"Sherman was right when he said war was hell." Private Luke Higgins of Pottsville, PA wrote home to his sister from the front lines of France during World War I. In his letter, he described hellish scenes of dead bodies, artillery barrages, and mud everywhere as the American Expeditionary Force launched an offensive. Read the full story.
"Over here you don't see any baseball. Soccer is the game." Clarence Morgan of Port Carbon, PA wrote home to his mother and shared that he had tried playing soccer, but quickly learned he preferred American football to the "beautiful game." Read more.
John Adams crosses the Atlantic to plead America’s case before Europe, while Abigail Adams fights a quieter battle at home in Massachusetts. Episodes three and four of HBO’s John Adams reveal the exhausting diplomacy, family strain, and stubborn determination behind the Revolutionary cause. Listen to this episode of the Public History podcast.
In February 1945, a Schuylkill County anti-aircraft gunner wrote home from France, describing daily life near the front as the war neared its end. His letter offers a view of war-time service far from home. Read the full story.
Sergeant Walter Baranowski was wounded while serving as a paratrooper in France one week after D-Day. Read the full story of his evacuation from the front lines.
Private Harvey L. Adams was killed-in-action just hours after his son was born in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania.
In a lengthy final letter from war, Sergeant Schwartz describes his departure from war-torn Europe bound for his home in America.
A broken down ship becomes all that's standing between Irvin Schwartz and his first visit to the United States since 1943.
Sergeant Schwartz writes home to inform his family and friends that he had reentered France on his way home to Pennsylvania.
Sergeant Schwartz describes his return from brief journey to vacation on the French Riviera in the summer of 1945.