Thread by @AliAdair22

🎖️ "The new generation, our grandchildren, really should know what this [Greatest] generation did."

Sheila Stone's book was condensed into "Black Hours and Narrow Escapes," a publication distributed to 4,751 K-12 schools by The Gilder Lehrman Institute.

berkshireeagle.com/stories/the-ne…?

📚 "History books give us facts and dates and interpretations, but letters bring us history in the present tense, with no filters, no commentary, & no distance," Stone writes in the publication's introduction.

The publication was adapted from this book:

berkshireeagle.com/stories/letter…

📚 The Gilder Lehrman Inst. of American History distributed the publication to schools in 17 countries

Sheila Stone of Williamstown, Massachusetts helped make this happen, after compiling her husband's letters from World War II, which were stored in a hat box, into a book.

🗞️ @JennSmith_Ink of the @BerkshireEagle gives a few examples of the letter excerpts:

📩 In a letter to his family dated Feb. 11, 1943, Bob describes training camp, and being routed out of bed at 4 a.m.

"It's certainly a heck of a grind!!!" he writes.

✍️ In describing his unit of about 35 trainees, he writes: "Never have I been with such a funny bunch of fellows. Each one is cleverer than the next & the repartee that floats around is truly something...the language is not that of the king's court but none the less it's a riot!"

✍️ Another letter dated 3/17/45: "The tension on a crew plays hell with you until you've finally flown your 40th. Once you have most of your missions completed, you're constantly thinking about flying the last few...

🎖️ Letter dated 3/17/45 (cont'd): Before a man has completed his tour of combat duty, he's mentally been through the torture of the damned."

📚 To become a Gilder Lehrman Affiliate school and receive their materials and other benefits, it costs around $20/year. For more information:

gilderlehrman.org/shop?field_pro…

@threadreaderapp please unroll, thank you!