War Letters: Extraordinary Correspondence from American Wars

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"I've cast out my razor, divorced my soap, buried my manners, signed my socks to a two-year contract, and proved that you don't have to come in out of the rain." So wrote Corporal Thomas P. Noonan from Vietnam, proving that humor doesn't fail even in war. Noonan's letter is just one of over 50,000 that letter-enthusiast Andrew Carroll (Letters of a Nation) received after Abigail Van Buren publicized his Legacy Project in her Dear Abby column. Out of this treasure trove he selected 150, spanning 130 years of warfare from the Civil War to Bosnia. While there are letters from such notables as General William Tecumseh Sherman and even Julia Childs, most were written by uncelebrated but dearly loved soldiers from barracks, trenches, and flooded foxholes and by combat journalists, nurses, and family members on the home front.

While the letters are not unrelentingly grim, there is ample description of the rending agonies of war and the pain of separation. For instance, a recounting of horrors found in a Nazi concentration camp, or a tender letter to a just-born daughter who may never be seen. Private First Class Richard King describes the death of a Catholic chaplain blessing the foxholes: "An artillery shell cut him in half at the waist." Staff Sergeant Joe Sammarco tells how he crawled, wounded, across streams and into hills in order to escape the Chinese, propelled by the thought of his wife and his babies. Many of these are "last letters," often received after the news of the writer's death. Lieutenant Tommie Kennedy, a POW on a Japanese "hell ship," wrote his farewells on the only thing he had--the back of two family photographs, which were smuggled back to his parents.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In 1998, Andrew Carroll founded the Legacy Project with the goal of remembering Americans who have served this nation and preserving their letters for posterity. Since then, more than 50,000 war letters discovered in basements, attics, scrapbooks, and old trunks have poured in from around the country. The best of these letters are assembled in this extraordinary collection, offering unprecedented insight into the Civil War, World Wars I and II, Vietnam, Korea, the Cold War, the Persian Gulf, and even the fighting in Somalia and the Balkans.

Featured here are dramatic accounts of combat written immediately after the most ferocious battles American troops have ever faced; poignant expressions of love by homesick husbands and sweethearts; humorous anecdotes and gripes about insufferable conditions; thoughtful reflections on the nature of warfare; and perhaps most devastating, a startling number of last letters, heartfelt messages penned just hours before the sender was killed.

War Letters is a testament to the heroic contributions and astonishing literary voices of common soldiers, marines, airmen, and sailors, as well as war nurses, journalists, spies, and chaplains. There are also previously unpublished letters by such legendary figures as William T. Sherman, Clara Barton, Theodore Roosevelt, Ernie Pyle, Helen Keller, Douglas MacArthur, Julia Child, Dwight Eisenhower, Norman Schwarzkopf, and America's first black general, Benjamin O. Davis Sr.

"Individually, the war letters collected here are distinct, finely cut works of art, some more polished, some rougher around the edges, but each one exquisite in its own right. Together, they create a larger narrative: the story of Americans at war against themselves and other nations," observes Carroll in his introduction. These historic letters capture the full fury and intensity of warfare, and they reveal in vivid detail what the servicemen and -women of this nation have experienced and sacrificed on the front lines. War Letters is a lasting tribute to those who have fought for this country, and a celebration of the enduring power and lyricism of personal letters.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Carroll founded the war letter-collecting Legacy Project when his Washington, D.C., home burned down in 1990, taking his family letters with it. A "Dear Abby" announcement of the project led to 50,000 responses. Now, at 31, Carroll follows up 1999's bestselling Letters of a Nation (which spans 400 years and myriad walks of life) with this cull of dispatches. Chapters are limited to the Civil War, WWI, WWII, "The Korean War & The Cold War" and "The Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf War, Somalia, & Bosnia" making for an incomplete survey of American wars. Of the more than 150 letters, three are from African-Americans, though Carroll remarks in an afterword on efforts to locate more. Perhaps most striking is how many letters are written by the soon-to-be-dead, or concern the death of a close relative; any reaction to them other than personal sympathy seems impossible. Yet the power of these voices from various fronts including an Asian woman held in an American internment camp is undeniable, and the sentiments and observations they record have a compelling immediacy. (On-sale: May 15) Forecast: Carroll was the subject of a New York Times feature in 1994 for his role in cofounding (with the late poet Joseph Brodsky) the American Poetry and Literacy Project, which put books of poems in motel rooms alongside Bibles. His media experience should make his seven-city author tour and appearance on PBS's American Experience (on November 11) successful. Expect strong sales and a showing on bestseller lists for the weeks before and after Memorial Day. Browsers could be reminded that the New Yorker published a selection of the letters in January 2000. All author earnings will be donated to nonprofit organizations. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

KLIATT

Although great leaders and great events directly shape the course of the world's history, it is easy to forget that most history is actually made by common people. Military history, likewise, invariably is presented in macroscopic detail￯﾿ﾽthe progress of campaigns, the details of the major battles, and the competence of commanders￯﾿ﾽyet all of these factors ultimately depend on the junior-grade officers and the men in the ranks. To study the one without recourse to the other is to miss at least half of the story. Titles such as this one go a long way toward correcting the balance. War Letters is a collection of the intimate thoughts, eyewitness accounts, and combat tales written home by American soldiers: some 200 letters in all, from the Civil War down to a few representing the Gulf War, Somalia and Bosnia. As one might expect, they run the gamut from the dramatic to the mundane: a semiliterate Union trooper haranguing about the "Rebbles," a shocked survivor of Antietam, an eager young doughboy on his way to France, a soldier walking through the dead ashes of Nagasaki. Editor Andrew Carroll assembled this collection of letters as part of the Legacy Project, whose goal is to preserve the letters and memories of those who have served their nation. The letters seem to be uncommonly well chosen, making this one of the best collections this reviewer has encountered. A nice feature is a brief note in the Table of Contents describing each of the letters. Within the text, further notes put each missive within the context of its war, and often tell the ultimate fate of the writer. All that could be wished for would be a few letters from the American Revolution and the Mexican War, but no doubt thesewill be forthcoming in a future book. Category: History & Geography. KLIATT Codes: SA*￯﾿ﾽExceptional book, recommended for senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 2001, Simon & Schuster, Washington Square Press, 508p. illus. index., ; Historian, Edwards Air Force Base, CA

Library Journal

After his house burned down, editor Carroll (Letters of a Nation: A Collection of Extraordinary American Letters) realized how precious his destroyed letters were. In the early 1990s, he started the all-volunteer Legacy Project to collect the letters of American servicemen and women, as there is great interest in this type of historical research material. Submissions poured in when the project was mentioned in 1998 in the "Dear Abby" syndicated newspaper column and on the ABC-TV Nightline program. This collection comprises 175 previously unpublished letters from the over 50,000 received; one wonders if more could have been included. The letters, from men and women in the service, represent conflicts from the Civil War to the Balkans imbroglio, and they can be funny and informative. Editorial comments provide context and reveal what happened to the writers which is frequently heartbreaking. Suitable for public and large academic libraries. Daniel K. Blewett, Coll. of DuPage Lib., Glen Ellyn, IL Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

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