April 1914
Dear Pa,
The army isn't that bad, but the front is horrible. The trenches fill with water and my friends are dropping like flies from trench foot. Meaning they get to go to the hospital and out of the front. Now they are making us change our socks and powder them twice a day. I don't understand how we can when there is never a dry day when we can stop running from the shells. In the past four months there were about 20 dry days, if that. The food that we have is eaten by rats, I hate those things. They get into everything, all the food that we finally receive is taken by those fat and dirty creatures.
I will be home on leave in a few months, keep my bed warm. I'm excited to see everyone. Tell everyone hi for me. Oh, and before I forget don't tell mom about the front. You know how she worries, we don't need that. Just tell her that it isn't as bad as what people are saying.
Sincerley your son,
Joseph
Monday, March 10, 2008
Letter Home #1
November 1916
Dear Mom,
This war is gruesome and I cannot see how people can call this a holy war. The soldiers come in here sick, dying, or dead. If they are alive they beg for an escape. Some of the soldiers come in with missing arms, legs or have bubbles on their faces. I feel so bad because I cannot take all of their pain away. The soldiers are giving up so much for me and there is nothing I can do for them. The soldiers who come in with gangrene have to get an amputation, which is messy, but the worst are the ones who come in from the gas. The ones with gas die a slow and painful death. Their face bubbles, they feel like they cannot breathe and this lasts for weeks and there is nothing to be done to ease the pain.
They will do anything to stay away from going back to the front. I'm going to tell you something, but you cannot tell anyone. The doctors here let some of the soldiers pay to say that they cannot go back to the front. I don't know what to do anymore the soldiers shouldn't have to go back, but the doctors accepting pay like that is wrong. Please help, oh and p.s. I'm fine and healthy.
Sincerely your daughter,
Molly La'Fronte
Dear Mom,
This war is gruesome and I cannot see how people can call this a holy war. The soldiers come in here sick, dying, or dead. If they are alive they beg for an escape. Some of the soldiers come in with missing arms, legs or have bubbles on their faces. I feel so bad because I cannot take all of their pain away. The soldiers are giving up so much for me and there is nothing I can do for them. The soldiers who come in with gangrene have to get an amputation, which is messy, but the worst are the ones who come in from the gas. The ones with gas die a slow and painful death. Their face bubbles, they feel like they cannot breathe and this lasts for weeks and there is nothing to be done to ease the pain.
They will do anything to stay away from going back to the front. I'm going to tell you something, but you cannot tell anyone. The doctors here let some of the soldiers pay to say that they cannot go back to the front. I don't know what to do anymore the soldiers shouldn't have to go back, but the doctors accepting pay like that is wrong. Please help, oh and p.s. I'm fine and healthy.
Sincerely your daughter,
Molly La'Fronte
WWI Reaction Essay
When I first started reading these I thought that I knew about most of the things that went on in the battles, but I was proven wrong. I mean I knew about the rats, the disease, the shell shock, and I knew about the weather, but I guess not as well as I had previously thought. I did not know all the gross details.
I knew that the rats ate the corpses, but I didn't know that the rats would also eat the wounded. I knew that their was diseases going around like gangrene, but I didn't know about the trench foot or trench fevor. I did know about shell shock, but I didn't know about the different levels of shell shock. I didn't even know that people would claw at their own mouths when they had it. Lastly, I knew that weather plays a huge part in battles, but I didn't know that it would rain so much. I guess it never registered before that the trenches would fill up and the soldiers would have to still walk/run through.
Like I said I knew about the things that had happened in the war, but not as in detail as these articles. Some of the things mentioned in the article I had heard before, but it never really registered. For example, the weather, I had heard that it was raining a ton during the war, but it didn't register before that the trenches would fill.
I knew that the rats ate the corpses, but I didn't know that the rats would also eat the wounded. I knew that their was diseases going around like gangrene, but I didn't know about the trench foot or trench fevor. I did know about shell shock, but I didn't know about the different levels of shell shock. I didn't even know that people would claw at their own mouths when they had it. Lastly, I knew that weather plays a huge part in battles, but I didn't know that it would rain so much. I guess it never registered before that the trenches would fill up and the soldiers would have to still walk/run through.
Like I said I knew about the things that had happened in the war, but not as in detail as these articles. Some of the things mentioned in the article I had heard before, but it never really registered. For example, the weather, I had heard that it was raining a ton during the war, but it didn't register before that the trenches would fill.
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