is the story or narrative that is the most significant aspect of these artifacts that you are purchasing.
What you will get:
You will get everything shown in this listing, Original letter and and envelope, original WW2 103rd Infantry Division Patch. Also included are 3 small photos
(recent photo print)
of
2nd Lt. Sam Hirsch (before he was an officer), two Glider related and
over 40+ pages of facsimile letters relating to 2nd Lt. Hirsch and the 103rd Infantry.
The facsimiles will be black & white pages.
About the seller:
I have been buying and selling Americana, rare books & documents, since the early 1970’s.
I have sold large collections and important individual items to some of the largest
libraries, Auction Houses, Rare book rooms, Universities and Museum in the US.
I have published unique Americana works which are in University and private libraries throughout the world.
Some of the proceeds from my sales go to
support WW2
Primary Source Material for class rooms at High Schools in my area
. (If you are a teacher and are interested in
WW2
Primary Source Material for your class room please email me.)
My main goal is by selling WW2 and other historical Primary Source material; to distribute letters, documents and items around the world that tell the true story of the courage, bravery and sacrifice, made by millions of Americans and the Allied Forces during the war.
When you by a Primary Source letter or document to add to you collection you are doing what Thomas Jefferson did hundreds of years ago (Jefferson sold his library to the USA to create The Library of Congress) in preserving American history, which will be handed down to generation of future American and the World.
When you buy from me you have my guarantee that what you are buying is authentic.
Email me if you have questions.
See photos for condition and letter content.
Bidding conditions and mailing below:
I will ship these letters First Class mail in a regular envelope.
US buyers only.
You must have bought over 25 items on eBay, Paypal preferred and you must have a good rating in order to buy on this item/items.
I have a 100% rating and have sold many rare and important document, letters and items on Ebay so you know you will receive this original item.
See photos for condition.
Email me if you have any questions.