人鬼情未了 美国老妇偶遇70年前男友日记

Corporal Thomas 'Cotton' Jones had one 'last life request' before he was killed by a Japanese sniper on a South Pacific island in 1944: Please give my diary to Laura Mae Davis, the girl I love.

美国大兵托马斯·琼斯（外号“棉花”）1944年在南太平洋岛屿上遭日军狙击阵亡，临终前留下“一生最后的请求”：请把我的日记交给我心爱的女孩劳拉·梅·戴维斯 。

Davis, 90, did get to read the diary, but not until last month - nearly seven decades later - when she stumbled upon it in a display case at the National World War II Museum.

90岁的戴维斯直到上个月在美国二战博物馆参观时才无意间看到这本日记，而这已经是70年之后的事情了。

The New Orleans museum is currently holding an exhibit dedicated to the 22-year-old machine gunner - her high school sweetheart - who was one of nearly 2,000 Americans killed in the bloody assault on the Japanese-held island of Peleliu during World War II.

在新奥尔良博物馆，有一件展品属于她的高中男友——时年22岁担任机枪手的琼斯。二战期间，近2000名美国大兵在日本占领的贝里琉岛阵亡，琼斯即是其中之一。

'I didn't have any idea there was a diary in there,' said the Mooresville, Indiana, woman, and the discovery brought her to tears.

“我一点都不知道那儿有一本日记，” 来自印第安纳州穆尔斯维尔的戴维斯说道，发现日记后，她激动得热泪盈眶。

'I figured I'd see pictures of him and the fellows he'd served with and articles about where he served,' she said.

她说，“我本来觉得我只会看到他和战友们的照片，还有关于他服役地点的报道。”

She was stunned to find her sweetheart's diary - a gift she had given him before he set off to war.

所以当看到前男友的日记时，她非常惊讶，因为日记本是她送给琼斯的临别礼物。

The journal's 4-by-7-inch back cover was nearly filled with her photograph. The picture itself was black and white, but the photographer had tinted her cheeks pink and her lips dark red.

这本黑色的日记本宽4英寸长7英寸，里面几乎塞满了她的照片。在其中的一张黑白照片上，摄影师为她的脸颊添上了粉色，将她的嘴唇涂成了深红色。

She had signed it, 'Love, Laurie.'

照片上她还写了一句话，“爱你的劳拉。”

The pair met in the class of '41 at Winslow High School. 'He was a basketball player and I was a cheerleader,' she said.

这对曾经的情侣相识于温斯洛高中，两人是1941届的同班同学。 “他是篮球队的，而我是拉拉队的，” 她回忆道。

They had dated through high school and went to the prom together. Jones had given her his class ring but they weren't engaged, she said.

她说，高中时她们一直在一起，还一起参加了毕业舞会。琼斯把自己的毕业戒指送给了她，但他们并没有订婚。

Burlingame said she didn't know why she never got the diary. It apparently went first to a sister of Jones whom she didn't know well, she said.

劳拉表示不知道为何自己没收到这本日记。这本日记应该是先寄给了琼斯的一个姐姐，不过她们并不相熟。

Burlingame said she was touched by the number of times Jones mentioned getting letters from his parents and her.

劳拉说，看到琼斯那么多次提到从父母和她那儿收到了信，她很感动。

The 22-year-old's last entry in the diary, written aboard the USS Maui on December 1, 1943, described winning $200 at craps. He had a total of $320, he wrote, and if he were back home 'Laura Mae & I would really have a wonderful Xmas.'

1943年12月1日，22岁的琼斯在毛伊岛的军舰上写下了最后一则日记，他在日记中纪录道，自己掷骰子赢了200美元。他还写道，自己身上一共有320美元了，如果能回家，“劳拉和我将会一起度过一个美妙的圣诞节。”