![]() ![]() Sometimes, however, letters exchanged during the war served to bring couples even closer together. The number of “Dear John” letters received by soldiers whose place in a girl’s affections had been taken by the guy who stayed at home is heartbreaking. Many young couples, married or about to be, found it impossible to maintain the intimacy they had once shared. Soldiers were often gone from home so long that the correspondence they exchanged with their families and friends became the only way of maintaining those relationships. Despite the enforced restrictions, however, letters from soldiers far from home became cherished objects once they reached their recipients. Censors carefully removed any sections of stateside-bound letters that might give away the position or plans of the troops. ![]() Soldiers writing letters home not only had to confine their words to a single sheet if planning to send them by V-mail, but they also had to be careful about the sensitivity of the information they included in their letters. It was also free for soldiers to send V-mail, though Americans at home had to pay to use the service. Though specially designed sheets of writing paper were needed to send V-mail, soldiers in all branches of the armed forces were provided with these sheets free of charge. Sending the letters as thumb-sized images on microfilm allowed the military to conserve precious space in their cargo ships while still arranging for the delivery of morale-boosting letters. Called “V-mail” by the Americans, the process consisted of microfilming letters sent to and from military personnel, transporting them by ship in microfilm form, and blowing them up again at specified locations before delivering them to their addressees. ![]() To combat this difficulty, the American military post popularized an imaging technique that originated in England. Cargo space taken up by the mail was desperately needed for war materials. As important as regular mail was to the morale of American troops, military supply ships were often swamped with bags and bags of letters needing to be delivered. So many letters were written, in fact, that the military post began to have a problem. Now American weapons and supplies were not the only things traveling overseas to war-the nation’s sons and daughters signed up and shipped out, determined to defend the home front to the best of their abilities.Īs had been the case during the First World War, letters quickly became the most important means of communication between families at home and their loved ones serving overseas. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, however, circumstances changed yet again. All manner of weapons and vehicles were necessary for the war overseas, and American factories were kept busy making them long before the country became involved in the fighting. The event that really pulled America from the grip of the Depression, however, was the advent of World War II. The history of the United Nations is still being written.Eventually, President Roosevelt’s relief efforts began to have some effect, and conditions improved in the United States. With many achievements now in its past, the United Nations is looking to the future, to new achievements. UN Member States have also agreed to climate action to limit global warming. The United Nations has set sustainable development goals for 2030, in order to achieve a better and more sustainable future for us all. Now, more than 75 years later, the United Nations is still working to maintain international peace and security, give humanitarian assistance to those in need, protect human rights, and uphold international law.Īt the same time, the United Nations is doing new work not envisioned for it in 1945 by its founders. For the next two months, they proceeded to draft and then sign the UN Charter, which created a new international organization, the United Nations, which, it was hoped, would prevent another world war like the one they had just lived through.įour months after the San Francisco Conference ended, the United Nations officially began, on 24 October 1945, when it came into existence after its Charter had been ratified by China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the United States and by a majority of other signatories. Representatives of 50 countries gathered at the United Nations Conference on International Organization in San Francisco, California from 25 April to 26 June 1945. As World War II was about to end in 1945, nations were in ruins, and the world wanted peace. ![]()
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