( CNN ) -- First Sgt . Brian Vasquez smiled as he stumbled upon an old letter that had been missing since he was a young soldier in Desert Storm . `` You are so kind to remember me with a very nice letter , '' Vasquez read from the weathered pages . `` The cards and letters I receive from you are very dear to me . '' The letter contained words of encouragement written by Dorothy Landgraf , a stranger at the time , but eventually a friend . Hundreds of soldiers who got her letters came to know her as Granny Dot . Granny Dot was a regular one-woman USO . From 1991 to 2003 , she wrote more than 100 letters a month to deployed soldiers . Initially , she addressed the letters to `` Any Service Person , '' hoping that someone without family support could have some contact back in the United States . `` I would do anything for that woman , '' said Vasquez . `` She always had an uplifting message for anyone who did n't have family , or who felt afraid . '' After finding her letter , Vasquez put in a phone call to thank his `` granny '' for her encouragement . `` It just set my heart alive that he would remember me , '' Granny Dot said . `` My heart aches for soldiers -- it always did when I was a little girl at 8 or 9 years old . I thought the soldiers were so important . I 've just always been real patriotic . I teach my kids to be that way . '' Supporting the troops was a family affair in the Landgraf household . Granny Dot would come home from work , cook dinner , and her husband , Kenneth Landgraf , would wash the dishes so she could begin writing . Her real-life grandchildren pitched in during the holidays . Granny Dot 's support did n't stop with the letters . She ensured her soldiers were well taken care of by mailing them cookies , toys , games , Big Red chewing gum , films and magazines . `` One box I sent out had makeup in it and ended up in a company that had no females , '' Granny Dot said . `` The men made a point to write me back telling me how much they enjoyed dressing a couple of the guys up and joking around . '' The soldiers meant the world to Granny Dot . She said corresponding with them and learning about their lives was incredibly rewarding . Each time a different soldier responded to one of her letters , Granny Dot proudly tied a bright yellow ribbon to her dogwood tree in New Albany , Indiana . There were 147 ribbons in all . Eventually , Granny Dot 's worsening health required that she put away her typewriter . Once she stopped writing , most of the soldiers followed suit . Many things have changed since Granny Dot churned out letters and sent gifts regularly . Next week , Granny Dot will celebrate her 59th wedding anniversary . She said that some details of her vast friendships with soldiers have slipped from her memory , but she is happy the soldiers have kept her on their minds . `` It was my life for those 12 years , '' Granny Dot said . The words in Granny Dot 's letter to Vasquez have faded with age , but the message is as clear as the late summer day on which it was written : . `` I hope this letter finds you well and in a safe place , if there is such a thing in this world . ... You are a delight to my life and my heart . You are the future and I feel that you will make a better world . ''
Soldier remembers kind stranger who wrote him letters of encouragement . Army 1st Sgt . Brian Vasquez says he would do anything for Granny Dot . Dorothy Landgraf wrote hundreds of letters every month from 1991 to 2003 . She says the soldiers are important and she is patriotic .