Major Sullivan Ballou was in his early 30s when he joined the Union Army’s Rhode Island Volunteers. At the outbreak of the Civil War. Actor Edward Jarrow reads from Major Blue’s now famous letter to his wife. July 14th, 1861. Washington, D.C. my very dear Sarah, the indications are very strong that we shall move in a few days, perhaps tomorrow. Lest I should not be able to write you again, I feel impelled to write lines that may fall under your eye when I shall be no more. Our movement may be one of a few days duration, and full of pleasure, and it may be one of severe conflict and death to me, not my will, but thine. Oh, God, be …

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Whether sent by email from a Navy carrier today or by a letter courier in the American Revolution. Love letters home are a constant across the centuries. Writing his wife in June 1863, Samuel Campbell of the Massachusetts 55th Volunteer Infantry expresses his love for his family and his determination to end slavery here. Ed Bishop reads the escaped slaves letter home. June 1863. Dear wife, I have enlisted in on. I am now in the state of Massachusetts. But before this letter reaches you, I will be in North Carolina. And though great is the present national difficulties, yet, I look forward to a brighter day when I should have the opportunity. A career in the full enjoyment of freedom. I would …

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Hazel Jane Raines perfected her piloting skills as a barnstormer in Georgia air shows during World War Two. Raines first served the Allied cause as an Air Transport Auxiliary pilot for the RAF in England. When the U.S. military finally accepted women pilots. Raines returned to the states and joined the Wasps, pulling targets for gunnery trainees, a pilot of extraordinary skill. Raines flew 44 types of airplanes and was the first female reserve pilot called to active duty during the Korean War. Here, Diane Cooper Gould reads from Raines letters home from wartime England. Sunday morning, March 28th, 1943. Dearest mother. Now that it’s all over, I’ll tell you all about a funny experience I had sometime ago. I would have told …

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Throughout history, the sailors life has always involved risk and peril. In World War one. A terrible new danger was introduced. The submarine attack. In the following letter, a young Navy sailor from Texas, Hugh Alexandra Leslie, tells his family about the sinking of the USS President Lincoln. Actor Edward Giraud reads a selection from Leslie’s June 1917 letter. My dearest and beloved parents and brothers and sisters, I received your most kind and appreciated letters since I hit the old USA. Again, I suppose you read about us losing our good ship Lincoln by two torpedoes from an enemy sub. Also, the lives of 24 of our shipmates. I sent you a telegram as soon as I drove in New York. I …

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