NILES, Mich. - An ex-soldier living in southwestern Michigan says the U.S. Postal Service has returned a letter he wrote to his wife from boot camp 60 years ago.

Then-Pvt. Bob Rodgers says he'd just arrived for basic training at Fort Campbell, Ky., when the power went out, prompting him to write to his wife Jean.

In the letter, he says life as a grunt consists of marching, KP, shining boots and shining "brass and more brass."

On March 7, New Carslisle, Ind., Postmaster Connie Tomaszewski hand-delivered the letter to the 79-year-old Rodgers. She tells the South Bend Tribune she did so the same day it arrived at her office.

Postal authorities say they don't know what happened to the letter in between.

Jean Rodgers died of cancer eight years ago.