Personal Narrative Manuscript/Mixed Material Photo, Print, Drawing Ralph Emerson Jones Collection

[Detail] Ralph Emerson Jones during World War I

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

War or Conflict: World War, 1914-1918
Branch of Service: Army
Service Unit/Ship: 333rd Infantry
Location of Service: Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana; Camp Zachary Taylor, Kentucky; Camp Sherman, Ohio; Camp Merritt, New Jersey; Camp d'Auvours and Le Mans, France
Highest Rank: Captain
Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/5651

"My own dear wife--gee, it thrills me to write that." (letter to Josephine Jones, 8/12/1917)

While Captain Ralph Emerson Jones did not have to face the horrors of trench warfare during his service in France, his time in the Army was marked by hardships nonetheless-namely, his separation from his beloved wife, Josephine. A newlywed when he departed for France in the summer of 1918, he was a prolific correspondent. In addition to recording his leisure activities and observations of French life, nearly all of his letters mention his love for Josephine and his loneliness without her. As his correspondence illustrates, being apart from loved ones often made the challenges of service overseas even harder to bear.