Letter from Overseas
Letter from Overseas makes palpable the tensions that pervaded the home front during the height of World War II, when Thomas Hart Benton created this lithograph. Letters served as the only form of communication between mothers and sons, wives and husbands. Could Benton, a World War I veteran, have been inspired by sentiments like those found in these excerpts from real wartime letters?
“. . . where I am now, and where I may be tomorrow, the next day or week, time will tell. And sometimes under conditions it is hard to think strait [sic] . . . we are no longer in France or England, but in Germany enemy territory. . . .” March 1, 1945
“Tonight I am of course in Germany. . . . This is about all I can tell you. . . . Maybe if you listen to the radio or read the paper about the Third Army you can find out more. . . . I am feeling fine, although a little scared once in a while. . . .” March 23, 1945
“Visited Trier, Germany. . . . The place was a wreck. Thousands of houses full of furniture and everything except what the people could carry with them. . . .” March 25, 1945
Read the full letters and more at: http://wwiiletters.blogspot.com/
