“Letters were a great comfort. And the mail was indispensable. We couldn’t have won the war without it. It was terribly important as a motivator of the troops. Mail call, whenever it happened it was a delight,” Paul Fussel commented about mail during World War II. Love letters had a large impact on soldiers and their loved ones; they also affected their attitudes and performances, and the letter content was similar in almost all letters home. Receiving a letter was one of the best things a person could get whether you were in the war or you were home while a loved one was at war.
Because soldiers were gone for long periods of time, people depended on their letters from their loved ones at the war (“Letters from the Front”). Letters, however, were not only important to the mothers, wives, children, and other relatives, but they were also important to all the soldiers at war. When families received letters it let them know how the soldier was doing which would give the family relief. When a loved one is away constant worry becomes real, getting a letter telling loved ones they are okay is the best thing. A private named Sid Phillips celebrated his eighteenth birthday in the war, and the next day he got a letter from home and said it was “The best present possible” (“Communication”).
All the letters sent out of the war were monitored so that the enemy could not get any information to help them get ahead in the war. When soldiers wrote letters they were sent to a place that would black out any information that would be useful to the enemy before it was sent home. The place that would black out information on the letters was known as the blackout station. Even though the letters would be sent away for monitoring, the soldiers thems...
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...dered one of the reasons we won the war. Although all the letters seemed similar they were all unique in their own way because each soldier had their own things to tell their family. Receiving a letter from a loved one was one of the best things people could get when they are away.
Works Cited
"Communication." The War At Home. PBS, n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2014.
Frederick, Clinton. "American Veteran Center." WWII: A Legacy of LettersOne Soldiers Journey. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Jan. 2014.
Frost, Amber. "Sleep Well My Love: Goldfrapp Bases Song On Tender Letter From One World War II Soldier To Another." Dangerous Minds. N.p., 23 Dec. 2013. Web. 9 Jan. 2014.
"Letters from the Front." American Experience. PBS, n.d. Web. 9 Jan. 2014.
"WWII Soldier's Love Letters Found in Home." Traverse City Record-Eagle 2 Jan. 2013, 3A sec.: 3A. Access Newspaper Archive. Web. 30 Jan. 2014.
Zeinert, Karen. Those Incredible Women of World War 2: The Millbrook Press, Brookfield, Connecticut 1994
In An American Soldier in World War I, David Snead examines account of George Browne, a civil engineer who fought as part of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) during World War I. Snead shares Browne’s account of the war through the letters he wrote to his fiancé Martha Ingersoll Johnson. Through Browne’s letters and research conducted of the AEF, Snead gives a concise, informative, and harrowing narrative of life as a soldier serving in the camps and front lines of the Great War. Snead attempts to give the reader an understanding of Browne’s service by focusing on his division, the 42nd Division, their training and preparation, combat on the front lines, and the effects of war on George and Martha’s relationship. As Snead describes, “Brownie’s letters offer a view of the experiences of an American soldier. He described the difficulties of training, transit to and from France, the dangers and excitement of combat, and the war’s impact on relationships.” (Browne 2006, 2) Furthermore, he describes that despite the war’s effect on their relationship, “their
In the two novels of recent war literature Redeployment, by Phil Klay, and The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien, both call attention to the war’s destruction of its soldiers’ identities. With The Things They Carried, we are introduced to the story of a young Lieutenant Jimmy Cross who is currently fighting in the Vietnam War and holds a deep crush for his college-lover Martha. Jimmy carries many letters from Martha with him throughout the war, and he envisions this romantic illusion in which “more than anything, he want[s] Martha to love him as he love[s] her” (1). However, a conflict quickly transpires between his love for Martha and his responsibilities with the war, in which he is ultimately forced to make a decision between the two.
Now letter-Writing is, to me, the most agreeable Amusement: and Writing to you the most entertaining and Agreeable of all Letter-Writing. John Adams
Prewitt, Joann Farrish. “World War II on the Home Front: Civic Responsibility” Smithsonian In Your Classroom, Oct 2007. Web. 17 Feb. 2014.
Since World War I and World War II the military technology with regards to communication has increasingly improved. Years ago, if a message was conveyed it was likely to be delivered on foot or horseback. Communications using modern equipment began once the US Army Signal Corps was established. World War I took place before the modern radio. When dispatch riders were not being used to deliver messages, morse code with the use of the telegraph was the more advanced form of communication during that time. The main problem with
Sorensen, Aja, Rosie the Riveter: Women Working during World War II. Retrieved from http://www.nps.gov/pwro/collection/website/rosie.htm, (n.d.)
Kimble, Lionel, Jr. "I Too Serve America: African American Women War Workers in Chicago." Lib.niu.edu. Northern Illinois University, n.d. Web.
"Home Front - The New Yorker - Overseas Edition - World War II Archives of
Other hymns, as well as religion in general, were an important part of the soldiers' and officers' lives. Over forty million prayer books, hymn books, and Bibles were distributed among soldiers during the first two years of war by several different agencies. Many of the books had the typical inscription: "Please carry this in your pocket and read it every day" (Wilkinson 153).
"Women in WWII at a Glance." The National WWII Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Apr. 2014.
Major General Jeanne M. Holm, In Defense of a Nation: Servicewomen in World War II, (Washington DC, Military Women’s Press) p. 9
... could not help themselves, they were not going to be helped. If struggle were encountered, men had personalized ways to reconnect with the real world, and if a tragedy were encountered which affected the entire company, they also found a combined way to cope with this pressure. The priorities of men during the war shifted greatly toward emotional connections to people and events other than the war, and it was these connections that helped them survive and return home. Coping with the stress and burden of war is not an easy task for anyone, yet in The Things they Carried, O'Brien depicts men dealing and coping as much as they can, using only their primeval resources. They learn how to cope with the barest necessities in life, and they learn how to make use of the smallest opportunities to obtain the most relief and joy from every moment in life.
One of the significant concepts in The Things They Carried is that of the importance of certain objects or feelings used by the soldiers of Alpha Company to survive the war. Some examples of these items are the picture of the girl carried by Jimmy Cross, the Bible carried by Kiowa, and the stockings carried by Henry Dobbins. All the items helped the respective soldier to survive from day to day and to continue fighting the war. One of the most important things that helped the soldiers is their friendship with each other. This bond that the soldiers form helped them to survive, excluded someone who was outside their group, and helped the men of Alpha Company to cope with the war after they returned to the United States.
Interviewing Mr. Domek gave a refreshing view of life at home during the war. The true extent of the collective sacrifices of the community and soldiers abroad was enormous. World War II affected local communities in ways unforeseen: citizen life, gender and race relations, and community support. World War II was horrific to unimaginable proportions, but it brought the best out of the American people.