My niece’s husband was in Iraq for a year. What I remember most from that time (other than the anxiety I felt every time I heard about casualties on television) was my amazement at how the computer had improved communication for the families of soldiers. At the same time, while this is wonderful for peace of mind on the home front, it’s also a little sad if it means no letters.
As the family historian for both sides of my family, I’m the custodian of a couple of sets of soldier’s letters and I’ve found them wonderfully informative.
Because of the danger and uncertainty that war represents, soldiers and families often communicate feelings and concerns they would never say in ordinary circumstances. Also, soldiers are so often in fish-out-of-water situations that they cannot help commenting on. It was easy to sympathize back through the years with my Great-Uncle Ernest Busby as he wrote of his misery in training camp before going overseas in World War I and with his wife as she moaned about the awfulness of their (possibly last) Christmas. My father’s letters to my mother from Korea, while reflecting his interest in the wide world, were those of a man who was weary of the whole business of war and wanting to come home to his wife of less than a year. Most precious of all was another letter, written by my grandfather to my father in Korea. He spoke of his love and concern for my dad and wrote him a poem about fishing. My father kept the letter in his desk drawer all his life.
Saturday, Nov. 1, I hope you’ll join me for a Veterans Day program at the Anderson Public Library. The program is called “Safe and Sound, letter to follow” and it tells the stories of several Indiana World War II veterans as they wrote them in their letters home. The presenter, Stephanie Holman of the Indiana Historical Society, has woven together the writings of many soldiers and their families as they faced the cruel uncertainty of service overseas, blending fear and humor as the soldiers describe the reality of war on the battlefront and hear from their families about life without them.
I’m sure this will be a memorable event.
I hope to see all of you Saturday, Nov. 1, at 1 p.m. in the Chief Anderson Room for this Veterans Day event.
Beth Oljace works in the Indiana Room at the Anderson Public Library. She can be reached at bolijace @yahoo.com.
