Letters Home WWI

By Mark Fritz, Editor

Subtitled: Letters From Local Participants In The Great War, the book is a compilation of letters that soldiers, sailors, flyers, and nurses wrote home to their families and which were then subsequently printed in one of several Columbia County newspapers. The letters give first-person accounts of the various phases and aspects of military service during the war, from training, to “crossing the pond,” to trench life, as well as battle stories full of danger and horror from the men reporting on their experiences “in the fray.” You’ll also read about how “the boys” reacted to the welcome news about the armistice, and about their post-war occupation service along the Rhine River in Germany. Included are letters from men (and a few women) from all the branches of service and representing various military specialties. Author Mark Fritz has supplied many sidebars and explanatory text to help put the soldiers’ letters into the larger context of the war overall. The book is 230 pages with hundreds of photos, posters, paintings, maps, and many other types of illustrations.