PRESS RELEASE
The National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force’s monthly Author Talk series is proud to present Kaitlin Oster, who will be discussing her grandparents’ love story in Letters to Loretta: The World War II Love Letter Story of Harold & Loretta Schwerdt. This event will occur on February 1st at 11:00 am at the museum. The event is free to the public, but registration is required. Please register here.
About the Presenter
Kaitlin Oster is the creator of The Letters to Loretta Series and is currently a professor of English and American Cinema Genres based out of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Prior to earning her Master of Fine Arts in Screenwriting from the David Lynch School of Cinematic Arts, she spent much of her childhood in the company of her grandparents, Harold and Loretta, at their small creekfront house on Long Island. After Loretta’s passing in 2007, Harold gifted Kaitlin a small box stuffed with around 120 letters, and she read and transcribed them all to both work through her own grief and preserve her grandparents’ story. After losing Harold in 2019, Kaitlin found herself on a years-long deep-dive into the stark conditions of Stalag XVII-B prison camp, since most of the letters were written on German prison parchment. The Letters to Loretta Series was created to show not only the atrocities of war but the power of the human will—and with the support of award-winning journalist Alex Hollings—Kaitlin was given a 35-week platform on Sandboxx News to share this story. Throughout the five years that she worked on this project, Kaitlin’s message has always been clear—love is the greatest weapon of all—and she is honored to share her grandparents’ journey with the public with the support of the Museum of the Mighty 8th.
About the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force
The Museum educates visitors about the character, courage, valor, and patriotism of the brave individuals who fought in the Eighth Air Force, the largest air armada in history. The Museum uses films, exhibits, artifacts, and archival materials to tell the stories of individuals who served in the Eighth Air Force. Their sacrifices made victory in World War II possible. Museum highlights include a fully restored B-17 “Flying Fortress” and the multimedia “Mission Experience,” an immersive simulated bombing mission in a special theater utilizing actual combat footage. The National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force is located at 175 Bourne Avenue, Pooler, GA. Operating hours are Tue-Sat 10 am – 5 pm, Sun, Noon – 5 pm. For more information, call (912) 748-8888 or www.mightyeighth.org.
National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force. (Photo via
National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force)
