NAMPA, Idaho — A seasonal display at the Warhawk Air Museum will outlast the fleeting holiday by a full weekend.
Love letters from war will be on display in a special Valentine's Day exhibit. Several letters date back to World War II and tell the story of young couples pulled apart on opposite sides of the globe.
"They make me emotional. You kind of can picture what they're going through," Doug Rutan said. "My dad never talked about it to me. And it wasn't til through the Warhawk that he started telling the stories."
Rutan's father, Leonard, also fought in WWII. Though, his family’s contribution to the display never passed through the mail. It was taken from a Japanese solider and gives a whole new meaning to, 'something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.'
"My dad brought back a Japanese parachute from Japan," Rutan said. "Mom was married in it."
A family friend and seamstress strung the silk parachute into a wedding dress. The family didn’t have a lot of money at the time, according to Rutan. It was a decision partially fueled out of practicality.
"That silk just stayed as pure white," Rutan said. "My mom was a petite little thing and, and she just looked beautiful in it."
The dress is enclosed in a glass case alongside a Japanese Sabre, gloves and a family photo. The exhibit is accompanied by two adjacent tables presenting local love stories preserved in binders - primarily - through love letters.
The museum closes Monday; the exhibit is expected to be taken down during the day off.
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