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There are many areas of collection within collecting military letters. Some collectors collect just
Others collect letters from just one branch of the service, such as Army, Navy, Marine, Air Force, or Coast Guard. Then there are collectors that collect specific units such as 965th Field Artillery, First Marine Division, 8th Army, and so on. Then others collect letters frorm a specific ship, such as the USS Oklahoma.
During times of war, most letters are censored, and have a censor's stamp, showing that the letter had been opened by the censor.
For the serious researcher, letters can yield facts that can be obtained in no other way. Though there is much recorded military history, much of it is dry statistical data. In a letter, you get the hopes, the dreams, the disappointments, the reaction over the death of a friend, and may other tidbits. You get one day in the life of a person who was living history.
To any veterans that might visit this page, I would like to take this chance to say thank you for your service. To any active military members, I would like to say thank you for what you do every day, and thanks also to your families, because I know they also are making sacrifices.
On this web site, you will find actual letters written during the Civil War, World War One, World War Two, Korean War, Vietnam War,and Afghanistan.
When doing online searches, keep in mind that some wars have more than one name, or more than one abbreviation. Here are some alternate terms.
The Civil War has also been called the War Between the States, the war between the North and South. In the south, it was sometimes referred to as the Second Revolution, or the War for Independence. In the North, it was sometimes referred to as The Great Rebellion. Also, when doing an online search, include the word American with the words Civil War, because other countries also have had Civil Wars, and doing a search with just “Civil War”, will include the Civil Wars of other countries also.
World War One is sometimes abbreviated as WWI, WW1, WW I, or WW 1. It has also been referred to as the First World War. Before the start of WWII, it was many times called The Great War. Using different abbreviations in online searches will return different results.
World War Two is sometimes abbreviated as WWII, WW II, WW2, or WW 2, and has also been called the Second World War.
The Korean War has also been called the Korean Conflict, and the Forgotten War, and the War Between North and South Korea.
The Vietnam War was sometimes referred to as the Vietnam Conflict.
The Gulf War, has also been referred to as the First Gulf War, and information can been found by searching the terms Operation Desert Shield, and Operation Desert Storm.
Afghanistan War, is most often referred to as the War in Afghanistan. Information can also be found using Operation Enduring Freedom.
Iraq War, has been called the War in Iraq, Operation Iraqi Freedom, The Second Gulf War. Both the Iraq War, and the Afghanistan War, are said to be part of The War on Terrorism.
Many times they have what is called an APO postmark, which is a military postmark, and there are collectors that collect those.
Some stamp collectors also collect covers, which is what the envelope that the letters were mailed in, are called in that hobby.
No matter how many letters I handle, I always get a feeling of reverence for the writer of the letter, and for all those who have given so much so that we all might enjoy freedom.
