The Rogers family from Alabama, who lost three brothers during WWII, found out that The Raab Collection in Ardmore auctioned off a letter with significant meaning to them, writes Monica Nakashima for CBS 42.

During the Battle of Tassafaronga, 30-year-old Edward Keith, 22-year-old Jack Ellis Jr., and 19-year-old Charles Ethbert Rogers died aboard the USS New Orleans.

Following their deaths, the family received a condolence letter signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Now, the letter from January 4, 1943, has been unveiled by the Raab Collection.

“We had no idea knowing that this letter, that was originally in possession of a family member, had been lost out of the possession of the family,” said Keith Charles Rogers, the nephew of the three men.

The only copy of the letter he had ever seen was a version published in The Birmingham News shortly after the deaths of his uncles.

Now he and the rest of the family are hoping to be able to get the letter back, as Roosevelt’s recognition of the brothers’ sacrifice soothed the family’s grief.

Read more about the letter at CBS 42.

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