After New York-bound Pan Am Flight 526A, nicknamed the Easter Special, plunged into the sea off Puerto Rico 74 years ago, a doctor on a rescue boat snatched up a purse floating in the choppy waters.
Inside was a powder puff and handwritten letter – soaked but still legible – from a young Puerto Rican soldier stationed in Massachusetts to his new wife in the southern coastal city of Ponce, Dr. Angel M. Marchand wrote in El Mundo, the island’s leading newspaper at the time.
“You cannot imagine the joy you have given me by saying you will join me in New York. I am the happiest man on Earth,” the soldier wrote, adding that he prayed to the Virgin Mary to protect her on the journey. “Do not be afraid of the plane. Nothing will happen.”
The doctor later spotted the bride’s name, Gloria Rosario, at the second hospital he visited looking for her. There she was on a list of the 17 survivors.
“Miss, I found your purse with a letter from your husband. He must be very worried. When I saw your name in the hospital, I decided to let him know you were safe and sound.”
