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Experiencing War: Stories from the Veterans History Project

Tearful goodbyes and longing for happy reunions are the stuff of love stories. These experiences are even more poignant during wartime. Wars are fought by many men and women who have just found the special someone they want to be with for life. Wartime exchanges between sweethearts are documents of love, yearning, and courage.

Featured Story: John Walter Earle
Image of Tracy Sugarman

"Above all, I prayed that I would live to make you happy."

Tracy Sugarman left for World War II Europe with two desires: to capture his experiences in art work and to communicate in words to his new bride, June, what the art work couldn’t tell. Fortunately, June saved everything her husband mailed back: his visual impressions of wartime England and D-Day, and his letters, the reflections of a young man in love for the first time and facing the possibility that he might never see his sweetheart again. It is a story familiar from so many wars, but when Sugarman tells it, it somehow seems brand new.

John Walter Earle's StoryGo and experience
Tracy A. Sugarman's story
Experience more Stories of Sweethearts more stories
 

"It is love, not reason, that is stronger than death."      -- Thomas Mann

 
Image of Arnold M Robbins

"...Our mail is the only thing that keeps our hearts and our chins way up there..."

Arnold M. Robbins' story

Image of Denton Crocker

"When I wrote you about getting married five days after I come home..."

Denton W. Crocker's story

Image of Clare Marie Crane  on wedding day

"Seeing all the other fellows ... with their girls made me so darn lonesome ... that I just up and left."

Clare Marie Morrison Crane's story

Image of Samuael Boylston

Samuel Boylston's witty illustrated envelopes are his legacy of service.

Samuel Boylston's story

 
 
  The Library of Congress
  February 18, 2004
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