Six months after Danny Wilson was buried in the temporary cemetery in France, his mother received this official letter (addressed to Clabe Wilson) from the Quartermaster General:
7 March 1947
Dear Mr. Wilson:
The War Department is most desirous that you be furnished the latest information regarding the burial location of your son, the late Second Lieutenant Daniel S. Wilson, A.S.N. 0 770 058.
The records of this office disclose that his remains were originally interred in a temporary cemetery established near the place where he met his death, but were later moved to a more suitable site where constant care of the grave can be assured by our Forces in the field.
The records further disclose that his remains are now interred in the U. S. Military Cemetery St. Avold, plot KKKK, row 3, grave 64, located twenty-three miles east of Metz, France.
(An identical letter was sent 24 April 1947, with his addition: You may be assured that the identification and interment have been accomplished with fitting dignity and solemnity.)
The War Department has now been authorized to comply, at Government expense, with the feasible wishes of the next of kin regarding final interment, here or abroad, of the remains of your loved one. At a later date, this office will, without any action on your part, provide all legal next of kin with full information and solicit their detailed desires.
Please accept my sincere sympathy in your great loss.
Sincerely yours, T. B. LARKIN, Major General, The Quartermaster General
By this time, Leora was widowed. Her oldest son Delbert and his family were living with her on the acreage near Perry. Evelyn and little Leora Darlene had moved to Iowa with him at the end of the war, and baby Donna was born in Perry in November 1945.
For more, please see What Leora Never Knew: A Granddaughter’s Quest for Answers.