January 26, 1948
Hey journal, what up? This is my very first time writing in you, so here it goes. My name is Kyle Korver, and i live in Clocksworth, West Virginia, and I was recruited to the army by my Uncle in January. I am currently under Commander, SSgt. Johnson. Even though SSgt. Johnson is very strict and emphasizes on discipline first, he is my favorite commander, and the same with all my fellow soldiers. The reason that I joined the war is because all of my friends were recruited by my uncle's brother, and they talked me into it because I didn’t want to be the only one not in it. I also joined because my family encouraged me to support President Trumanand my country in the war efforts. Usually i wouldn’t agree with my parents, but this time i believe that President Truman is actually fighting for a good cause, instead of just trying to be a bully like pass presidents. I also thought to myself that this is going to be a fun experience for me compared to sitting at home watching my television that only gets channels 1, 17, and 59. Well, right now I’m on a ship in the direction of the Soviets. I would stay and chit chat some more, but I need to get to sleep, talk to u later.

Back again journal with an update of my war life. Already the first month of camp past, man it went quick. Now don’t get me wrong, man was it hard. Right about now, I am wishing that I didn’t give into peer pressure and join this army. Just last night i was thinking about how risky this could be. O well, I don’t care, I’m happy; I’m in the best shape of my life, I’m spending every minute with my friends, and I don’t have to constantly worry about putting out the trash, keeping my room clean, and all that other nonsense my parents make me do. So ya, I’m getting used to this whole army thing and the everyday routine, the only thing that i would want to improve is the food. If I eat another bowl of slop, I will smoke myself. The usual day here is 5 o clock wake up, and you want to hear something crazy? They only give us 10 minutes to do everything. We have to wake up, shower, shave, and get fully dressed by 5:15. From there we line up in the food line, to recieve our daily breakfast, which consists of something like a bowl of slop and orange juice. From there we doin our morning excersises. which are pretty sternuous, let me tell you. Chief Storness the workout teacher kills us with the standing squats and pushups, I sure hope it rubs off in battle. Ok SSgt. Johnson is calling me, I must be off, I’ll finish my entry tomorrow.

Hey Journal, back again. Real quick, I need to finish my description of a normal day. So first we get up get dressed, eat breakfast, do our morning exercises, and from there we have 1 hour free time. Usually me and the guys play cards, listen to music, freestyle, stuff like that. Then after an hour we’re back on the job for lunch, and our afternoon workouts. Then we have three hours off, and then dinner.

That’s the end of that, so what else to talk about? Well, I am becoming more knowledgeable about this whole war thing, camp is beginning to rub off. I’m learning the terms, and what not to do, I feel like a veteran. Today were learned about staying in your trench, for cover and only go out into no man’s landif told to, because u can easily be shot down. The generals tell me that we’ll be entering battle soon, like 3 more days and we’ll be in battle against the Russians. I’m beginning to get pretty nervous, and at night i have bad dreams about, me moving to the frontline, and not being able to handle myself. I told my friend Konrad, he told me that’s how he felt, and now he’s one of the best soldiers we got, so that eased my a little. OOh i forgot to tell you, i made a knew friend, his name is Jon, he’s been in this army for 3 years now, and he’s sort of like my mentor, he shows me around, and tells me what to do when i don’t know. That’s enough, see ya.

Man I have soo much to tell you. First of all we were successful in the war, but i feel like I let down my squad. Every time i think about it, I want to cry. My squad hopped out of the trench and ran on no man’s land to attack an opposing Russian Trench, and I chickened out and stayed in the trench, pretending to be hurt. That’s not the bad part, my friend Jake died. When we entered the war, we promised that we would always have each others back. Jake was with my squad when the ran across no man’s land, and a Russian Sniper shot him down from behind. When they came back with a man missing, I was pretty sad, and when i found out it was Jake, I wanted to cry. From now on, I’m doing everything with the team, I’m going to be the bravest soldier in this battle, all for my buddy Jake. Other than that, it’s all gravy in Russia, we managed to make them throw in the towel, with minimal casualties on our side. I still can’t get over Jake’s death, I’ve been up for 3 days without sleep, whenever I try to sleep, all i do is roll over, and over, seeing Jake get shot in the back in slow motion, its soo sad. I know this isn’t healthy, but I’ can’t help it, I mean i lost my best friend. I can’t even eat, i walk up to the table, get my food, and end up just looking at it. If you ask anyone that knows me they’ll tell me that that’s not regular, I’m a big eater. Well I’m going to try to get some sleep, and think about what I’m going to write to my parents, and to Jake’s.

P.S: I wont talk to you in a couple of months, we’re invading South Russia next week.

August 1, 1948

Hey journal I’m back, sorry it was longer than I told you, I visited my house in West Virginia, to find my family safe and sound. Although everything there was going fine, I just didn’t feel like i belonged there, being in this war, it feels weird going home. I was constantly thinking about my friends, and if I lost another friend to the war when, I wasn’t with him, I would probably hang myself, but I didn’t.

So that’s that, now on the good or bad news, depending on which way you look at it. Just like I told you, I stood strong and ran with my squad in no man’s land, but it wasn’t free. A sniper shot my in my shoulder. Doc told me that I won’t be back in action for a couple of months. Finally rest!! The only bad thing is that i will lose the strength in that shoulder, and I’ll have to work my way up. Although my shoulder hurts, I’m feeling good. I finally gained respect from my team, they trust me now, knowing they can rely on me. Everything I do and they do is for Jake. Even though everything is going good right now, I don’t know that if I didn’t get injured, I would’ve been able to take anymore. I was becoming exhausted, working 24/7, I was constantly sick, and some of my fellow soldiers caught a slight case of trench foot, so I was trying to avoid that. Well, I’m going to go write a letter to my family back home, talk to you later.

-Kyle