Donna Reed, Pinup Girl

Gina Wilhelm Actress - Donna Reed, Pinup Girl

During World War II, GIs would write to their favorite female stars asking for photos. The US military encouraged the pinup phenomenon as a way to improve morale.

Usually these letters were answered by the movie studios with a picture of the star in a saucy pose.

However, when a soldier wrote to Donna Reed, she wrote back personally.

The men who wrote to her thought of her as the "archetypical sweetheart, wife, and mother," according to Jay Fultz, author of "In Search of Donna Reed."

Because she was closer in age to the average soldier, they tended to write to her like a sister or girl next door.

They would tell her about homesickness, loneliness, and anxiety.

One sargeant said that his unit thought of her as "a typical American girl, someone who we would like to come home to!!!!!"

Another sargeant wanted her "to be the girl back home that I am fighting for."

Reed kept all the letters she received. They've been released by her children, and they provide a window to the past.

Gina Wilhelm Actress