This collection consists of letters from American soldiers and sailors in World War I to their friends and families at home. The soldiers provide descriptions of war-torn France, influenza and vaccinations, encounters with different cultures, their training activities and daily duties, their feelings about the war, homesickness, and their appreciation of civilian home-front activities in support of those overseas.

The American recipients of the letters were Ruth Backof of St. Louis and Ella Rehnberg of Chicago, American girls on the World War I home front. It is not clear what relationship, if any, existed between the Backof and Rehnberg families. Ruth and her family received letters between 1917 and 1919 from her cousins Lester J. Backof and Fred A. and L. (Leon) R. Wise, as well as from Walter Shuka and Ray O. Williams. These last correspondents appear to have been servicemen with whom Ruth exchanged letters without having met, as a part of civilian service in support of soldiers abroad. The letters to Ella Rehnberg in Chicago are from her cousin, Elmer Rehnberg. A notable aspect of the letters are the signs of government censorship. Official authorities had screened the letters; some of the envelopes have the censors' stamp, while a few of the letters have portions cut out.