History Net: Where History Comes Alive - World & US History Online » World War II War Letters

A Deserter Begs Eisenhower to Spare His Life

aburchyski — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 13:50:21 +0000

By Eddie Slovik, the first and only American soldier to be officially executed for desertion since the Civil War

A USS Arizona Crewman Longs to be Home for the Holidays

aburchyski — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 12:33:03 +0000

His last letter home before the attack on Pearl Harbor.

A Forward Artillery Observer Records His Darkest Experiences—So Far

aburchyski — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 14:52:40 +0000

By September 1944, 23-year-old lieutenant Erwin Blonder had seen enough of war to want to chronicle what he had witnessed—while keeping the news from his wife, Shirlee, and his mother and mother-in-law. In the letter that follows, he describes his …

A German Jew in the U.S. Army Confronts Dachau

aburchyski — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 20:06:37 +0000

Fritz Schnaittacher came face to face with the horror he escaped from.

Canadian Troops Sound Off About the Brits

aburchyski — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 15:32:50 +0000

Soldiers found their hosts across the pond difficult to share close quarters with.

A Dresden Survivor Offers Bitter Condolences

aburchyski — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 14:09:14 +0000

After the war, a man who lost everything wrote to his neighbors' daughter to describe the fate of her parents.

A Jewish Medic Reflects on Treating Wounded Nazis

aburchyski — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:32:29 +0000

In a letter to his sister, Louis Cooperberg shares his face-to-face experiences with the enemy.

Two Landing Craft Tank Men Woo a Pretty Girl Back Home

aburchyski — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 17:44:54 +0000

After coming across a letter Elizabeth Jane Kivell had written to a high school friend, wo mail-deprived ensigns in Europe, F. Nye Moses Jr. and Bill Wilhoit, took it upon themselves to correspond with her as well and engage in a little playful humor against the somber backdrop of war.

An Infantryman Recalls a Somber V-E Day on the Front Lines

cnewman — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 21:24:04 +0000

A 22-year-old army lieutenant writes to his brother with a somber account of V-E Day from the front lines.

After the Battle of the Bulge, Nothing Seemed the Same—Even Snow

cnewman — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 19:44:39 +0000

When Frank J. Conwell was a child, wintry conditions meant frolicking outside in the snow. But in the frozen forests of the Ardennes, where Conwell served with the 1st Infantry Division’s 436th Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion, the conditions meant something else altogether.