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Harry S. Truman's letter includes references to the deadly influenza epidemic that followed World War I. He expresses his relief that Bess has recovered from the flu, and tells her that he has carried her picture (the one she sent him at Camp Doniphan) with him throughout the war. He says that he is eager to come home and wishes that the "ex-mayor of Toledo" (Secretary of War Newton Baker, who was actually an ex-mayor of Cleveland) would arrange this; along with the other American soldiers, he does not care about the peace plans of "Woodie" (President Woodrow Wilson) or European political struggles. He also alludes to the adoption of prohibition in the United States, commenting that he wants to get back home and "lay in a supply for future consumption."
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