I have an upstairs apartment in a house that was built in 1890, with a door in my place to get up to the attic. I went up there the other day and found a bag with letters in it. I guess the old woman that used to live here in the house before it was made in to apartments had a son in the Vietnam war who faithfully sent his mother and the rest of the family letters every week. In this bag were letters dated from 1966 and 1967 from the Vietnam war. Also in it was a letter from the United States Marine Corps in 1967 stating he was a recepient of the Purple Heart Medal for being hurt during this time. Anyone who would like to see them...i have a few of them scanned, let me know and i'll send em. They are very interesting.

Just wondering...since these are personal letters, possibly written by someone who is still alive, I wonder if there are legal or ethical reasons they should not be copied and shown to people on the internet?
Have you tried googling this person's name in order to find the legitimate owner of this mail? Maybe they (or someone in their family) would be really grateful to have them back?

But the bottom line is they are not your letters. Is this house still owned by the family? even if it's not they are propery of the owner of the house.

Yes they sound fascinating, but....bottom line is not your house.

Kritafo

i have to agree, it sounds like these are a valuable family heirloom. valuable as a momento, not financially. imagine losing your very inexpensive wedding band or something from a long dead relative or basically i think you should try to find the family. "Found" adds can be put in the paper for free. The city would be able to tell you who owned the house. But actually now that I am thinking about it, the owners of the house now actually own those letters. You might want to contact them.

Originally posted by IMbent But actually now that I am thinking about it, the owners of the house now actually own those letters. You might want to contact them.

I don't know that this is true. Misplaced or lost property is usually the property of the original owners. Besides, since it is the written word it may fall under intellectual property laws and is, therefore, the property of the letter writer or recipient.
If these people could not be found then it would be the property of the house's owners.

Ownership is not my real concern, though. I was thinking that it would be a violation of someone's personal privacy. These are not even 40 years old so her children and grandchildren could very well feel it a violation if strangers were reading and passing around letters received in such an emotional time as war.

The owner of the letters died a few years ago and the family moved back to the states. The house has new owners. I called my landlord who is a police officer to tell him i had found them, and he had told me this. If they meant so much to the owners they wound have taken then with them out of the attic...the took every thing else that they owned up there. My landlord looked into it and he did find that since the house was sold to him and that we do not know where the family is, the new house owner DOES own the letters. We did try to find the family in the states but got no results.

Well, did the police officer ask what you were doing in his attic? Did he tell you to keep the letters?

They are his letters then right? Lots of articles in moves get lost and forgotten. Even when your careful about going through the house and property.

I know I forgot about a photo album in an attic in my parents house. They were an album I put together when I was a teenager. They were left behind. I tried to contact the new owner of the house and he won't give them back to me. My mother sold our house within 24 hours of my father passing away, she packed and left. 9 adults went through the house to make sure nothing was left, but when I got back to my home I realized that I had left them propped up next to a wall in plain site of the ladder to the attic.

Just my 2 cents...

Kritafo

" I went up there the other day and found a bag with letters in it".

thats an awful lot of investigating done in a short time . and yes people forget things in a move all the time. its a very confused time.
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good points dewcat.

Originally posted by kritafo Well, did the police officer ask what you were doing in his attic? Did he tell you to keep the letters? They are his letters then right? Lots of articles in moves get lost and forgotten. Even when your careful about going through the house and property. I know I forgot about a photo album in an attic in my parents house. They were an album I put together when I was a teenager. They were left behind. I tried to contact the new owner of the house and he won't give them back to me. My mother sold our house within 24 hours of my father passing away, she packed and left. 9 adults went through the house to make sure nothing was left, but when I got back to my home I realized that I had left them propped up next to a wall in plain site of the ladder to the attic. Just my 2 cents...

Actually for the record....."THE POLICE OFFICER" told me its my attic and that whatever I find up there is mine. He doesnt live there...but he did tell me that it is up there for me to store stuff and that whatever is up there that is any good is mine.

EDIT by a Juju Slave: Fixed the quote/link vbcode (see vB Code help for some tips )

Originally posted by Jenny_25 Actually for the record....."THE POLICE OFFICER" told me its my attic and that whatever I find up there is mine. He doesnt live there...but he did tell me that it is up there for me to store stuff and that whatever is up there that is any good is mine.

I didn't mean to imply you have intentionally done something wrong. If you found some dishes I would say they are yours. I just think that letters are private and are not really like finding impersonal objects. You offered to share them with others over the internet.

Copying them and distributing them without the permission of the author or his inheritors may be illegal even if you have permission to take "whatever is in the attic" because what someone creates with their mind, things like writings, drawings etc. could be considered copywright material, and therefore the property only of the original owner.
Other than that is it really ethical? What if someone found out that other people were reading their beloved family member's private thoughts that they themselves had never seen? I know I would be very upset if my deceased father's letters were being read by strangers.

What an interesting find! I'll bet you had fun reading them.
I dont know why anyone is making such a big deal about this....it sounds like you have done all you can to "do the right thing".

I'd love to have a look....
I'll PM you

Ivy

Wow, I'm with Ivy, that is an interesting find! I think Jenny 25 was truly trying to share with her fishy friends something interesting and I, for one, am a little shocked at the backlash. Ouch! Brace yourself, Jenny 25, sounds like you may need a lawyer ! I love treasure hunting and find that attics and basements come up with some very fanciful things. Personally, if they had the forethought to empty the attic when moving and have never returned or requested the return of these letters then I don't see the harm in checking them out
Just my two bits......
Nemo

I bet the surviving family of the soldier would love to get those letters back to keep as heirlooms. Maybe you could get in touch with the Marine Corps or if there is any identification as to what regiment the fellow served in, you could contact them. The regiment may even be interested in having the letters for their museum if the family wished to donate them.
But I'm sure that the family in the States would be eternally gratefull to have back such precious momentos.

That really is quite the find!!

Nemo, you said "I, for one, am a little shocked at the backlash. Ouch!" I am confused. What backlash? I see people disagreeing with an ethical or moral descision. Backlash seems a little strong for whats been said here i believe.

an audio tape that had my mothers voice on it was recently found. my mother has been dead for 20+ years, and as my siblings and i were so young when she died, it is an incredibly valuable rememberance of her now. 2 dimensional pictures aren't quite as real and warm as hearing her speak.

i stand by my opinion and say the family should have them.

Originally posted by IMbent Nemo, you said "I, for one, am a little shocked at the backlash. Ouch!" I am confused. What backlash? I see people disagreeing with an ethical or moral descision. Backlash seems a little strong for whats been said here i believe. an audio tape that had my mothers voice on it was recently found. my mother has been dead for 20+ years, and as my siblings and i were so young when she died, it is an incredibly valuable rememberance of her now. 2 dimensional pictures aren't quite as real and warm as hearing her speak. i stand by my opinion and say the family should have them.

I realize that people are only stating their opinion, some a little stronger than others, but I don't think that Jenny 25 did "a lot of investigating ". I think there was awe in what was found and maybe thought someone else may like to look at it. When I first started on the website I voiced what I thought was an opinion and almost got my head bit off. We need to remember that when we are writing something people can't hear the inflection in our voice and maybe could take things not like they were meant. I am sure that you did not imply that there was snooping involved but when I read your quote I kinda felt that maybe you may have thought that. See what I mean ? I think there was adequate searching for the family and maybe the letters should just be left in the attic, I don't know , but then some other people would be having this same conversation in about 50 years! Anyways, enough of that, I am truly happy that you found such a wonderful memory in the tape of your Mother's voice. It must have warmed your heart and I appreciate your honesty in standing by what you say! I see that you may not have belonged to the website for long either, so, Welcome
Just again my two bits......
Nemo