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Chaplain’s letter


kwc271
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Here is a letter from an army Chaplin to the family of a soldier who was KIA . He is from my hometown.

It tells the manner in which he was killed. Interesting.

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Thank you for reposting the letter. I agree with Scott “very nice” and having a letter like this from the past reminds us of the horrors of war and the lose of a young son and the grief of a family but the comfort they find in letter from a Chaplain explaining the care taken for their son.

 

Again thank you for reposting.

 

Marty

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No problem, the neat thing is I live in Greenville County and I knew the street he lived on so I drove by his old house and it is still there, looks a little run down now though. Kinda sad really. I’m sure his family that lived there are long gone now.

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Hookemhorns88

No problem, the neat thing is I live in Greenville County and I knew the street he lived on so I drove by his old house and it is still there, looks a little run down now though. Kinda sad really. I’m sure his family that lived there are long gone now.

As a side note, out of curiosity I often look on Google maps for the address/house of the soldier's home if it is listed in the census records or other means during my research of a soldier. The Streetview often times satisfies my curiosity of the house and its status.

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Yes, that is a good idea. I would have done something like that myself, but since I already knew where it was and was so close I thought I’d check and see

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Brian Keith

That is a really nice letter. I'm sure it was of great comfort to the family to receive it. I have read several similar letters sent to the Next-of-Kin. Nearly all mention that the soldier died nearly instantly and didn't suffer. I sometimes am a bit of a realists. These letters were written to give comfort to the family, not a historical document on what actually happened. No mother wants to read that her son tripped an enemy mine, had a leg blown off and bleed out screaming for his mother. I have read of in home family memorials to French Solders of WWI that included combat damaged helmets that one would conclude was a fatal wound. While at first one would consider it a bit macramé, one could see that it was a comfort to "know" your loved one didn't suffer. I lost two friends in Afghanistan, one to a trained sniper who shot him in the armpit when he raised his arm to enter his vehicle. Information from soldiers who were there was that he likely was dead before he hit the ground. The other died when an anti-tank mine destroyed his HUMVEE. I like to think Mike passed quickly, but I've never talked to anyone who was near when it happened. I deployed to Afghanistan after loosing my friends, but it wasn't much of a combat zone when I was there. It turned out more of a concern with my wife and daughter at the time.

BKW

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