War Letters

About the Project

The Kansas War Letters project was modeled after the Andy Carroll's much acclaimed book, War Letters: Extraordinary Correspondence from American Wars, and a companion web page: Public Broadcasting Service's American Experience (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/warletters/index.html). Carroll endeavored to capture the essence of these soldiers' experiences by excerpting their most descriptive writing on their wartime experiences.

Transcriptions

In editing these letters, colloquial spellings and misspellings were almost always maintained as they appeared in their original handwritten form. Early letters abound with mis-spelling, omitted punctuation and irregular capitalization. Sentences lacking periods at the end are distinguished in the typescript copy by a large space. In some cases, the darkening of aged paper prevented reading or deciphering the words. In other cases, holes worn through the paper took words out. In places where the words could not be read, [xxx] appears in its place. Handwriting varied considerably and not all writing is legible. Illegible words are replaced with [?].

Oddly enough, these letters' authors make no mention of battlefield trauma. Several wrote about the thundering noise and destruction of heavy artillery, but other than amazement of the destructive power of war hardware, they seemed largely unaffected by death or the possibility of being killed. Perhaps the majority of those who were closer to the fighting or more seriously affected by the violence never made it back home.

Kansas War Letters Online

"Bleeding Kansas"

Civil War

Indian Campaigns

Spanish American War

World War I

World War II

Korean War

Vietnam Conflict

Gulf War

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For more information concerning Kansas history and the resources at the Kansas Historical Society, contact the Library Reference Desk at 785-272-8681, ext.117. People interested in donating letters, memoirs, manuscripts, or photographs should contact Nancy Sherbert, 785-272-8681, ext. 303. People interested in donating museum objects should contact Blair Tarr, ext, 427.