Frank Hayostek (June 11, 1924 – November 15, 2009) was an American veteran of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

who gained international notoriety for throwing a message in an aspirin bottle that traveled all the way from the New York harbor to Dingle, Ireland. The event became a

media circus Media circus is a colloquial metaphor or idiom describing a news event for which the level of media coverage—measured by such factors as the number of reporters at the scene and the amount of material broadcast or published—is perceived to b ...

on both sides of the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

. On Christmas, 1945, Medical Corpsman Frank Hayostek returned by sea from military duty in France. Feeling lonesome, he stuffed a note into an

aspirin Aspirin () is the genericized trademark for acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) used to reduce pain, fever, and inflammation, and as an antithrombotic. Specific inflammatory conditions that aspirin is ...

bottle, corked it and tossed it over the side of the

SS James Ford Rhodes The ''Schutzstaffel'' (; ; SS; also stylised with SS runes as ''ᛋᛋ'') was a major paramilitary organisation under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe during World War II. It bega ...

. The note read: "Dear Finder, I am an American soldier . .. 21 years old . . . just a plain American of no wealth, but just enough to get along with. This is my third Christmas from home . . . God bless you." Eight months later Hayostek received a response from Breda O'Sullivan, 18-year-old resident of

Lispole Lios Póil (anglicised as Lispole) is a Gaeltacht village in County Kerry, Ireland. It is on the Dingle Peninsula, 8 km east of the town of Dingle and 40 km west of Tralee on the N86 National Secondary Route. Transport Bus Éireann ...

. The pair became pen pals and over the course of the next seven years they exchanged 70 letters. In the summer of 1952 Hayostek traveled to

County Kerry County Kerry () is a Counties of Ireland, county on the southwest coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is bordered by two other countie ...

to finally meet O'Sullivan. His two-week stay was shadowed by a flock of reporters and photographers who "tried to fan the romance into flame." The publicity was too much for the shy O'Sullivan who would later describe the notoriety as "gruelling" and Hayostek returned to

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

without her. In 1958 he married a local girl and had a son named Terry Francis Hayostek. The following year he received his last letter from Breda. His wife died in 1965 from cancer. The Tribune Democrat rekindled the story in 2004. Frank Hayostek died on November 15, 2009, at the age of 85. In 2012 to coincide with the 60th anniversary of Frank's trip to Ireland,

RTÉ Radio RTÉ Radio is a division and service of Irish public broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), which broadcasts four analogue channels and five digital channels across Ireland. Founded in January 1926 as 2RN, was the first broadcaster in ...

(Irish National Radio) announced it was making a documentary titled 'Message in a Bottle' for its award-winning ''

Doc on One The ''RTÉ Documentary on One'', or ''Doc on One'', is an anthology documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, edu ...

'' series. It was revealed on this programme that Frank had told Breda he had been previously married and had the marriage annulled. Breda then spurned him as she held very strong Catholic views on marriage.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayostek, Frank 1924 births 2009 deaths United States Navy personnel of World War II United States Navy sailors