Dear Boys in Service

About the Book

To our servicemen and servicewomen, there is one big event in the day—mail call. Watch an old episode of MASH, and see the reaction of the members of the 4077th when Radar or Klinger announces, “Mail call.” It was outside the Old Stone Fort that I saw the memorial to the Schoharie men who had made the supreme sacrifice during WWI—right there was the name of Carl Beard Skidmore. Of course I had to ask who he was and found out he was my uncle, my father’s half brother that I never knew about. He died on November 1, 1918, in France, a year after my father was born. What are they, we and these honored dead, looking for in the mail? If they were like me, they were looking for news about home. It didn’t matter who or what news was in the letter. Even if it was just gossip, it was a connection to someone at home.

About the Author

Frank’s family has long shown an interest in their history. His father had shared copious notes by Emma Fullington Skidmore (Frank’s paternal great-grandmother) and repeated stories of “the farm” in Jefferson, NY as well as summers in Summit in the Catskill Alps of NY. Both Frank’s parents discussed family history often. Their interest included membership in Wiltwych Chapter of DAR and artifact contributions to the Schoharie Old Stone Fort in the Catskills. Growing up in Gettysburg stoked his own interested in history leading to a degree in History at Bucknell University. These letters are part of a collection that he received after the passing of his father. Those letters were saved by his paternal grandmother, Frank Leona Skidmore and resulted in his first book Dear Leona the courting letters of his grandfather Morris W. Skidmore to his grandmother. Mr. Skidmore is also the author of several pieces on his uncle, a Marine in France during WW1, including Letters from the Dominie in the Schoharie County Historical Society Journal (Vol LXXXII No.2); Carl’s Homecoming in the December 2008 Camaraderie (Journal of the Western Front Association US); Carl Skidmore’s Family Learns of His Death in the May-June 2008 St. Mihiel Trip-Wire Newsletter. Currently in preparation is a book-length study based on correspondence of and about Private Carl Beard Skidmore provisionally titled Dear Momma,Pappa and all: A Voice from the Dead.