Assignment # 11: Letters of Remembrance

For the link to Miss Pollock's post about this blog click here.

To read letters from real soldiers click here.

September 17th, 1916
Dear Mother,
  
   I am terribly sorry for not writing back in so long. My best friend, Stephen Woodsworth, died recently. He got a serious injury and I spent all of my free time kneeling beside him and comforting him. One day while we were conversing, he stopped talking abruptly and it was then that I realized that I will never hear one of his jokes ever again. My emotions got the better of me and there was a big lump in my throat that I couldn't swallow and my eyes started to water. I cannot stand the fact that he died. He was a loyal friend, one that I will never forget and keep in my heart always.

   Enough about me, how is my dearest little sister? Does she still worry about me? Tell her that I am alright. How I miss her joyous laughter. I miss your cooking, especially your wonderful blueberry pie. All the food here tastes like nothing. I really enjoyed the batch of cookies you sent me, even though they were stale by the time they arrived, they were still better than the food here. I would really like a new pair of trousers and maybe a new shirt because it's really hard to do laundry here, I have been wearing the same clothes for about a month.

   Apart from the food,the worst thing about living here is the trenches! There are millions of rats, some the size of cats! They eat everything and are really irritating. I got lice from other men and feel itchy all the time. I never get proper sleep these days. Some men think that the war will be over soon, I hope so too. Now I wonder why I ever agreed to go to war. Maybe it was because of all the fame and glory. Now that I think of it I might die before the war is even over!

   Well, it is 10.00pm and I'm very exhausted. The guys are telling me to hurry and blow out the light. There are no words to describe my sadness of all this death around me and how much I miss home and all of you!May God protect us!

Loving Wishes,
From Your Dearest Son,
Matthew Dickinson