“I never told you about the front Ma, because I was afraid you would worry but now it is all over and safe I guess it is alright.” (Letter to Mother, 11/23/1918)

Francis Edward Mahoney

Francis Mahoney in uniform [ca. 1918] War: World War, 1914-1918 Branch: Army Unit: 81st Aero Squadron; 1108th Aero Squadron; 493rd Aero Squadron, Technical Section; Casual Company 3, Air Service Service Location: New York; Texas; France Rank: Corporal

As Corporal Francis Mahoney served in France, he wrote regularly to his mother, assuring her that he was in good health and providing frequent updates on two of a soldier’s most important concerns – his pay and his mail. But following the armistice, he was able to share more details. He spent his first winter in France building barracks in frigid conditions, and saw many of the men around him die of pneumonia. He went on to serve at the front as a truck driver, narrowly avoiding enemy artillery, though some of his comrades were not so lucky. Mahoney describes the loss of life on the front as “an every day occurrence.”