Collections : [University of Michigan William L. Clements Library]

This collection is made up of letters that Private First Class Edgar Denton of La Grande, Oregon, wrote to his friends Frank and Murdle Smith while serving with the United States Army during World War II. Denton discussed his enthusiasm for rifle and machine gun training and concern for his wife and children.

This collection is made up of 4 letters that Private First Class Edgar Denton wrote to his friends Frank and Murdle Smith of Summerville, Oregon, while serving with the United States Army during World War II. He wrote his first two letters from Camp Hood, Texas, and Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, while training for combat and awaiting deployment to Europe. He discussed his enthusiasm for rifle and machine gun training, commented on his correspondence with his wife Peggy, and requested news of mutual acquaintances in Oregon. Writing from Europe in late 1944 and early 1945, Denton expressed his belief that the war would soon end and referred to his hospitalization in England after suffering wounds in the hip and back.

The John H. Stillions collection is made up of one photograph and six letters written between June 1918 and November 1918, while Private Stillions was stationed at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland. The letters, written to and from future wife Mamie Catherine Smith, Alverta E. Remsberg, and various family members, discussed life at home and family visits. They include love letters and also pencil illustrations of John and Mamie by a child, Samuel E. Smith. A tintype photograph of a man in uniform accompanies the letters.