The following sections of this BookRags Literature Study Guide is offprint from Gale's For Students Series: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Works: Introduction, Author Biography, Plot Summary, Characters, Themes, Style, Historical Context, Critical Overview, Criticism and Critical Essays, Media Adaptations, Topics for Further Study, Compare & Contrast, What Do I Read Next?, For Further Study, and Sources.
(c)1998-2002; (c)2002 by Gale. Gale is an imprint of The Gale Group, Inc., a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Gale and Design and Thomson Learning are trademarks used herein under license.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction: "Social Concerns", "Thematic Overview", "Techniques", "Literary Precedents", "Key Questions", "Related Titles", "Adaptations", "Related Web Sites". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults: "About the Author", "Overview", "Setting", "Literary Qualities", "Social Sensitivity", "Topics for Discussion", "Ideas for Reports and Papers". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
All other sections in this Literature Study Guide are owned and copyrighted by BookRags, Inc.
"Be with him at every mail call" was a motto used by the U.S. government to encourage frequent letter writing to military men overseas. The U.S. military considered letters a powerful morale booster. Letter writers were told to be positive and "cheery," to provide details of home life but never to include information that might be useful to the enemy if the letters were captured. Magazines featured articles on the "do's and don'ts" of letter writing. Wives, mothers, sweethearts, grandmothers, sisters, aunts, nieces, and neighbors all wrote. For many it was a daily ritual. It usually took a letter six weeks by boat to reach the intended soldier.
Letters took up so much cargo space that the government developed V-mail. V-mail letters were written on special 8 ½-by-11-inch forms that could be purchased at local stores or the post office. Once the letter was written, the form was then returned to the post office and sent to the military where it was photographed. The film was flown to a mail center near the recipient's position. There the film was developed, and the V-mail was delivered in the form of a 4-by-5 ½-inch photograph.
Approximately seventeen hundred V-mail letters could fit in a cigarette packet. V-mails reached soldiers by air in twelve days or less. Over a billion V-mails were sent during the war. The V-mail process was the beginning of microfilming.