A page from a personal letter written by Private Willis W. Wagener to his family, dated January 1918, during the First World War. In it, Wagener describes his recovery in an Army hospital ward, awaiting a discharge date pending his ward surgeon's approval and his skin 'peeling off and looking well.' Intimate letters such as this offer a rare, personal counterpoint to official military records, revealing the everyday concerns, humor, and family bonds of a soldier navigating illness or injury far from home during the Great War. Project: 218171