Miss Viola Deetz (Dietz?) had received the address of Mr. Alfred Mettetal (?) who was a member of a machine gun battalion at Camp Sherman.

Camp Sherman, was developed quickly as a training site for troops in 1917 as the US entered World War I.

Located near Chillicothe, a city on the Scioto River in southern Ohio, the Camp became the third largest training site in the nation.

Miss Viola lived in Millersburg, a village about 66 miles south of Cleveland.

In April of 1918, Viola sent a postcard to the soldier.

The face of the postcard shows a photograph of a man in uniform embraced by a girl.

The legend reads, “I’ll Put My Trust in the Army”.

On the reverse, Viola writes, “as you dropped your address to me, will write you a few lines”.

She then asks, “Please send me a photograph of yourself”.

It does not seem that Viola had ever met the soldier whose address she was given; she wanted to know how her correspondent appeared.

One hopes that the soldier complied with the request, that Viola was thrilled by his appearance, and that the two became affectionate correspondents.