 After Germany 's defeat , Salinger signed up for a six @-@ month period of " Denazification " duty in Germany for the Counterintelligence Corps . He lived in Weissenburg and , soon after , married Sylvia Welter . He brought her to the United States in April 1946 , but the marriage fell apart after eight months and Sylvia returned to Germany . In 1972 , Salinger 's daughter Margaret was with him when he received a letter from Sylvia . He looked at the envelope , and without reading it , tore it apart . It was the first time he had heard from her since the breakup , but as Margaret put it , " when he was finished with a person , he was through with them . " 
