00:02My name is Andrew Carroll.
00:04I'm the founding director of the Center for American War Letters.
00:06These letters had secrets to reveal.
00:08They show us the beating heart of history.
00:11That paper is an extension of somebody.
00:14And there's a connection. There's a tangible connection.
00:20Dear Helen, you say that you wish you were over here.
00:24Although most people think that they are war conscious,
00:27how can they be?
00:30Their knowledge is facts of the mind.
00:34Mine is the war-torn body, scared to soul's death.
00:39Someone said, why letters?
00:40They're kind of the world's great undiscovered literature.
00:42It captures the essence of that person.
00:45They fell in love through letters.
00:48I try not to count the days until I see you.
00:50Worlds apart, and yet together.
00:52These are moments which should never be lost.
00:54Just think of all these millions of letters that are still out there.
00:57You never know what you're gonna find.
00:58Wait.
01:00This is it.
01:00I'm a little getting chills.
01:07I wanted people to see the human aspect of war.
01:11I think they're cathartic for the letter writers.
01:13I don't know if I should tell you this or not, but I have to tell somebody.
01:17Troops subconsciously write for history.
01:19And they kind of want there to be a record of that.
01:21This is what I saw.
01:23History needs to know this.
01:24Dear Carolyn.
01:25Dear husband.
01:26These letters have enormous power to bring us together.
01:29Dearest Beryl.
01:30Dear Arlene.
01:30And to show the best of human nature.
01:32Dear babe.
01:32Your Betty and...
01:33Dear brother.
01:34Dear folks.
01:36But I have to confront the fact that they also show us the worst.
01:41Death is not an accident.
01:43It is the only real stable possible thing.
01:47People are always killing the enemy.
01:50Some shadow.
01:51And it's in the particulars where love resides.
01:54My love, darling.
01:56I want you to know how much I appreciate you.
01:58Can't wait to get back.
01:59I won't leave again.
02:02These letters provide the individual window into the individual life.
02:07It's so important to have that connection.
02:10I cannot thank you enough.
02:13There they were.
02:14To support us.
02:15The letters literally kept people alive.
02:19That to me is hope in even the most divisive times.
02:30hurdle fake spes and pursuit.
02:33To support us.
