Throughout this project, I was given immeasurable assistance from incredibly selfless individuals.

First, I would like to thank my tireless instructors, Dr. Ellen Holmes Pearson and Dr. Jeff McClurken for their guidance and understanding.  This course was the first of its kind, and these two individuals created something truly special with the magic of the internet.

I would also like to thank my supervisor at Truman State University, Dr. Jeff Gall for throwing this opportunity my way and for offering support throughout the process.  And for that, the campus Marksist will always be grateful.

A monumental thank you goes out to Amanda Langendoerfer, Head of Special Collections at Pickler Memorial Library, for granting me permission to digitize the E.M. Violette collection of WWI soldier letters.  And also for giving me my first lesson in historic preservation: the proper method for removing staples from century-old documents.  (Plus, she let me keep the staples.)

Aaron Speight, Head of Digitization at Pickler Memorial Library, deserves a medal for his assistance with this project.  I am deeply indebted to him for trusting me with a scanner and permitting me to take over his office for hours on end during the mass-scanning of the letters.   The digitization of the letter collection would not have happened without his help.  Aaron, you are simply the best, and I forgive you for your distaste of whimsical movies.

Furthermore, I must thank Debra Loguda-Summers, Curator of the Museum of Osteopathic Medicine for her lightning-fast email skills and willingness to edit and explain the complicated split of the American School of Osteopathy in 1918.

Without the technological insights of my online classmate Leah Tams of the University of Mary Washington, this project would look significantly less professional, and I most likely would have destroyed my computer out of frustration.  Leah, thank you for burning the midnight oil with me and for never making me feel stupid — even when I was being stupid.

Finally, I wish to thank my wonderful roommate Jancee Jarman.  The assistance of her eyeballs in transcribing the letters was invaluable.  Because of her efforts — often provided in the middle of the night — there are considerably fewer illegible words in the letter transcriptions.  She is truly a master of early twentieth century handwriting and is miraculously tolerant of the mess on my side of the room.