My Fellow Soldiers Press Materials

My Fellow Soldiers: Letters from World War I

04.06.2017

Press Kit

Media only:

Marty Emery

emerym@si.edu

(202) 431-8963

Related Exhibition

American Red Cross photo postcard shows soldiers sending mail.

My Fellow Soldiers

April 6, 2017 - December 2, 2018

Through personal correspondence written on the frontlines and home front, this centennial exhibition uncovers the history of America’s involvement in World War I. The compelling selection of letters illuminates emotions and thoughts engendered by the war that brought America onto the world stage; raised complex questions about gender, race and ethnic relations; and ushered in the modern era. Included are previously unpublished letters by General John Pershing, the general who led the American Expeditionary Forces and a person who understood the power of the medium. In his postwar letter that begins “My fellow soldiers,” he recognized each individual under his command for bravery and service. My Fellow Soldiers: Letters from World War I was created by the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum in collaboration with the Center for American War Letters at Chapman University.

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Related Media

American Red Cross postcard with a photo of soldiers sending mail

American Red Cross photo postcard with soldiers sending mail

Military service personnel deployed to the front lines in Europe during World War I wrote millions of letters home to the United States. Family and friends on the home front sent 35 million letters in response over just the first year after entering the war.
Courtesy Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum

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Miss Irene Donnelly’s letter to Private Charles Eggeling

Miss Irene Donnelly’s letter to her sweetheart Private Charles Eggeling

Irene Donnelly decorated this patriotic stationery with a blue star signifying her sweetheart's deployment. She began this letter on November 7, 1918 in celebration of the news that the war had ended, however, the official ceasefire was not signed until November 11, 1918.
Courtesy Center for American War Letters Archives, Leatherby Libraries, Chapman University, CA

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World War I postcard with a portrait of General John J. Pershing

General John J. Pershing’s portrait on a World War I postcard

At the end of the war, General John J. Pershing—commander of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF)—wrote a letter of appreciation to the members of the AEF, and that letter begins “My Fellow Soldiers.”
Courtesy Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum

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Postcard with pre-printed message for the military to send home

Many charitable organizations supplied stationery to encourage the military to write home to their loved ones. The YMCA freely distributed this postcard with a pre-printed message for military personnel about to embark for overseas deployment. The cards were mailed when the ship arrived safely. Stewart C. Lockhart with AEF Medical Unit 60 sent this card to Mrs. Nellie Bailey in October 1918.
Courtesy Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum

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American aid worker writing a letter for a wounded soldier, France, 1918

Courtesy National Archives

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Captain Harry S. Truman’s letter to Bess Wallace

Captain Harry S. Truman’s letter to his fiancée Bess Wallace, dated February 18, 1919

Future President of the United States, Captain Harry Truman described details for his fiancée Bess Wallace about readying his artillery battery for review by the commander of the AEF, General John Pershing, and wrote: “The General told me . . . that he wanted me to take [my troops] home as clean morally and physically as when they came over.”
Courtesy National Archives, Harry S. Truman Library, Independence, MO

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