Looking for Family for World War II American Soldiers' Letters Found in Hatbox

Photo courtesy of TulsaWorld.com

An antique hatbox bought at an auction in Oklahoma turned out to be much more than just a simple hatbox. When Pamela Gilliland, the buyer, opened it, she found a treasure trove of letters written by Eural Harvill and Robert Harvill, brothers serving in the military during World War II.

Over 250 letters addressed to Mr. and Mrs. E.H. Harvill of Drumright Oklahamo (Eural and Robert's parents) had been carefully stored inside the box. Ms. Gilliland hopes to find a family member so she can send the letters home.

Those who read my blog know how passionate I am about military history and returning soldier's ephemera and memorabilia to family members. So of course I jumped on this after my friend Lisa Haas directed me to the story.

Lorine's Research:

I found a man in the SSDI (Social Security Death Index) on Ancestry.com who is probably Eural, the WW2 soldier.  He was born in 1927 in Oklahoma and died in 1980

Name:	Eural Harvill
Birth:	14 May 1927
Death:	Aug 1980
Civil:	Oklahoma
Other:	Nashville, Davidson, Tennessee, United States of America

There is also this listing in U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946 

Name:	Eural D Harvill
Birth Year:	1927
Race:	White, citizen (White)
Nativity State or Country:	Oklahoma
State of Residence:	Oklahoma
County or City:	Creek
Enlistment Date:	6 Feb 1946
Enlistment State:	California
Enlistment City:	Fort Ord

   
Best of all is the 1930 census record found on Ancestry.com for 2 year old Dale Harvill (note Eural's middle initial above) living in Drumwright, Creek Co. Oklahoma with parents Eural and Josephine Harvill.... and brother Robert D. age 7. 

The 1940 census for Drumwright Oklahoma shows Eural and Josephine (misindexed on Ancestry.com as HOWELL) living at 301 Maple St with their sons Dale(12) and Donald (17).  So we now know the full names of the brothers (Robert Donald Harvill and Eural Dale Harvill) and there do not appear to be any other siblings. 

Here is Robert's information from U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010

Name:	Robert Harvill
Gender:	Male
Birth Date:	13 Nov 1922
Death Date:	5 Mar 1990
SSN:	441289789
Branch 1:	ARMY
Enlistment Date 1:	16 Sep 1940
Release Date 1:	6 Dec 1945

and here is his brother Eural's information from the same source 

Name:	Eural Harvill
Birth Date:	14 May 1927
Death Date:	11 Aug 1980
SSN:	440242847
Branch 1:	ARMY
Enlistment Date 1:	25 Jul 1945
Release Date 1:	5 Feb 1946

The question is - did either of the brothers marry? Did they have children? If anyone knows anything about this family or wants to join in the hunt for descendants or other family members please leave a comment on this blog post or write me privately at olivetreegenealogyATgmail.com (replace AT with @)

UPDATE: Please see Update on WW2 American Soldiers Letters Found

Read more about these WW2 letters at Yahoo News and Tulsa World