Patricia Sahertian bought a stack of forgotten letters. They were written to a soldier, Earl J. Pontius, in 1943 by his mother, Ida. After reading them, one in particular (featured here and presented in full on the opposite page) stood out because it referenced so many people from back home in Lewisburg, Ohio. From Sahertian’s collection of random old photos she created a casting call, selecting people to play the characters that she imagined to be the folks from Earl’s hometown.