"Gas masks were given to some of our troop today and we expect ours tomorrow or the next day. It's France for us now." So wrote Edwin Dyer from Camp Wadsworth in South Carolina on 11 December 1917. There's no way of knowing exactly what was going through the eighteen-year-old's mind as he wrote that in a letter to his sister almost 80 years ago, but reading the letter with the knowledge of his fate gives those two lines a particular sadness. Within a few years, Ed and millions of others like him would be victims of the slow death wrought by gas warfare which began when the Germans introduced it against the French and British at Ypres, Belgium in 1915.
Letters such as this stir up a world of questions about what life was like for those who fought so gallantly and often gave their lives for their country in war. Many families include heroes like Edwin Dyer, and stories about their time in service to their country can really enrich a family history.
Their letters to family tell much about them personally. For instance, Edwin's letters reveal a cheerful personality. He was always teasing and forever begging for letters, photographs, and "eats" (especially cake). The fact that he wrote almost weekly (sometimes more) reflects a closeness to his family.
In one letter dated 7 August 1918, postmarked "Somewhere in France," he writes, "I have received a few Eagles [referring to the Brooklyn Eagle newspaper] since I sailed but I think the subscription ran out. I don't think it will pay to renew it, but you can send one of the old Eagles after you finish reading it at home, and every once in a while you can wrap an envelope around a Popular Mechanics or any old magazine, school paper, etc. and we will enjoy reading them." From Edwin's comment we realize how desperately the soldiers longed for anything from home to read while in the trenches.
Although the soldiers wrote home often...
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