Monday, October 27, 2008

letters from WW I in France







When my father passed away I received a box of some of his things from my stepmother- family things- old letters mostly, many letters written by my grandfather to his sister, my Great Aunt Molly.
He commanded the 321 Field Artillery Battalion in France during WW I. The letters are from all over France in 1919. He wrote of the country side, the beautiful country villages and magnificent chateaus.
As commander of the Battalion, he stayed in the chateaus of the villages along with his staff. He wrote about a Romanian beauty he met in Paris, his soldiers who died in battle, the modern warfare of WWI...amazing letters that offer a slice of American and European History in a very personal way.
I feel so lucky to have these letters- written before he married my grandmother, saved all these many years...

3 comments:

Karen Salva said...

This is truly an amazing treasure. I would be doing cartwheels..scary as that sounds! I am coming to get your link to add to my list too, thank you! I really need to update my list!

Morna Crites-Moore said...

Hi, Elizabeth. This reminds me of a wonderful wooden box, filled with WW II letters, that my daughter bough at an antiques store, back when she was in middle school. Coincidentally, one of the letters had been written to a classmate's departed ancestor! So, Adeline was able to give that classmate a little piece of her own family history. Sweet.

Anonymous said...

How wonderful to have these precious letters. I am thrilled to have my Dad's Navy photo album, complete with my sister's scribbles. Kathy