Anonymous, Mother

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Dear Sir

I write to you as a mother who has lost her son, knowing that you are the face of all the sons that have been lost in this attrocity we call war, and those that bore the scars but came home.

While my own boy was taken from me early, and before I got the chance to know him, I cannot begin to fathom how countless mothers, sisters, wifes and friends felt sending you and your comrades off to the unknown, knowing you and your intricacies so well. There must have been a startling reminder in every household.

For you, the ones that went, life must have also been hard. These letters home would hopefully have cheered you up, and provided you with the link to the familiar. But for your families they must have been a lifeline also – the only thing they could do for their boy, the only way for him to know they were thinking of him constantly, the only outlet for their love.

I hope you got lots of letters while you were fighting. I hope you were able to see the love and care in them, and be transported back to your own safe place. I hope your family and friends wrote to you often. I’m glad you’re still receiving letters now.

This is not the only letter I’ll write today, for I will also send one to my own unknown soldier. But from a grateful mother I just want to say, thank-you for bringing the hope back with you, and for the promise of future generations.

Kind regards

Megan

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