Lyle Sylling knew he'd return home.

A White Swan native, the 18-year-old enlisted in the Army after graduating from high school in 1944. He spent the next year traveling from California to Hawaii to somewhere in Japan.

He wrote his family about how he enjoyed listening to the southern drawl of Texans, how he got blisters on his feet after a 70-mile hike, how the chow varied from good to bad, depending on the day.

In his last letter, dated May 7, 1945, he wrote, "I sure would enjoy sitting down at the table and eating a dinner with you, and I'm sure I will some day in the future. Lorraine, don't worry about me, as I will be all right. I think that I will be one of the lucky ones."

Sylling died in Okinawa, Japan, two weeks later, shortly after his 19th birthday.

"It was the first time I ever saw my husband cry. It was the first time I ever saw my tough guy cry," said Lorraine Sylling, 83, Lyle's sister-in-law. "I loved (Lyle) like a brother."

Lorraine, who now lives in Yakima, first met Lyle in high school. In fact, he had been the one to introduce her to his older brother, Lloyd "Bud" Sylling, who married Lorraine after a two-year courtship.

The two men, the youngest of nine siblings, were inseparable and mischievous, Lorraine said. They rode their milk cows for sport, ate their family's chickens in secret and let their pet pig loose to run toward an older brother's unsuspecting girlfriend.

But when World War II broke out, Lyle wanted to help his country claim victory. Bud, meanwhile, stayed home to farm and care for his young wife. He thought he'd be drafted, but he never was.

Lorraine and her husband wrote Lyle a couple of times a week, and every night, they'd hold hands and listen to the world news on the radio. They tried not to worry about Lyle, and he, in turn, tried to comfort them -- telling them he was all right, that the war would be over soon.

Then a telegram arrived on June 26, 1945, letting them know Lyle was missing in action. Bud and Lorraine were the ones who told Lyle's mother, Ella.

"You are just kind of in a daze," Lorraine said. "She was mopping the living room floor. We walked in. She was a cheerful lady and asked us what we were so sad about. Bud told her to sit down and handed her the telegram. It was awful."

On July 7, another telegram arrived. This one confirmed that Pfc. Lyle Sylling had died. For his sacrifice, he had earned a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. He is buried in Honolulu, and Lorraine visited his grave 25 years ago.

To this day, the widow and mother of four said, she doesn't know the details of her brother-in-law's death. But she takes comfort in re-reading his many letters, which she keeps in her top writing desk drawer.

"It put me back to when we were in school," she said with a smile. "Lyle always had fun."

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Deaths in World War II

Axis Military Dead = 6,582,000
Axis Civilian Dead = 1,686,000
Axis total = 8,268,000

Allied Military Dead = 14, 276,800
Allied Civilian Dead = 25,686,900
Allied total = 39,963,700

Total = 48,231,700 (roughly 2.1 percent of the world’s population)

The Soviet Union suffered the heaviest death toll: An estimated 10 million members of the military, plus another 10 million civilians.

The United States lost 400,000 members of the military between Dec. 7, 1941, and Aug. 15, 1945.

— Source: PBS documentary “The Great War” (www.pbs.org/greatwar/)