Sherburne History Center Blog

The letters from George Bostrom to his sister document the events of World War One in interesting detail. Only after the war is over, he writes about seeing action in the Argonne Forest. More importantly, in the chronolo0gical order of his letters, he describes his seven days of leave in December 1918. He provides an interesting contrast between life on the front lines versus the luxury hotel he stays in Chambray, France.  I am having just a dandy time at present , he wrote. Have been over here long enough to be granted a seven day pass and here I am at Chambray to enjoy it. And I sure am enjoying it. After being in the lines for nearly a month of real hardships. Laying in shell holes and digin’s, what we call them, lots of times wet thru and thru and cold and then sent to a place like this with every comfort you can think of.    He went on to describe the luxuries of the ever-present Y.M.C.A. The Y.M.C.A I must tell you about. There’s a Y. here in a very large bu...

A few weeks ago, we shared a few lines of letters from Pvt. George Bostrom to his sister.  Bostrom, originally from Elk River, served in the American Expeditionary Force in France during World War One.  Here is a second portion of a letter in 1918 sharing conditions in France in the last days of the war: Well Sister, I’m in the lines again and have been for some time.  I think we will move soon, possibly little further to the front because we are kind of in reserve here although we aren’t so very far from the front. Suits me alright tho because back here we would be an excellent target for the (Germans) if they had a mind to open up their big guns on us.  There has been some of their medium sized shells come our way at different times.  The other night they sent ove3r a few that made us wonder if they really had come with our names marked on them but I guess they must have misspelled them.  I shouldn’t joke that way.  It hurts me when I hear others t...

  An interesting collection arrived at the Sherburne History Center in recent weeks.   A wonderful collection of letters from George Bostrom to his family members living here in Sherburne County.   Particularly interesting, the bulk these letters came from France during World War One.   George’s letters document the different training camps and finally his stations “somewhere in France”.   The letters begin in 1918 and continue through 1920.   In letters to his family George documents everything from experiencing bombings at the front, to the price of chocolate.   Also interesting, he provides the exchange rate from American dollars to French francs.   From his letters we know, a 12-ounce chocolate bars cost anywhere from thirty cents to sixty cents. Letterhead from the Knights of Columbus.   George Bostrom used this, as well as letterhead  provided by the YMCA, to write letters home In a letter written the day before the Armistic...