About the Book Manuscript title: Dear Homefolks: Being a Series of 52 Letters Written from France by a Canteen Worker, 1918-1919. Book Synopsis Mary Frances Willard, a public-school principal from Chicago, was one of thousands of American women who served as welfare workers for U.S. troops in France during World War I. During the wars final months, she operated a canteen and post exchange in Troyes, attended to convalescing servicemen, arranged their burials and wrote letters to their families. After the Armistice, she headed canteen operations in Le Mans for hundreds of thousands of returning servicemen in embarkation camps. In her final months in France, she toured battlefields and the decimated towns along the Western Front. Presented in historical context, her weekly letters home--from August 1918 through July 1919--relate stories of her service to the doughboys and her interactions with French citizens. About the Author James J. Marquardt , PhD, is a professor of international relations at Lake Forest College in Illinois. He teaches and researches on war and peace, U.S. foreign and national security, and global governance.