Even though the author’s grandmother abruptly cut ties with her younger brother in 1926, she kept the letters Great Uncle Bud sent to her in 1918 and 1919 during his time at San Diego’s U.S. Naval Training Station. For fifty years, she stored a packet of his letters, postcards, telegrams, and a few photos of 22-year-old Bud in his Navy whites. Passed down through the family, these treasured documents detail a young seaman trainee’s experience during the First World War, including his encounters with the killer disease known as the Spanish Flu.

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