In 1945, as the last months of fighting in the South Pacific drew to a close, the radio section of the Division of Public Relations of the United States Marine Corps recorded a group of tired GIs as they sat in their bunks about 7,000 miles off the coast of “sunny California.” February 14 was just around the corner, and the fighting men of the First Marine division from Milwaukee, Wisconsin were given the chance to send valentines and love poems to their mothers, wives, and sweethearts back home. Their loving words, often stammering and always from the heart, were pressed into records and sent back to the States as rare audio messages. A copy was also preserved at the Recorded Sound Division of the Library of Congress. Marine Valentines is the result.

Producer: Stacy Abramson / Associate Producer: Meagan Howell / Executive Producer: Dave Isay / Funding provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the New York State Council on the Arts and the Corporation. Archival recordings courtesy of the Recorded Sound Division of the Library of Congress. Special thanks to Sam Brylawski. "Marine Valentines" is a co-production with City Lore.

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