c. 1962 · Wichita, Kansas Alan was the youngest of the brothers, and his letters to Norman at Fort Bliss are a child’s correspondence in the best sense: full of maps he’s drawing, fishing trips to Bush’s pond, and questions about the Army. “While you are down there look around and see if you can get a tank with a motor O.K.?”—Alan to Norman, c. 1962 He reported on Central America maps, a 4–5 pound bass caught on a night trip, and a character he called ‘Beaver.’ He closed his letters with small requests — road maps, toy vehicles — delivered with the matter-of-fact confidence of a child who knows his older brother will take him seriously.

A letter from Alan Bayer, c. 1962

Ronnie’s letter of March 1, 1962 is a snapshot of a household glued to the radio and television. He wrote about trying to figure out military time — ‘hundred hours’ — after Norman had used it in a letter.

Alan had a bad cold. Ronnie had been working on the family television set. Their father was on an early schedule. The home front continued, and Ronnie was the family’s reporter.

Across at least a dozen letters, Norman returned to the same subject: school. He congratulated Ronnie on good grades. He encouraged German, track, and reading. He made the argument repeatedly that education was the one investment that could not be lost.

In February 1963 he congratulated Ronnie again — and in the same letter asked when their mother’s birthday was, because he’d forgotten. The grades were always mentioned first.

Multiple letters, 1962–1963 Ronnie had apparently confided that he felt left out — that the loneliness of the summer was partly about not having a girlfriend when others seemed to. Norman’s response was direct and gentle. “Don’t feel that you are missing out. I didn’t date during my freshman year. You’ll have plenty of time to date. Let that be the least of your worries.”—Norman to Ronald, June 24, 1963 He wrote this from experience. His own school years in Valley Center had not been filled with dates. He knew what he was talking about.

Norman to Ronald · June 24, 1963 · p.1

These documents survived because someone kept them. The handwriting is careful — Norman wrote with the deliberateness of someone who knew the letter would be read more than once — and the pages show the faint grid of tablet paper and the occasional crossing-out.

Norman to Ronald · June 24, 1963 · p.1 · Norman’s careful script

Norman to Ronald · June 24, 1963 · p.2

They are small documents. They were written quickly, mailed from a desert base, received in a house in Wichita. That they survive at all is the remarkable thing.