Background information and commentary by Andrew Carroll: Last week I said that today's letter would be by Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, who, years after the Civil War, visited an old battlefield where he had once fought. Immediately after I posted that comment I remembered Mother's Day, so I hope everyone won't mind if I jump a little out of sequence and feature a letter this week in honor of moms. And it's an unusual letter, too, by a young lieutenant junior grade named Joseph Ball Cralle II, who was serving in the Solomon Islands in 1944. What makes his Mother's Day message different, and especially poignant, is that his mother had passed away in 1943. The pain of her death was still raw, and he felt compelled to write the following. (This letter was first published in BEHIND THE LINES.)

My darling Mother,

Wherever you are, I have a feeling you are watching me on this day, the first Mother's Day I can ever remember us being apart.

And I want to tell you on this, your day, that I stand as I am a tribute to your molding. You guided me through many crises, you steered me clean of many pitfalls, you formed my habits and my personality. My very life is a monument to your untiring efforts, your never-ending thoughtfulness, your tender love.

I shall always be thankful that you were spared the agony and uncertainty of this period, of weeks without news of my safety and whereabouts.

But today I want you to know that I face the future with confidence and without fear, knowing that we have a job to do, that our cause is just, and that we shall be victorious.

And so I send my love, wherever you are, and know that we shall meet again somewhere, someday!

Your devoted son

Joe

NEXT WEEK: Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain revisits an old battlefield. (Truly.)