Man returns chest containing a WWII love story

Almost six years ago, a man found what is known as a “hope chest.” Now, he’s returned the chest filled with hundreds of loves letters from World War II, an American flag and the history of one couple.

About two weeks ago, Tony Campitelli was watching a show on The History Channel about WWII. He figured he would give it another shot at finding the owner of the treasure. This time, he didn’t have as far to look.

The saying goes, “one man’s trash and another man’s treasure.” “There was a junk pile sitting on the side of the road, and I noticed the box, and I thought it was kind of cool,” Campitelli said.

Carolyn Manning lives in Naples. “Pretty much all of my life is in this box,” Manning said. “There’s a picture of my mom and dad on the top.”

For nearly six years, Campitelli held onto this piece of Carolyn Manning’s life. “It’s everything in your life you know, where you lived at, your husbands, your family, you know your parents,” said Manning.

And, six years ago, Manning had to pack up and leave everything she owned behind. All those years, Campitelli held onto what looked like trash, but he believed it was treasure. Instead of gold, there were pictures, and instead of silver, he discovered a couple’s undying love for one another.

“Me and my wife looked at the letters in there, a bunch of love letters from World War II, and we started reading it, and right away I knew it was something very important,” said Campitelli said.

Carolyn’s father, Leon, wrote to his wife almost every day while he was away fighting in WWII. For nearly three years, he was overseas fighting. He was eventually captured as a prisoner of war.

But, not even being a POW would stop him from writing to the love of his life. “Not many people experience that kind of love in a marriage, you know, I’ve seen a lot of bad marriages, you know,” Manning said. “So my mother, I don’t know if she really knew how lucky she was, but she was very lucky, very lucky to have a man like my dad.”

Carolyn is very lucky to have her treasure back in her possession and back at home. “Honestly, one of the best days of my life. I can’t thank you enough. I’m kind of overwhelmed, really,” said Manning.

The two found each other via Facebook, and it was actually Carolyn’s fourth cousin, once removed, who connected them. Campitelli’s hunt for the owner spanned up and down the east coast, but he never expected to find that person in Southwest Florida.

Now, Manning feels like she’s regained a piece of herself.