As I first read the letter from Solon Borglum to probably his wife, Emma Borglum, and their children, I saw many interesting things. When I was looking for a post to right about, I saw that his letters were from WW1. I know we just learned about it, so I chose the first letter from him. A few questions that I have is how this seems to be at the end of the war, yet he and the army expected for France to be raided soon. I would have thought since Russia would have probably pulled out by now, the Allies were at an advantage at that point and would be at the offence. I'm also interested how him and his family managed to read that handwriting. Did everybody write in strong cursive? He might have bean in a hurry, yet the Words seem to line up.
The source below had many interesting features about it. As obviously stated in the title, this is a letter. It was written by Solon Borglum and was meant to be for most likely his wife, Emma Borglum, and their children. However, it didn't specify. It didn't have a date, but the website with the source says it dates back to 1918 coming to an end of WW1 in months from July to August. Stated in the letter, it is coming from France as they await an invasion so far for two days, not knowing when it may come. What interests me is the actual paper. I has the US flag on the top left and a YMCA in the top right. I guess YMCA helped with letters back then. The paper was meant for letters since it was lined and at the bottom it says, "Help your country by saving. Write on BOTH sides of this paper."
Based on Module 14 Blog Post, I know that WW1 is coming to an end, as I stated before. I also stated how Russia pulled out from the war so they were more at an advantage. However, it could have been a certain area that was in danger, since France borders Germany. The printed line which askes to use both sides of the paper means something. The US was rationing, like other countries, because of the war and were trying to save money. This could have ben a main reason for The Great Depression to have happened and for it to hit the main countries who were in the war like Germany, the US, Britain, etc.
I wouldn't say that there are lessons we can take from this and use them today. But it is important to know what happened to solders in wars. All of them followed orders and face the consequences of trauma, PTSD, etc. People today on other countries are going through the same thing by living in wars in Syria and Palestine. They're starving in Yemen land plenty of other third world countries. Soldiers today still have trauma from the wars. It's just nice to be grateful of what we have and that it could change at any moment without us realizing it. Covid hit us hard and we didn't prepare at all because most people thought it didn't exist, let alone how it would affect anyone. Back then in the trenches in WW1 and WW2 (in some areas), if people weren't killed, they were always on the lookout of people shooting at them or poisonous gas or flamethrowers or bomb, etc. and if they needed to sleep at some point, they were still in the middle of all that, like Solon waiting for an ambush, not knowing when it would come or if he would wake up the next day to write to his family again.
Have you ever thought about how anyone could manage the specified living conditions?
Hi Hamza! I like how you picked up on the kind of mundane (or maybe quotidian?) elements of this letter--especially in your last paragraph. It is valuable to understand the human experiences of those who served in WWI, including thinking about how they wrote to loved ones in the midst of a quite traumatic experience. It reminds me of Alan Seeger's poetry we read for the WWI module. There's a balance/tension between boredom and intensity.