Review of War Letters

Our book club had our discussion for War Letters this past week. It was a great discussion and I was really pleased that most people had read at least a big section of the book.

This book is interesting, because it basically provides correspondence for most of the "Wars" the US has been involved in. The ones that are highlighted in the book are: Civil War, WW I and WW II, Korea, the Cold War, Vietnam, Gulf War, Somalia and Bosnia. They got the letters through the Legacy Project that asked for letters from people that either served in the war or received them on the homefront. The letters that are included vary from military personal to military commanders, to families writing to their sons/daughters serving, the President of the US, writers, the list is endless. The letters are fascinating, because prior to each, Andrew Carroll (the editor) includes a snipit about what was happening at the time and then afterwards includes a little spot about what happened to the person from the letter. For book club we only read Civil War and Persian Gulf (although I read all the Vietnam, Bosnia, and Somalia letters as well). It was fascianting to me to see through the letters how things were so different, but also still the same, and how the people felt about serving.

I loved the Vietnam letters, because I took a class at the U about the Vietnam War. I think this helped my understanding when I was reading, because I had a stronger background in what transpired (obviously after almost 10 years out of college it isn't all still as crystal clear) and for me it changed the way I read the letters (wow in 1963 people were already upset about the war and only 45 Americans had died).

In the section about the Persian Gulf one of the servicemen talks about how it just seems like a field operation, but by the end of the letter he has a totally different feeling.

"I think we have made a mistake and not finished this the way it should have been ended. There is now a weakness in my heart for the people of Iraq. I'm still tyring to explain what has gone on here. The next time you go to the drive-thru at McD's, remember that you haven't been living off rice, onions, and radiator water in a hole in the ground for the last month and a half, hoping you won't be exterminated by a pilot you don't hate, because someone told you if you didn't they would kill you and your family. The next time you see someone throwing garbage at the White House, know that a helicopter is not going to spray them with nerve gas. Don't hate the guy that has been busy burning Kuwait hotels and dragging people off , because it's been happening in his hometown for quite a while now, and by now he probably doesn't even realize what he's doing. It may appear to most of us over here and to you back home that we've done our jobs, but we've screwed up and didn't finish it. He's still alive, and unless somehow the rebels finish what we've started, we may be back. I guess I'm finally starting to feel I've fought in a war."

I thought it was interesting, in light of our current situation. There are lots of other great letters from the other wars, but that would take way too much time.

Andrew Carroll also has another book called Letters of a Nation. Interesting fact- he was only 31 when he published the book. The history of this book is also extremely fascinating. If you enjoy history at all- I would highly recommend getting a copy. You can find it at your local library, or I bought mine through Amazon for $4.98 or something ridiculously cheap. You can read it in sections while you are reading another book- it would be really easy.