Letters from soldiers in three nearly forgotten wars; The Civil War, Spanish-American War and World War I tell their families "not to worry."

This book fills gaps in the stories told by these patriotic volunteers as they adapted to their new war reality, experiences almost never talked about after they returned. The book is rich with historical photographs.

In the Civil War Judson volunteered in Colorado, and with his outfit, he marched 850 miles across three states into Missouri. There he fought in numerous skirmishes with Confederate troops and insurgent raiders.

At the outset of the Spanish-American War when "Runnie" Hull signed up, his volunteer unit was sent to Manila in the Philippine Islands. He first fought the Spaniards then the Filipino insurgents. ----"Thick jungle and bogs made advances nearly impossible."

During World War I Glenn wrote from France about conditions in the trenches. "The mud across the battlefields was not just dirt, it was laced with decomposing human waste and animal remains. A tiny wound was enough to endanger a soldier's life."

Along a twenty-five mile front, 3,980 artillery pieces broke the air with flashes of blinding light and deafening roar. The barrage cleared out German trenches and opened the way for Allied troops to win the battle of Meuse-Argonne.