Collections : [College of William and Mary]

A four-page lengthy letter from Camp Suffolk, VA to his friend in Fillmore, NY. Skiff is a Union soldier and tells of his various assignments to the Divisional Quartermaster Department and as Clerk of the Brigade Commissary. Overall, Skiff is happy to serve the Union especially in order to avenge his brother's death. However, Skiff is utterly disgusted with the leadership of the Union Army, McClellan in particular, and the manner in which the war is conducted. He outlines all of his grievances in his letter to his friend.

Letter from Camp Lee, Virginia discussing basic training in the Army in preparation for war. Thomas, who signs his letter, Roy, laments that he is being held back in the United States as surplus troops in support of others heading over seas. Gibbons writes January 20, 1943 on his letter, but the envelope is postmarked 1944. The later year is most likely the accurate dating of this correspondence.

One postcard depicting men in suits and hats arriving at Camp Lee for intake into the United States Army for military training in preparation for World War I.

Letter to niece Lena about family and health, talking about raising chickens and the price of feed, an illness that results in cramps and severe pain every 16-18 day, asking for genealogical information to write a family tree, and various sewing and crocheting projects.

This collection consists of over 85 handwritten letters and 3 photographs. It documents the final year of World War II (1945) from the perspective of a United States Navy parachute rigger stationed at U.S.N.A.S. Klamath Falls in Oregon. W.A. (Wilfred Allen or Al) Fountain wrote to Evelyn Ruth Lanphere, who lived in Coupeville, on Whidbey Island, in Washington State. Few letters are dated; envelope postmarks detail the letters' chronology.

Correspondence from William (Billy) Preston to his sister and brother-in-law, Ruth and Ralph Bennett, primarily mailed during World War II (1940-1945) with a few letters sent from 1946-1960. The collection includes 120 handwritten and typed letters and postcards; black and white photographs; a Western Union telegram; and newspaper clippings. It is arranged chronologically. The correspondence is detailed and legible, with description of U.S. Army experience in North America (training, duties, socializing, medical issues, traumatic injuries, supply needs, furloughs, and deployments). There is also much focus on Preston's romantic entanglements during the war.

Five letters from William M. Rome to his wife, Said from Nashville, Tennessee. Rome has traveled from New York in order to find lucrative work in Nashville. He writes about missing his wife and the comforts of home.

10 postcards and eight newspaper clippings relating to World War I. The postcard images include uniformed men carrying artillery over a pontoon bridge, Battalion Drill at Camp Warden McLean in Chickamauga Park, Chattanooga, TN, Night Time at the U.S. General Hospital No. 12, formerly Kenilworth Inn, in Asheville, NC, The Salvation Army making doughbuts under bombardment of German guns along the front lines in France, an image of an unidentified US battleship, a war carnage scene from the battle of Somme, a picture of flags with the poem, "You answered the call to the colors, You proved you were loyal and true; And we- who can't go- will let others know the debt that we all owe to you!", A greeting postcard from Camp Zachary Taylor in Louisville, KY with a cartoon of a female army soldier, a greeting indicating the return of a serviceman (blank) from the Jewish Welfare Board, and a postcard notification from the local board for Toledo, OH of the classification of James S. Vinson for the war department draft. The newspaper clippings show pictures of the destruction of Montfaucon as well as multiple pictures of men of the 112th Engineers, 37th Division in France during the war.

15 handwritten letters from Wyman Taylor, Jr. to his wife during the Korean War. Taylor was stationed in Korea with the Army. The correspondence is arranged chronologically. Taylor discusses his various duties, including equipment cleaning and serving as a rifleman for a blast team. The letters mainly detail Taylor's loneliness and desire for his wife. In August 1953, Taylor's daughter Dawn is born in Detroit. Topic include finances, budgetary matters, and paying off debts. Taylor also discusses material goods sent home: a Korean painting, a letter opener, and a Japanese "itching" (or etching). He also asks for supplies: pen refills, watch repair, buttons, and a small calendar to keep track of the days.