Genre: Drama - Family, History, Military

Adaptation: An Unexpected Coddiwomple: The story of a father's sudden death, a box of World War II letters and a daughter's life transformed.

(RPSS Publishing, Buffalo, NY)

 

Theme/Core:  Determination & Resolution

Screenplay:  Marc J. Isaacs

Author: Loretto M. Thompson

Mission:

131 WWII veterans die each day. Frank and his daughter's story honors their untold wartime sacrifices, bridging generations through love, loss and resilience. Their true story inspires a deeper connection, empathy and reflection on the past, while shaping the present and future of military families.​

Story:

In the midst of WWII, a young man from Niagara Falls prioritized two things: staying alive and keeping his loved ones updated through daily letters. By the day Private Frank Thompson was discharged from the Army Air Corps, he’d sent over 500 pieces of correspondence. Then, 18 years later, his sudden death at the age of 44 left his extensive documentation of wartime service largely forgotten. He also left behind a pregnant wife and six children, including a four-year-old daughter who turned his letters into a book when she grew up. Now, with the rapid loss of WWII veterans daily, she and the rest of our filmmaking team have come together to tell the story of this B-17 radio operator whose letters created a mission for her to get acquainted with her late father’s life and continue to shape his legacy in a narrative film.

 

The untold stories of WWII veterans are disappearing at a high rate every day, due to the deaths of this population and the fact that many of them never told their wartime stories following their military service. The story of Frank Thompson was only preserved by the discovery of his letters decades after his death. When his daughter Loretto began her mission to learn about Frank’s Army Air Corps service, it led her to meeting the pilot of Frank’s B-17 Flying Fortress, Roger Sundin. This encounter opened the door to hearing stories from “Big Sundin” that he’d never shared with his own family. In fact, it was Big Sundin who convinced Loretto that her mission and her father’s letters were worthy of a book.

 

Now, 61 years after Frank’s death, we are planning to shoot a short film version of the larger story, with a focus on the ditching that he, Lt. Sundin, and the B-17 crew survived in May 1945. Our location will be the expansive waters of Lake Ontario or Lake Erie to stand in for the North Sea and a Buffalo film studio for underwater closeups. Our second primary location will be the Thompson family home in Niagara Falls, now owned by Loretto’s brother and sister-in-law. Our third location will be a Western New York home to serve as the Maine home of Roger and Gloria Sundin, who became close with Loretto in their final years. 

 

Our goal with this film is to bring Frank “back to life” symbolically and inspire audiences to examine what untold stories of service might exist in their families. With the goal of $12,500 reached, we can begin pre-production and set production dates for August 2026. Our full goal, outside of Seed & Spark, is $60,000. Any funds raised over our Seed & Spark goal will reduce the amount we need to raise from corporate and community relationships that our team has cultivated in Western New York and beyond. With production wrapped by September, we will be on track for a planned Veterans Day 2026 premiere, including a premiere on Kinema for funders of this campaign and an in-person private screening for military veterans, corporate donors, and members of various communities to which our team belongs. In addition, we plan to submit the finished work to select film festivals, especially ones with a track record of inclusion of military stories.

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