Scope and Contents Two letters from sergeant Lester J. Backof to his family.April 1919: Private Backof writes to his uncle Otto Backof in St. Louis of his longing to be back in America, his sharing of his uncle's letter with his comrades, and the monotony of daily life in the army. He concludes that he "will never regret having taken the trip overseas." June 1919: Sergeant Backof writes to his cousin Ruth about his imminent return home, which "all seems a dream." His position as supply...

Scope and Contents Five letters from Elmer Rehnberg, an American WWI soldier to his cousin Ella in Chicago.January 1918: Private Rehnberg writes about the painful vaccination process he is undergoing as well as about KP duty. Still, he says, "there is nothing that can beat this life for a young fellow."October 1918: Corporal Rehnberg describes long weeks of driving trucks in France, of which he writes: "I sure like this country nit, and the time of my return comes not to[o] soon. This...

Scope and Contents American soldier Walter Shuka writes letters to Ruth Backof from 1917-1919 about his experiences in France during World War I.April 1917: Private Shuka writes Ruth Backof from near Bordeaux, France, complaining about not being allowed passes for the city and describing the delousing process to which he and his comrades were subjected. Both the envelope and the letter itself bear censor's marks.March 1918: Shuka sends a series of postcard views of Bourg-sur-Gironde,...

Scope and Contents Ray O. Williams, an American soldier during WWI, wrote many letters and postcards to his penpal Ruth Backof about his training and experiences in America and France.20 June 1918: Private Williams, a Chicagoan, writes to Ruth Backof hoping that she will begin to correspond with him. He mentions having been at Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis: "How well I remember that, as I slept at the Hotel De Hardwood for a few nights. You will probably know that as the Armory." He says that...

Scope and Contents Fred A. Wise, an American sailor during WWI, writes to his cousin Ruth Backof about his training, travels to other Latin American countries, and daily experiences during war. February 1918: Sailor Fred A. Wise, Ruth Backof's cousin, surmises that soon "it will be the sea for us" as he and his group leave Charleston, South Carolina. He describes the city as "pretty, but everything is old. The houses are all old and queer looking, and the streets are so narrow." He passes on a...

Scope and Contents Leon R. Wise, a sailor during WWI, writes to his cousin Ruth about his experiences on the sea.4 March 1919: Sailor Leon Wise, another cousin of Ruth Backof, writes from aboard the U. S. S. "Cumberland" that he has been in the "horse pistol" for a while with influenza. He is waiting to join a ship due to be commissioned and notes that everyone falls in love immediately with Norfolk, Virginia, a "wonderful place."27 March 1919: Wise describes the process of provisioning...