8 episodes
Letters From War The Washington Post
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- History
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4.5 • 252 Ratings
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Hundreds of letters, written between brothers fighting in the Pacific during World War II. Almost one a day, for every day of the war. In this podcast, you’ll hear the story of these brothers — the Eyde brothers — and of World War II, as told through their letters, in their own words. Bringing the letters to life are modern U.S. military veterans. At key moments in the story, we’ll talk to them about how these letters compare to their own experiences — what’s universal about war and what’s changed. And why everyone who picks up these letters feels like the Eyde brothers become a part of their family.
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An introduction
About a year ago, a man in Mesa, Ariz. emailed The Washington Post saying he had hundreds of letters written by a single family during World War II. When reporter Dan Lamothe began reading them, he couldn’t put the letters down.
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1941: The calm
Meet the Eydes, four brothers from Rockford, Ill., living through the Great Depression. Even with two away at basic training, and Adolf Hitler’s conquest of Europe well underway, war still seemed a remote possibility. Until the unthinkable.
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1942: The start
With the country at war, the Eyde brothers await their fates. Frank and Ralph inch closer to action, as they anxiously try to keep younger brother John away from the front lines.
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Discussion: Part I
The actors in this podcast are all veterans themselves. They join Dan to discuss their experiences reading the letters, and what is universal about the story of the Eyde family.
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1943-1944: Battles
Frank has seen his first combat, as Ralph and John prepare for their own deployments. Facing war has the brothers engaged in intense battles -- both physical and mental.
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1944-1945: The end
Back at home, Ralph and Frank struggle to recover and readjust to civilian life. Meanwhile, as the Allies move towards victory, John’s role in the war is just about to begin.
Customer Reviews
I want more.
Absolutely love and appreciate the story of these brothers and the historical context. It felt short to me only in that I wanted more. More of the actual letters. Most likely doesn’t make for a good podcast. Get it. 5 stars. Thank you for telling their story within our history.
Wonderful!
This is a very heartwarming tale of the love of a close-knit family. I wish there was more - I could listen to this for days. Thank you to everyone, mostly to Joe!
Cindy
This was fantastic, though I wish we’d heard far more of the letters than we did. I’ll check out the website for more info, but I would definitely tune in if ever you guys decided to expand this further and add additional episodes.