It is hard to put a value on the packet of letters I found in an old tin box that belonged to my grandmother. It turns out that these handwritten pages hold the last four months of thoughts my Uncle John wrote to his mother before his death in France during World War I. He died on November 7, 1918 and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his extraordinary heroism.
I never had a chance to meet my Uncle John, as he died almost twenty years before my birth, but I am getting to know him through my research on his short life. I wish I could travel back in time and ask my grandmother to tell me all about him. I never remember her talking about him but the sorrow to lose a first-born son must have been very deep.
I have this idea to write a little book based upon these letters as a tribute to my uncle. The research process is taking a discipline that on some days I find I am hopelessly lacking. But I will try to stay focused.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
A Soldier's Letters
It is hard to put a value on the packet of letters I found in an old tin box that belonged to my grandmother. It turns out that these handwritten pages hold the last four months of thoughts my Uncle John wrote to his mother before his death in France during World War I. He died on November 7, 1918 and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his extraordinary heroism.
I never had a chance to meet my Uncle John, as he died almost twenty years before my birth, but I am getting to know him through my research on his short life. I wish I could travel back in time and ask my grandmother to tell me all about him. I never remember her talking about him but the sorrow to lose a first-born son must have been very deep.
I have this idea to write a little book based upon these letters as a tribute to my uncle. The research process is taking a discipline that on some days I find I am hopelessly lacking. But I will try to stay focused.
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