In early 1960, the Fort Dix Exchange received an unusual and poignant letter:
“Please send me C.O.D. one Army suit size (eight). My father who is dead was a regular Army man and I want to be like he was.”
The letter came from Eugene Lundgren, a 7-year-old whose father had served in the Army from 1932 to 1946 and was among those who landed in Normandy on D-Day in 1945. He survived World War II but died of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1956, when Eugene would have been about 3 years old.
After Eugene saw a picture of his father as a boy, dressed in a military-style uniform, he saved $6 from his allowance to buy one for himself—and figured that the Fort Dix PX might have what he wanted.
Fort Dix Exchange officials turned his letter over to the post information officer, who looked through Army records for Eugene’s father’s military history and verified his service—and arranged for Eugene to have a uniform for free.
On Feb. 3, The Associated Press reported, Eugene and his mother, Virginia Lundgren, were picked up at their home in Chatham, New Jersey, about 70 miles north of Fort Dix, and driven to the post, accompanied by an Army captain.
During a formal presentation of the uniform, which came complete with patches and insignia, Eugene was named an “honorary captain of the infantry.” Afterward, he and his mother were taken to the noncommissioned officers school, where they were treated to Army chow. Then they got a tour of the installation.
In addition to The Associated Press, another wire service, United Press International (UPI) covered the story, which was picked up by mainstream newspapers nationwide as well as being covered in the Exchange Post.
Sources: Exchange Post archives, The Associated Press, Newspapers.com
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