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At the Institute’s core is the Gilder Lehrman Collection, one of the great archives in American history. More than 85,000 items cover five hundred years of American history, from Columbus’s 1493 letter describing the New World through the end of the twentieth century.

Diamond, Sidney (1922-1945) to Estelle Spero

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC09120.412 Author/Creator: Diamond, Sidney (1922-1945) Place Written: Bougainville, Papua New Guinea Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 17 May 1944 Pagination: 6 p. ; 21 x 28 cm. Order a Copy

Diamond writes the letter while "comfortably loafing on hospital bed", waiting for surgery on a cyst. He tells Estelle that if her cousin joins the infantry and goes into active combat, he will have tremendous respect for him: "Truly the infantry is the 'Queen of Battle!'" He discusses the experience of those overseas, explaining that they all "burn with the injustice, inhumanity of the entire mess..."

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