The West Schuylkill Press-Herald announced Irvin Schwartz's promotion to corporal in December 1944 and that Schwartz's family received war souvenirs from Europe.
Letters from War – Battlefield promotion and war souvenirs, December 1944
Letters from War – “Our Battle for Aachen,” 1944
Irvin Schwartz's vivid description in a letter home to Schuylkill County describes the horror of the Battle of Aachen in October 1944.
Letters from War – Holiday greetings from the front lines in Nazi Germany, November 1944
Desperate to share Christmas cheer and hopes for a happy New Year, Pfc. Irvin Schwartz wished holiday greetings to friends and family through the newspaper.
When Schuylkill County soldiers raced to defend the Capitol in April 1861… and unfortunate modern parallels
In April 1861, soldiers from Pennsylvania's Coal Region raced to defend the US Capitol. 160 years later, some of those scenes repeated themselves.
Letters from War – The first letter from inside Hitler’s crumbling “Third Reich,” October 1944
In his first letter from inside Germany, Pfc. Irvin Schwartz describes interactions with residents of newly occupied Nazi territory.
Letters from War – Checking in with the staff of the Press-Herald from Belgium, September 1944
The young soldier from Pine Grove, PA checked in with his former boss at the West Schuylkill Press-Herald in early fall 1944.
Letters from War – Dining with a French family before returning to the front lines, September 1944
A fascinating letter from Pfc. Irvin Schwartz about dining with a French family after liberation of their town.
A painting of a US Army cavalryman at Pottsville – 1863
It appears to show a Pennsylvania horse soldier among the coal-rich mountains and valleys of Schuylkill County.
Four Christmases – Holiday excerpts from Henry Keiser’s Civil War diary
Four diary entries from the Civil War document the evolution of holiday experiences of a soldier from Pennsylvania's Coal Region.
Letters from War – A letter to the Schwartz family at home in Schuylkill County, August 1944
Irvin Schwartz's letter to his family in Schuylkill County was printed in the West Schuylkill Press-Herald in the summer of 1944.