World War I Letters

My grandfather Martin J. Conlon wrote letters home to his future wife Elena Fogarty from the Red Cross hospital after he was wounded.

World War II Letters

My mother Dorothy M. Figueroa was a prolific correspondent with boys from the neighborhood and kept the letters that she received. One of her deepest memories was of a letter from a boy about to embark for Normandy, who lamented that he had to burn all her letters before setting off on the invasion. Letters have been scanned and uploaded, but because copyright belongs to the original author, they are not publicly available.

Korean War Letters

My uncle Ed (Martin E. Conlon) was drafted into the U.S. Army during the Korean War. He corresponded with my folks, who saved his letters, which I have transcrbed, annotated, and published with permission from the estate of his widow Dottie. The originals will be donated to the War Letters Project at Chapman University. 

Ed was lucky not to see any action, as he arrived in Korea shortly before the armistice, but the letters make interesting reading as his unit moved around Korea. I have added annotations about some the key places, events, and people to whom he refers.

• Fort Dix, New Jersey – December 25, 1952
• Aboard the U.S.S. Mann – May 22, 1953
• Camp Fuji, Japan – June 7, 1953
• Camp Fuji, Japan – June 22, 1953
• Pusan, Korea – July 5, 1953
• Yong Dong Po, Korea – July 31, 1953
• Yong Dong Po, Korea – August 24, 1953
• Munsan Ni, Korea – September 17, 1953
• Pusan, Korea – October 21, 1953
• Pusan, Korea – November 11, 1953
• Pusan, Korea – December 29, 1953
• Inchon, Korea – January 10, 1954
• Inchon, Korea – January 19, 1954
• Inchon, Korea – February 20, 1954
• Koje Island, Korea – March 11, 1954
• Yangu Valley, Korea – April 18, 1954
• Yang gu Valley, Korea – June 30, 1954
• Korea – July 23, 1954
• Korea – September 9, 1954
• Korea – September 25, 1954
• Korea – October 5, 1954

Here are some photos that Ed sent home.