The Laney Garrett Reed Letters Collection offers an insight into the life of a U.S. WWII soldier stationed across France and Germany in 1945. The letters featured in the collection are correspondence between Laney Garret Reed, U.S. soldier, and his mother Ruby Alice Miller Reed. Laney Garret Reed’s correspondence provides insight into the compensation, housing, and duties of a WWII soldier in 1945. Reed was stationed in Normandy and Marseille, France and Wiensbaden, near Frankfurt, and Budheim, near Bingen, during his service. During his service he was responsible for building and surveying for PW camps along the Rhine and Mainz Rivers. These letters also detail personal experiences about how he and other soldiers hunted rabbits for food, sold cigarettes on the black market for extra cash, and used dynamite/air hammers to dig latrines. Researchers interested in soldiers' personal experiences serving in WWII will find this collection useful.