Letters from Soldiers During WWI

Pennsylvania's RepublicanHerald.com website reports Nancy Thompson has a stack of letters written in 1918 by several soldiers stationed in military camps in the southern United States.

Nancy is quoted in the article by reporter Leslie Richardson as saying, ""My husband just brought them home one day. I don't know where he got them. I collect old things and I collect stamps. He must have thought I'd like the old stamps, which I did, but when I started looking through (the letters the stamps were on) and reading them, I couldn't put them down."

The letters have return addresses from Camp Beauregard, La.; Camp Lee, Va. and other training camps, and are written on Knights of Columbus stationery.

"When I first got them I started reading some of them and then I stopped because I felt like I was invading her privacy," Nancy said. "But then I saw the letters from the soldiers and I had to read them. Some of them are beautifully written in calligraphy with a fountain pen and others are written in pencil and have faded some over the years. It took a lot of time to be able to get through them but I am so glad I did. What a story they tell."

Leslie points out, according to Knights of Columbus website,"... the fraternal society's founder in 1882 started an Army Hut program during World War I to provide food, reading material and recreational opportunities to troops at home and overseas. The organization set up clubhouses in training camps where the men could write letters, smoke, and drink coffee."

To read the entire article, click here.