A former Oak Lawn Community High School student saw a stack of documents left out for the trash and thought the papers might deserve a better fate. They ended up being dozens of letters from World War II combatants that had been sent home to family members.

And they’re now helping bring 20th Century history to life for current OLCHS students after the daughter of one of the vets found out about the correspondence and retrieved the letters.

“I think she realized she found something important,” said Patrick DiFilippo, an OLCHS social science teacher at the school, about the student who found the letters. “It’s good she recognized that.”

The former student found the letters in a basket next to a dumpster not far from the school. She brought them to Kristin Kuchyt, who chairs the Social Stu

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