Weybridge writes cheerful letters home to his wife because “he saw no reason to share the brutality and the toll it was taking on him.” Do you think he was right to conceal the truth? What would you have done in his place?
I do think he was right in concealing the truth from his wife because, why give her the brutal details of the war when there was nothing she or he could do to change the outcome. Also, I think in the time, most women weren’t told much of anything regarding certain topics, they were considered fragile flowers, more or less.
His actions must be viewed within the historical context. Women did not have rights in those days – they could not own land, transact business, vote, etc. And men were taught that their role was to have dominion over and protect women, “the weaker sex.” 
But Jonathan truly loved Emily and understood that she was at home, worrying about him and wanting him to return to her, and she would be distraught if he told her about the actual horrors of war, as well as his injuries. He wanted to spare her from despair and needless extra stress & worry. I would have done the same thing. There would have been plenty of time to talk with Emily and share his experiences had he been able to return to her.* And it is not entirely clear how much she ever knew about how the war was going, what the soldiers were enduring, and the extent of Jonathan’s injuries. I hope that she died without that knowledge.
*It’s interesting to contemplate what he might have told her upon his return. I will never know exactly what my father experienced while serving in the Army Air Corps during World War II. He was stationed in New Zealand, Australia, and the Philippines. What he shared with my mother I will also never know, because she talked about the war a lot but she related her perspective, not his. And he would never talk about it. Ever. I know they exchanged many letters, but when we went through the house after his death & she went to an assisted living facility, they were no longer in the cedar chest where they had always been when I was growing up. They were gone, probably burned so that their contents would always remain private, only known to the two of them. I wish I knew more about my father’s service, but that information is forever lost to me since he died in January 1992.
I think sometimes ignorance is bliss… Im not sure what purpose it would have served for her to know every detail of his pain and suffering while in the war.
Well, I would want to know it all! I can see why he thought he was sparing her and I do not really know his wife’s nature but I would have wanted to know the truth no mater the grimness. When you love someone you want to be there 100% for them and you can’t do that on half truths.