Reaction #4: World War I Era Letter

Using the links I gave you last week, your text, and your VoF readings, take on the perspective of the personage you chose. You will need to produce a (750 word minimum) letter or diary entry, suitable for publication on your blog. While creativity is encouraged, your writing must be factual and show evidence that you’ve done your readings. You should reference any major events or legislation that would affect your character directly.



My Dearest Thomas,

Your last letter was received and much appreciated my love. My heart mourns for your most recent loss, I know that Paul meant a great deal to you. I am sure his family has been informed by now. Poor Josephine, I will call on her tomorrow and see if I can help any. With two young boys to raise now all on her own, I do hope she fairs well. It frightens me to see so many women dressed all in black. All these widowed women, some at such a young age, and now they have all the responsibilities of the household unloaded onto them. Do you think they will receive mother’s pensions? I certainly hope so. I do my best to stay positive, my dear, like you told me before you departed. But what I have seen weakens my stomach and chips away at my heart. I see boys not much older than our sons returning from the front lines with missing limbs. Bloody bandages masking gaping holes and crushed spirits realizing that life will never be the same. Not a single soldier returns with even a fraction of the enthusiasm he left with. These broken men slouch over and eyeball the ground as they saunter about. It makes for an extremely gloomy atmosphere.
Many women are leaving to volunteer off in France to nurse the wounded back to health. I cannot imagine what the war looks like up close. I know you refrain from including the gruesome details of your encounters in your letters. It troubles me to think that you cannot relay all of your experiences onto me but perhaps it is better that I do not know. I must stay optimistic and merely hearing from you is entirely a blessing in itself my love. I have taken the initiative to purchase some liberty bonds: it is seen as unpatriotic if one does not. However, I am happy to help the effort in any way I can. My dear husband sometimes I believe that if I could be out there with you I would. Silly thoughts, of course, but how else might I serve my country than to stand beside my fellow citizens and defend our way of life? Since I cannot join the military I have to settle with doing my best at home to be of assistance. The Food Administration has started to encourage new practices to conserve food to send out to the troops. So naturally I participate in rationing, wheatless Mondays and meatless Thursdays, as they are called. I also prepare dinners when I can for some of our friends and neighbors who have lost loved ones to the war. How I wish I could do more, but I find a certain satisfaction simply doing something.
I cannot express how profoundly I long for your presence here at home. The nights are so dreary and the bed we once shared now feels cold and empty. I wish to send only words of encouragement and hopeful expressions, but my heart cannot release itself from this desolate grasp that it has become entangled in. How long must I endure this dawdling torture? When you ventured off to serve our nation I did my best to prepare myself for what I thought would be an agonizing wait. Nothing could have primed me for such torment. Do not question my support and admiration for you, my champion, for I carry on proudly knowing that my husband selflessly defends our great nation. The posters Wilson had mounted on every corner and open space remind us all each day that our troops need our support. I simply wish that this could all end quickly so that my husband may return unharmed to his beloved children and eager wife. How I yearn to feel your touch, to hear your melodious voice whisper sweet sentiments to me once more. I fear that each knock on the door will be from some detached messenger sent to deliver the heart-stopping news that would turn me into a widow. I pray for your safety and for your speedy return. The children also worry for their father but I tell them they just have to be patient. I know not what else to say to set their fragile hearts at ease.
I do not wish to cause alarm, sweet Thomas, but I am starting to fear for our rights here at home. The government has just passed a Sedition Act that can imprison people just for criticizing the war effort. Do they expect no one to object to this war? It is precisely actions like these that cause one to question the validity of the Constitution. If our fundamental laws are so easily trumped then what security can we find in it? It worries me that our foundation is so shaky but I see why President Wilson wants to silence anti-war sentiments. I just hope after all of this that things can go back to the way they were. I almost forgot to tell you, I may have my voting rights when you return! The suffragists are pushing stronger than ever now and even taking risks of being arrested! The leader of the National Women’s Party, Alice Paul, is in prison at this very moment. She is still so influential that she started a hunger strike in jail! I know their actions seem absurd but I am excited at the thought of women finally participating in politics. This letter is starting to get lengthy so I will await your reply and save the rest of my thoughts for my response. The boys send their love and of course you know I send all of mine.

Forever Yours,
Jane