A Letter for Evie

In the final months of World War II, Evie O'Connor works as a secretary for the Trojan Shirt Co. in Brooklyn and pins her hopes on marrying a tall, strong man who can wear a Trojan shirt with a 16 1/2 neck. She envisions a life with a serviceman who can meet her standards, setting up the personal stakes of the story. Her goal drives the early setup of the plot.

She writes a short letter and places it inside a shirt destined for the Army. The shirt eventually lands in the hands of Private Edgar 'Wolf' Larsen, who has a reputation as a ladies' man. The letter becomes the spark that starts the entire letters-and-identity scheme.

Wolf reads Evie's letter aloud to his bunk mate, John McPherson, then discards it. John finds the letter and decides to respond under Wolf's name to charm Evie from afar, initiating a dangerous game of impersonation. The deception hinges on the belief that Wolf wrote the letter.

Evie and the supposed Wolf exchange letters, and John learns she wants a photo. To keep up the ruse, John sends a photo of Wolf rather than his own. The correspondence deepens, creating emotional stakes for both sides.

John's unit passes through New York, and he travels to see Evie while still posing as his own friend Wolf. They hit it off, and Evie is charmed by the presence of the man she believes wrote the letters. The visit intensifies the growing connection.

Wolf learns of the correspondence and makes a surprise visit to Evie's home while John is there. Evie is swept up by the eloquence of the writer, though she notices that the man speaking in person doesn’t quite match the man in her imagination. The deception deepens as feelings blur with truth.

A commotion erupts as John tries to keep Wolf and Evie from being alone together. He also fends off Evie's roommate, Barney Lee, who is attracted to him. To restore order, he pretends to be drunk and separates the two would-be lovers.

Jealousy flares when John strikes Wolf outside Evie's apartment and orders him to stay away from 'his' girl. Wolf ignores the warning and the two men clash, each guarding his own version of the truth. The rivalry threatens to derail Evie's affections completely.

John learns of the secret meetings when Wolf answers Evie's phone call, prompting John to rush to Evie's building and start a fire to smoke the couple out. In the chaos, Wolf trips and is hurt, leaving Evie with a new, unstable situation to navigate. The incident pushes the trio toward a dramatic crossroads.

Not in his right mind after the incident, Wolf asks Evie to marry him, and she accepts. However, the marriage is postponed because the unit is shipped overseas the next morning, delaying their union and forcing difficult choices about love and loyalty. The wartime logistics complicate personal desires.

While deployed in Europe, Wolf meets and marries a French girl, effectively ending the possibility of a life with Evie. This turn of events leaves John to face the truth and the consequences of the deception that began back in Brooklyn. The war continues to separate and redefine their relationships.

Back in New York, Evie hasn't received John's letters for months and visits John's family. There she discovers that the man behind the letters is the man she knew as Larson, revealing the tangled lie behind the romance. The revelation forces Evie to confront her true feelings and the man who wrote to her.

John, just released from an Army hospital with a wounded leg, contemplates how to tell Evie the truth about the letters. He weighs up protecting Wolf's honor and Evie's faith against exposing his deception. The slow buildup to an eventual confrontation mirrors his guarded, self-sacrificing nature.

John decides to tell Evie that he is dead to spare her further heartbreak and to honor both men. He gives Evie his purple heart, and in that gesture she realizes this is the man who truly loves her. They share a kiss and move toward a hopeful, if complicated, future together.