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A Lost World War Two Letter Returned

May 18, 2025 by Joseph W. Zarzynski Leave a Comment

It was September 1942, nine months after the attack on Pearl Harbor and the start of America’s involvement in World War II (1941–1945). Mr. and Mrs. Frederick J. Martin of Saratoga County had not heard from their son, Fred (Bud) Martin, for many weeks.

Bud joined the Army in 1939 and was stationed at Port Townsend, Washington. Such loss of communication during the Second World War conjured up dreadful thoughts for parents of military personnel. [Read more…] about A Lost World War Two Letter Returned

Beware the Enemy: World War II Upstate New York Manhunts

May 13, 2025 by Joseph W. Zarzynski Leave a Comment

It was July 1942, the seventh month of the United States in World War II (1941–1945). The German military had driven into the Caucasus region of southeastern Europe. New York residents were shocked, too, by news that fascists from a German U-boat had landed several weeks earlier in eastern Long Island but the Nazi agents were captured.

Then the media reported that on July 16, six parachutists had been spotted in the skies near Hyde Park, NY, home of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The government worried that enemy spies or assassins might be near Roosevelt’s Hudson Valley residence. [Read more…] about Beware the Enemy: World War II Upstate New York Manhunts

A Killing in Rock City Falls

November 4, 2021 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Pearl Marcellus was born May 23rd, 1898, in the Town of Day, Saratoga County, NY, the daughter of Delbert and Elvira (Colson) Marcellus. By age five, her mother had died in childbirth along with her newborn sister, leaving her father to raise nine children.

Pearl was the youngest. She and her father moved to Rock City Falls shortly after 1915. What happened there on November 1, 1917 is told in court testimony by Pearl’s friend Margaret Seeley. [Read more…] about A Killing in Rock City Falls

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