America sends its sons and daughters off to war with parades, fanfare and the hope, the expectation of the soldiers’ return. Then families and friends watch and wait for words from loved ones fighting in some distant land.
The letters home from soldiers are records of war that rarely make the history books. Raw, personal and unsanitized, these letters show us conflict through human eyes. The anxious note scribbled in a foxhole or the heartfelt missives to the family of a fallen comrade reveal all the emotions of war — the fear, the horror, and the sense of triumph.
They are the written records of the best, and worst of war. They are a window on the humanity of the people who fight and the civilians caught in the middle.
Guests:
Andrew Carroll, author of “Behind the Lines: Powerful and Revealing American and Foreign War Letters and One Man’s Search to Find Them.”