This collection of letters was written by Charles Corcoran to his parents Mr. and Mrs. W. P. (Pat) Corcoran during the years he was in the army, 1917-1919. Arranged chronologically, the first letter is dated October 4, 1917 when Corcoran arrived at Camp Grant, near Rockford Illinois. He stayed there for a little over a month until he was transferred to Camp Pike near Little Rock Arkansas on November 18 as part of the 345th Infantry. While at Camp Pike, Corcoran was promoted to corporal in early June 1918 and left for Camp Dix, near Wrightstown, New Jersey later that month. Corcoran stayed at Camp Dix until at least August 22, at which point his correspondence breaks off, resuming a month later, on September 18, 1918, while Corcoran is stationed in Mehun, France with the American Expeditionary Forces. His letters from overseas continue more sporadically until December 26. Two days later, Corcoran left from Brest, France and arrived back in the United States in early January, 1919. The last letter in this collection is dated January 11, 1919, saying that Corcoran was returning to Camp Grant.
Corcoran's letters while overseas do not recount any combat action he participated in but mainly focus on his daily life, and his impressions of France and England. Likewise, many of his letters he wrote before leaving for Europe focus on his day to day activities, his trips off base to see such cities as Little Rock, New York, and Philadelphia, and family members and friends from his hometown in River Falls, Wisconsin.
The photograph is available as the original negative and as a scan produced for reference use.
