Letter from the battlefield

A letter written by a young soldier to his family back home.

Dear Ma and Pa,

I am sorry I left without a notice, but I'm doing this for you and for my country. When I come back home again, I promise you'll be proud of me. I'll bring gifts for you, and for little Eloisee of course. How is she doing actually? I have missed her so much since I left and not a day passes by with me not thinking of her and her well-being. I thought of her coming to France for a visit after the war, with the family. Despite the tyrannical scenes, France is a beautiful country. We could visit Lille, a city close to Arras where I am. Eloisee could learn French, it is an exquisite language. Quite hard to understand, though, the French tend to speak very fast to each other, but in the course of time everyone can understand what they are saying. Nevertheless, she would love it here, and so would you, Ma and Pa.

We have fought many battles in this short period of time we've settled here. The bold soldiers we have lost are all stacked on a pile not far from where we are, our chief claims they will respectfully get a burial when the war is over. They will be embedded in flowers and the survivors of the war will pray for them in a line, the chief says. Ha, when you, Pa, read this, you'll think the exact same thing as me.

Ma, you don't have to worry about my health. I get food and hot beverages every day when possible and although it is cold every night, I got enough layers on me. My throat hurts at the moment and I wish you were here to prepare that delish soup of yours, the men would appreciate it too. We could give a banquet when I'm back, with all your delicious dishes. I miss your cooking, Ma. I actually miss everything about home, my room, our living room, our house and garden, Eloisee and her dolls, Pa and his jokes, my old friends from school, our nights out...

Anyways, all this to say, I still am happy to be here and to serve my country is a great honour to me. Every day we fight against the enemy and every day there's this question lingering in my head; will I be able to survive this day? If not... I'm sorry Ma and Pa, I really am. Words cannot describe the amount of fear I have every time I wake up. But then I'm on the battlefield and I still have that fear, but I also have this perseverance. I want to fight and that without an ounce of regret.

I can hear my chief calling for me. This letter has to end here. I love you Ma, I love you Pa. Give my love to Eloisee too.

Sincerely,

A. Burr

Author's Note

I wrote this letter last year as an assignment for history. The assignment was to write a letter from the perspective of a Canadian soldier fighting in the north of France in World War I. Because the letter had to get checked before it would be sent off, I wasn't allowed to speak of secrets within the battlefield.

I'm also a fan of the musical Hamilton and to get my history teacher at least a bit interested into the musical, I put in some references to the musical.