Dear Ma and Pa,
How are you? Things here are Not Good! Hope you are doing better than me. Remember Joe? Joe Summer? Well, he was killed yesterday. We were getting what little exercise we could when a stray shell landed in the trench. Joe was between it and me, and boy did it take him out. The rats, they ate well that night – better than we did. We’ve been hearing rumors about a German ambush, so nobody’s been getting any sleep with all the tension. I checked my gun over 30 times last night, and I can now load it in under 5 seconds. Don’t worry, I won’t get hurt! Can’t wait ‘till I can come home. The mud is awful. If only mud pies were edible!
Your loving son,
Samuel D. Johnson
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