But Then I Don’t Run The Army

Saturday 12 May 1945

Germany – 2:30 p.m.

Dear folks,

Starting today I shall go back to writing by air mail instead of v-mail. Judging by the speed with which we have been getting air mail letters from back there it will be faster. I am typing this on a German machine and as usual am hitting a few wrong keys as they have some of them in different places. Every time I go to hit the backspacer I get the number 1 as it is in the same spot. If I were to use this for very long I would get used to it but this is about the second time I have typed on this. I hope this will be readable. It is another swell day here and maybe summer has come finally. The temperature here in the office is around 80 degrees I believe and it is probably more out in the sun. It is hard to keep track of what the day is any more as they are all the same. Tomorrow we are pulling two hours apiece so that will be a little break at least. Now that the war is over our work is beginning to pick up quite a bit but also we should go back to a more “garrison” schedule I should think. We got rid of our steel helmets and just wear the plastic liners now so that is something. It takes a load off our heads although I had got so that I hardly noticed it any more. I would much rather keep wearing the helmet and ditch the rifle somewhere. It gets tiresome carrying it everywhere we go. We are supposed to have it and the ammunition with us whenever we go outside no matter for what. I could see it so long as the war lasted but now it seems sort of unnecessary to me unless a person is on guard but then I don’t run the army.

It really seems good to know that the war over here is over but it isn’t going to help us very much by the looks of things. We have been busy working on this point business but most of us will get nothing from it. I don’t suppose it is any secret that only 8 men in my company are above the critical score in points that has been set up so far. I’m so far down that I may as well forget it. I have 38 points under the present plan. 28 points for service, 5 points for 5 months overseas, 5 points for one so called battle participation star (believe it or not). You see the Ruhr pocket was not quite all wiped out when we moved into Germany so I guess that is where we get the star if it becomes official. I understand some of the boys were actually under a little fire. Censorship is gradually being lifted and pretty soon we will be able to tell just about everything. According to the Stars and Stripes yesterday we can tell of places we have been and of our trip over if it was 6 months ago. I’ll have to wait a month for that but we can tell of our trip through France and Belgium. As yet we can’t tell where we are if in occupied territory. The boys in the “liberated” countries can even write and say where they are. So going on the assumption that it is not of any military information I shall do a bit of recapitulation. If this is censored out then I am wrong. We were in England from Dec. 22 until April 10. You have a pretty good idea of the trip we had across the Atlantic. I hope that if it falls our lot to have to go to the Pacific that we don’t hit another British boat. They are the worst on the ocean I believe. I never expected to ever live for 2 weeks like we did on that boat on the way over. We lived ate slept everything in one compartment where you couldn’t move without bumping into someone else. Just give me an American boat from now on. The food was the worst I have ever run into. So much for that. Since it isn’t six months yet I won’t say where we left from or where we arrived in southern England. I will say it made me very happy that we didn’t stay where we landed because it was not too healthy a spot particularly earlier in the war. One could see a few evidences of it in just the little bit of the place that we saw. We were stationed in a small British army camp for 3 ½ months right in the edge of Gloucester England. I don’t know if you ever guessed that from anything I ever said or not. Anyway that is where we were. As soon as we stepped out of the gate we were in the residential district and about a 25 minute walk put you in the center of the business section downtown. It was a city of about 60,000 I believe or maybe even more. It may sound funny but two other fellows just asked me how big Gloucester was so they must be writing about it too. It was a rural sort of city if it is possible to have such a thing. There was very little manufacturing around there except the match factory. It was largely a farmer’s city. That section of England is mostly rural [x-ed out text] plants around that neck of the woods during the war. I don’t know if you ever heard them mention the Gloucester “Typhoon” or not. The city war pretty quiet that is until the G!I!’s arrived and it still was pretty quiet even after that. There were times when the Americans seemed thicker in some of the English towns than the English people themselves. The city of Cheltenham was not too far away and was a much more attractive town. It was larger and the stores, homes and everything seemed better than the ones in Gloucester. Now I hear that we can’t say where we were stationed in England so this will really be cut up if that is so. I wish someone would make up his mind on this censorship business. I am going to let this go so if it is really cut up you’ll know it is because I told where I was stationed. We had a fairly nice time on our trip across France. We were in quite a few cities that I can barely remember the names of now. They are French names and hard for me to keep track of but here are a few: Rouen, Valenciennes, Le Havre, in France, Namur, Liege, Mons and others in Belgium. France was really beautiful. It was right in the middle of April when everything was at that fresh green stage of spring. For the most part the county did not show very many signs of the war that was fought across here last summer and fall. Occasionally we would come to a cross road where the ground was all pock marked from shells and with burned out tanks and guns there but on the whole it looked pretty good. In a few of the cities it showed much more particularly as we got deeper into Belgium and nearer to Germany. As soon as we entered Germany the destruction became complete. They fought pretty hard for everything until they reached the Rhine and there is very [little] left between the border and the Rhine believe me. We stopped on the west side of the Rhine at first for a week or so at a blasted out town before we crossed the “mighty” Rhine which didn’t look any more impressive to me than the Grand River back home. Things on this side are in pretty bad shape but not so bad as on the other side in my opinion. We are not too deep into Germany and I suspect that the damage is not so complete the deeper one goes as the Germans were going backward faster and did not fight so hard for the towns. Of course the RAF and 8^th Air forces have been working on some of this for 2 or 3 years and they did a pretty thorough job I might say. We are permitted to mention towns we have been through on travels in Germany so here are a few – Geldern, Krefield, Aachen (there’s nothing left of it), Julich (the most destruction I ever expect to see. It is completely level. They may as well just plow it under and forget it. I remember hearing that it and Aachen were leveled but I never believed it could be so bad as it really is), [x-ed out text] I never got into the city but I did see the spires of the famous cathedral and it is a miracle that it was missed and the rest of the city leveled. That is about all I can say about where I have been without getting into real hot water maybe. It seems this censorship policy is sort of fluid and different persons interpret it differently. Now we are set up here sort of waiting I guess. According to stars and stripes about 400,000 will stay over as army of occupation so we have 1 chance in 10. Time will tell.

That is enough of that for today. You will have hard times trying to read this probably as I have gone back and censored out some of it myself to save someone else the trouble. Last night I got in a couple more hours of tennis and dropped two sets. My game is pretty bad but will improve maybe with time. My wrist is acting up a bit so I may have to give it up completely pretty soon and go back to my stamp collection. I am only about one third of the way through the box of stamps that I have. No mail today. It has been coming through pretty well lately though so we have no complaints I guess. I haven’t been writing to any one and owe quite a lot of letters if I ever get to writing again We are getting a pretty good setup around here now. They are fixing up a swimming pool I understand and they are also making some ball diamonds. We have our tennis court out back here and so far our little group is the only one that use it. It is a dirt court and the GI boots aren’t doing it any good to speak of. There is no real net but we found some pieces and a cable and wired them up to make a sort of makeshift one. Now that the war is over we hear a lot of talk about providing recreational and educational facilities for us. We have been seeing a lot about providing courses at European universities for men in the army of Occupation who are qualified for University training. If there is any chance you know what I’ll be trying to get into. The sooner I can get back into school of some kind the better I shall like it. It has been over a year now and I am getting too far away from the things I have learned. It is all getting too cold. If we don’t stay around here I should be home sometime this year on a furlough of from 21 to 30 days prior to heading for the other ocean. That trip over the Pacific could just about take me in I think. Our Atlantic crossing was bad enough and that was in the middle of winter. Bart is in the Philippines now and he said they ate salt pills like popcorn on the way over. Am I glad I went to ASTP. At least I didn’t go directly to the Pacific and maybe I won’t make it at all now. That all will come with time. Well that is about all there is to say this time I guess. It is about time I went back to work and looked a bit busy so I shall sign off for this time,

Arlington

I’m Not Looking For A Dose Of Livestock

Thurs. 12 April 1945 5:15 p.m.

Somewhere in France

Dear folks,

I’ll start this tonight & maybe finish it tonight or in a day or so just depending. This is the first air mail letter since last Fri. April 6. Since then I’ve been writing a V-mail per day. Sat. & Sun., 7 & 8 were mailed in England. The next 3, Mon., Tues., & Wed. were mailed today along with a 2 page V-mail for today. I hope this ink photographs O.K. & that both pages get there at once. From now on until such time as we get a bit more settled, if we ever do, I’ll write V-mails and then toss in air mails whenever I can. I told you something of the situation in the V-mail letter. We are temporarily set up in a tent camp here in France. It is a fair setup for the field. We have canvas cots and are to get sleeping bags today. It is plenty hot here and we can’t complain about the weather. It has sprinkled a bit now and then but not much. Naturally we don’t have many conveniences. The place where we wash and shave is our steel helmet which we also have to wear all the time outside. It’s about 7:30 now. We got our bed rolls and they are O.K. If everything could always be like this it wouldn’t be bad at all. Incidentally the V-mails I wrote today will be pretty well cut up I guess as I have learned some things I said weren’t permissible. From now on I’ll be strictly with Personnel instead of with the Co. so our officer here will do the censoring. So from now on address my letters to H & S Co. instead of C Co. I’ll get them faster that way. I’ll get a new APO eventually but so far we are still using 518. It will reach us but slower. So that’s what I know now. I’m not getting very far very fast with this. From what I have seen of France I like the countryside. It’s the closest to like “home” that I have seen lately, broad level green valleys with occasional hills. Everything is reaching the height of color now. I places it seems hard to realize there has been a war, but others bring it back to you in a hurry. Some of the sights aren’t pretty. England was pretty bad in spots, but much differently. Of course, England has had a different view of the war, all from the air, over here it’s from everywhere. But we still haven’t seen it as bad as we will before very long. The farther we go naturally the worse it will get. Well enough of this for now.

I find I have now received all your letters up thru Mar. 29 except 26 & 27 so that is pretty good. We probably won’t get any now again for quite a while and I expect the service to be more intermittent than before. I also have letters here from Gram postmarked Mar. 19 & 26 which I don’t believe I’ve mentioned before. It’s getting a bit dark now so I shall sign off and continue on this tomorrow. I’ll start to answer these letters and see how far I get. I quit before with Mar. 21 but at that time 15, 17 & 18 and 20 were missing which I now have. That’s the picture now. I’ll be back again next time and see how far I get. So long for tonight.

Mon. 16 April 1945 – Germany – Well I didn’t get on with this very fast, did I? I’ll finish it off tonight and mail it in the morning. The 2 page V-mail I wrote the 12^th came back from the censor because I said too much so it had to be changed. I mailed it again but it will be a bit marked up. I have written V-mails on the 13th, 14^th, 15^th & today the 16^th so you know what to expect. From now on I’ll try to get in a V-mail per day and air mails when I can.

Well I imagine that word Germany didn’t make you too happy and it gave me a slight shiver too, when I found out where we were headed but it’s all O.K. here and believe me I’m not complaining.

It’s been swell summer weather lately and we had an enjoyable trip over to here. I guess its permissible to say we crossed France and went through part of Belgium but naturally I can’t mention towns, yet at least. France and Belgium are really beautiful countries, in a way even more so than England. They are much more like the U.S. – broad, rolling plains, some hills, good roads, attractive cities. Some places showed signs of a lot of activity, others where the Germans pulled out fast last fall were O.K. There is quite a bit of German & naturally some American equipment burned out along the roads in spots. It’s hard to believe people can exist in some of the places but they do and they really show gratitude in their faces to the Americans. The English aren’t very well liked but the Americans are tops. All the way to the German border, in every town, people were out waving and shouting to us. In France & in Belgium nearly every house has a flag out tied with black ribbons in mourning for F.D.R. I got some ice cream in one town in Belgium. It wasn’t bad at all. From my observation, the people in Belgium are a bit better off than those in France – more merchandise in the stores, better clothing & etc.

One could have told the German border even without signs, I believe. If every German could be made to realize the destruction we have seen, this war would be over. I can’t mention names but one city was practically level, nothing but rubble and for miles you can’t find a single untouched structure. You know we heard this or that city was leveled but still we didn’t realize just what it really meant until we saw them. It’s horrible. But still they asked for it and believe me they got it. The Germans I’ve seen are a beaten people. There aren’t too many civilians in this city, mostly women, children, and a few old men. They look pretty docile but I guess I can see why. I’ll confess I don’t see how or where they live. We have all the decent buildings and there are no shops or industry left. This has been total war and a whole lot more than they ever bargained for. Some attempt to be friendly but even if we wanted to, we are forbidden to fraternize. I don’t know enough German to get me far but if we stay very long I expect to broaden my knowledge rapidly.

Right now we have a very good setup. We are living in what once was a sort of county courthouse. It was pretty much of a mess because they evidently left in a hurry. Records, etc. are scattered all over the place but it isn’t badly damaged from shell fire. There are enough ration coupons around here to last a year. Evidently this is the collection point from local merchants. All the vital statistics of the county were kept here. We found thousands of cards with the pictures, fingerprints, & life story I guess of every resident. Americans who preceded us must not have stayed long because they didn’t clean out any of the junk. I haven’t snooped much because I’m not afraid to admit I’m just a bit afraid of things but it’s all O.K. here. If it weren’t we’d have had plenty of casualties by now. The souvenir hunters have made their raids. There are hundreds of books and a few nice paintings around.

We have a very nice room, facing the west with plenty of light. The electricity is on & one of the boys found a bulb somewhere so we have light also. It’s a large room with very expensive oak paneling. We fixed that up swell with a few oversize spikes to hang our clothes on. We have a table, 3 chairs & the other 2 boys have makeshift beds. I don’t trust these mattresses. I’m not looking for a dose of livestock myself. I have a mattress cover & my shelter half on the floor under my sleeping bag and I’ll let it go at that. It’s a beautiful setup if it lasts. Hqs. is set up in another building and it’s really nice. We’ve been fairly busy today and it will be even more that way from now on. I managed to get a bath this afternoon and also a shave. Was I dirty! Yi. I found a place in C Co. where the water was running yet so I bathed in my helmet. It was cold water but it sure felt good to get into clean underwear, etc. I still should clean my rifle. It’s pretty dusty. That baby goes with us “everywhere” from now on, so does the steel helmet. If you are caught without them its “rough.” The food lately is alphabetical – K, C, D & 10 in 1. They have some new varieties of C rations so that helps a little. I had beef & noodles for supper tonight, cheese for dinner & hash for breakfast this morning.

That’s about all there is to say this time I guess and this is getting heavy anyway. You know when I look down here into the garden at the fruit trees in blossom, etc. it’s hard to realize that all this can really be. Well it’s about 7:30 by my watch. That’s London time. I don’t know if this is the same time over here or not.

Now as I said before don’t let that “somewhere in Germany” get you too worried, as this is O.K. now. Six weeks ago I’d hated to have been here but time flies. Don’t worry. Well I’ll sign this off for tonight and maybe get some letters answered next time. We won’t get mail for a long time now I expect. Take it easy

My love,

Arlington

I Was Never One Of Bill’s Followers

Thurs. 5 April 1945

England 7:45 p.m.

Dear folks,

Back again. I wrote a couple pages this morning but since then the cast has come off, for good, so I thought I’d start another one and maybe get caught up with the unanswered letters before I get back to the outfit. I have a hunch there’ll be plenty of work waiting for me. Also I haven’t picked up any letters since last Fri. so unless they are in process of being forwarded to me here, there ought to be a few waiting for me. The Major looked me over this morning and checked the X-rays & finally decided to take off the cast and send me back. The bone was broken in 1943 and a cast is of no good now. So long as I stay on this job it will be O.K. as it has been now for nearly a year. So that’s that. I’ll be glad to get back and “settle down” once more. I don’t suppose the payroll is typed. That’s too much to hope for. I don’t know for sure yet but I’ll probably be discharged from here tomorrow or Sat. at the latest. I’ve got a lot of things to get in order back there. I have a lot of junk to sort out and get rid of and also round up some of my equipment and get it in order. I haven’t seen some of the stuff for a couple months. My tent has made just about every bivouac I guess. I think it’s out again this week. I’ve a lot of laundry to get out now that I have 2 hands too. So I’ve got to get on the ball as well as back to work. Where does stuff come from? I came over here with practically nothing and now I’ve more darned stuff. All the little openings and crannies in my desk are jammed full of soap, razor blades, stationery, pictures, etc. and still there’s stuff left over. Oh me.

Dinner today was very good – chicken, potatoes, gravy, spinach, corn, bread, butter and cake. After dinner I grabbed my clothes and a pass and caught a sightseeing trip put on by special services. We had a nice bus ride as it was a pretty fair day. The countryside is beautiful now, with flowers out, the fruit trees in blossom and everything so freshly green. We were in very hilly areas and that made it even nicer to me. Our destination was Stratford-Upon-Avon, the home of William Shakespeare. I was never one of Bill’s followers, but still it was well worth the trip and I can stick out my chest now and say, oh, yes, I’ve been there. I guess the town makes its existence from Shakespeare’s name. We were guided around by a representative of the “British Council,” an organization for the furtherance of relations between the 2 nations. First we went through the Nash Museum which is next door to Bill’s old house. The museum is very interesting and really full of oddities. Shakespeare’s House was torn down and only the foundation remains but the gardens are still there and are really beautiful. I wish you could see them. I bought several postcards of things I saw which I can maybe send along sometime. I was just elected to make some coffee for the boys. This ought to be good. We got a good look at the Memorial Theater but it was closed. They were having one of his plays tonight. Then we rode a way to Ann Hathaway’s cottage. She was his wife and her family maintained that home from 1470 to 1911. It was really old but of course parts of it have had to be restored. It is set up as a sort of museum but only of stuff from the family. From there we went out of town a way to the Mary Arden (his mother) farm. It was set up about the same way in the house and the barn is a museum of old farm pieces, etc. The dovecote and the cider press were rather interesting too. From there we went back to town and went through the church where he is buried. It is a very pretty but quite a bit smaller than “my cathedral.” That was the last place we saw. Then we went back for “tea” – bread, butter, jam & cake before heading back here. It made a nice trip, spent the day, and should have added a bit to my education although it probably didn’t. I got back here a little while ago and they cut off the cast so now I can write to more advantage. Wonder how the coffee is doing. So that is today. My vacation is about over and I’ll probably pay for it when I get back. I’ll be afraid to find out what & how much work is waiting.

Anyway that’s all the news so I shall get to the rest of these letters. My records indicate that I have received and answered all letters thru Mar. 14. The next air mail is Fri. Mar. 16 – Well, that rat raised quite a “stink.” We’ve had quite a bit of rain off and on for the past week, but never too much at once. The boys are moving in Germany now. I’m going to be a liar if there isn’t an armistice by May 1. By now you know I made the dash to London and back. I don’t expect to go again, even if I were around long enough. I may have a box waiting for me. Yes we can get air mail stamps here also. Sometimes it’s just as well to be a little indifferent about things. I don’t expect to get up around Miss Long’s relatives neighborhood. Once I leave the U.K. I don’t expect to get back. I don’t remember seeing that clipping about Vivian. Next in line are V-mails of Mar. 16, 17, & 19 – A week seems to be the fastest time for letters although some have been received here by fellows in 4 days. At the rate I’m going I won’t use much film. I’ve taken 3 pictures so far. I could have used it today but naturally I didn’t have it over here with me. Oh me, another long drive for Dad. It’s too tiring for him to do very much. I don’t think he needs that to know what home means. Of course it helps, believe me. That pkg. sounds O.K. It’s due in a few days. I wasn’t wearing any green except my O.D.’s on St. Pat’s Day. I was in London. The lawn mowers have been in operation for quite awhile over here. It’s swell to get the V-mails steadily. Don’t tell me you’re like Edna. I guess spring is coming fast over there too. Now comes your Mar. 19 air mail letter. Well, so Donald got the bronze star. Well, I guess he has what it takes. Remember how afraid he was about it all? No all the bottles of stuff have come through unbroken although it isn’t too good an idea. Canned peanut butter, etc. works fine though. The moon seems to stand out more over here, probably due to the blackout & also the sort of quaintness of everything. Yes, some English girls go around with black boys but not many, at least any more. I guess the G.I.’s have said enough to wake them up to the difference. I understand that plaster rots clothing too. Nobody coaxes me to do anything I don’t want to do.

That cleans up a few more letters anyway. It’s about time for lights out so I shall sign off for today. Good night.

Fri. 6 April 1945, 10:25 a.m.

Back again. It’s a very overcast day but no rain as yet. I thought I might get out of here today but I guess not so I asked for a pass for the afternoon and evening. I have to make the most of my opportunities while there is a decent place to go and something to do. I suppose it sounds silly, my going off on pass all the time but then you’ve never been in a similar position. Last night after a shower I got to bed at about 10:30. I’ve been getting my sleep anyway for the past week. We were out of bed at 7:00 this morning. I got my bed all made up nice and then ate – cakes, butter, syrup, farina, milk, & canned grapefruit. Then I shaved and got to work on our “housework.” We gave the ward a good going over today, swept, mopped, waxed & everything else. Now that’s over and here I am. I believe I’ll get out tomorrow. I guess I’ll get back in time to go to work. So that’s today so far. I still have a couple V-mails to answer here yet – Mar. 21 & 20 – Well I’ll still have trouble with the wrist. I had a talk with the Capt. today & he explained it to me. Normally they would cast it for 3 months but it’s an old break. They could operate but too often it doesn’t help. So he suggests that I just go along as it is and stay away from heavy work. I could probably get a reassignment as a limited assignment man but it involves quite a bit and I have as “limited” a type job right now as I’d probably get. I’m satisfied & want to stay with the boys. I’ve come this far. I may as well stick. Well I’m glad the contract is signed. That’s one less worry for you. You can settle back now & know a little about what to expect. Well, it would be swell if you could get a letter every day. What with V-mails, mail from this side, etc. I do almost that well. You know me, I’ll always tell you not to worry because you are foolish if you do. Boy if I worried about all the “possibilities” look where I’d be. That catches all the letters I’ve received up to last Fri. There ought to be some over at camp or on its way here. Mar. 21 is the latest I have but Mar. 15, 17 & 18, & 20 air mails are still out. All in all it’s pretty good. Well, they just mentioned Lansing on the radio as the safest city in the States.

Well that’s about all there is to say at 11:05 a.m. on Fri. so I shall sign off on this for now. So long again,

Love

Son

The Thin Man Goes Home

Thurs. 5 April 1945

England 9:05 a.m.

Dear folks,

Well here I am with the same old story. In case you get this letter first I’ll back up to say they took off the cast last Fri. but they didn’t think it was healed so I was put here in the hospital Sat. and have been here since. I still don’t know what the score is on the whole deal. The wrist feels just as it has since 1943 when I first jammed it up. Tues. they took more X-rays and then slapped a new and bigger cast on me. I don’t know what those X-rays showed yet but I imagine the break is there. Now I’d be willing to bet it was broken back at Ark. I’d like to get hold of that old “horse doctor.” So that’s a resume of the situation.

Today started out like a rainy stormy day but the sun is out bright now and it looks swell. How time is flying. Here it is April 5 already. In some ways that’s good, in others it isn’t. Yesterday after I wrote that short note to you I loafed around until dinner time. We had a good meal – steak, potatoes, gravy, peas, bread, butter, apple pie and orange juice. I certainly have no complaints about the food here. After dinner I shaved, dressed and along about 2:00 took off on pass. I might as well be out as just sitting around doing nothing. I got a lift into town in a jeep so I didn’t lose any time getting in there. I stayed in this town this time and walked around awhile to see what I could. I got a bite at the Red Cross. It’s really a nice place. Much better than ours over in the other town but then this whole place is better. It’s a big hotel that has been taken over for the R.C. and is really swell on the inside. They offer a lot more too. I checked the state register and found a lot of boys from Lansing but none that I know. There were a couple familiar last names but no one I knew personally. About 3:30 I left there and met my friend. We walked around some and ended up going to a movie – “The Thin Man Goes Home” with Wm. Powell, Myrna Loy & Asta naturally. It was a good picture but some of the other “added” attractions weren’t. They had a 40 minute picture called “Charted Waters” which was a sort of geography lesson on the fen country of England. That was over about 8:00 so we walked around a bit and then got something to eat. We each had 9:30 buses to catch which we missed by about a minute so we took off in opposite directions for the R.R. station & the Red Cross respectively. At 10:00 I got a bus back here from the R.C. and made it to bed by 10:45.

I was routed out at about the same time again this morning for breakfast – eggs, bread, butter, jam, shredded wheat, milk, and prunes. After eating we did our cleanup work and now here I am. One of the boys just came in with a grin from ear to ear. He’s going back to the States pretty soon he hears. How good that must feel. So that’s about all the dope from here. I wasn’t going to ask for a pass today but they came around and asked us to go along on a little tour so I decided I might as well see a little more of the country so I’ll go along if nothing comes up to interrupt it.

Well after looking over the situation they have decided the break is an old one and since it isn’t healed now it won’t help to leave on the cast so it comes off and I go back as before. So I guess that’s about all there is to that. I don’t know whether I’ll get out today yet or not. I hope so. Anyway that’s about all for now so I’ll sign off and see you later.

So long,

Love

Son

It’s His Hobby

Wed. 4 April 1945

England – 9:25 a.m.

Dear folks,

Well I’m still here. Last Friday they took off the cast but the X-ray showed it wasn’t knitted so Sat. they ran me into the hospital. I’ve been cooling my heels here since. Yesterday they put it into another cast and took more X-rays but I haven’t the slightest idea what’s going to be the result. The wrist feels like it has since I first did that back at school. I guess I’ll just have to wait it out. This is a wonderful life but the days are too long. I had intended to write a few letters yesterday but then they put on this cast so I gave it up with the short one I wrote you. Dinner yesterday wasn’t bad – spuds, sauerkraut, string beans, bread, butter, rice pudding, peaches, and orangeade. After dinner I slept awhile and then they showed a movie here in the ward for most of the afternoon. It was a good picture – “Two Girls and a Sailor” with Gloria DeHaven, Durante, Harry James, Lena Horne, Gracie Allen and a lot of others. That helped pass the time a lot. I ate supper at about 5:00 – beans, cheese, asparagus, beets, bread, butter, cocoa and ice cream. After supper I just sat around awhile. Then one of the boys from another ward came down and we ended up going to see the same show over again. That was the 17^th time he had seen that picture. It’s his hobby I guess. After that I caught a shower and got to bed. 7:00 rolled around as usual this morning. It’s dark when we get up but it’s still light after 9:00 at night and it’s only April. Breakfast was good – fried eggs, bread, butter, jam, cereal, & milk. After eating we did our “housework” and then here I am. Nothing new so far this morning. I thought I might go back today but nobody seems in a hurry so I asked for a pass. The sun is on a sort of ½ & ½ basis today, ½ in & ½ out. Well there isn’t much else I can say now so I will bring this brief note to a close. I hope you can read it. I’m getting pretty good with these 2 fingers. So long again,

Love,

Son

Don’t Know How The Pictures Will Turn Out

Tues. 3 April 1945

England 11:25 a.m.

Dear folks,

Well here I am and as you can easily tell I have the cast on again. This one is a honey. It goes way up my arm and restricts my fingers more than the others have done. In case this letter beats others, they took off the old cast last Fri. and the X-rays didn’t show that the break was healed, so Sat. they ran me up here to the hospital. They didn’t do much until today. Yesterday afternoon after I wrote to you, I went up to the dental clinic and they very obligingly yanked the upper wisdom teeth. He showed them to me and you could chip them off with your finger nail. So that was that. I spit blood awhile and then at about 2:00 took off on pass. I went back to my town but being Mon. afternoon everything was closed down. I spent some time at the R.C. and the Y. I was in the mood for some ping pong but there were no extra players around. I stuck around town until about 8:30 and then came back here. I ran into a few of the boys and they want me to get back fast. I didn’t get out to camp. This morning after breakfast – French toast, syrup, jam, butter, cereal, milk & oranges – we cleaned up the ward. Then I had some more X-rays taken and this cast put on. I don’t know how the pictures will turn out but I guess I go back to the outfit, tomorrow I hope. The more I think it over the more I believe I belong with the gang but it’s all up to them here. Well this doesn’t say much but I’ll call it enough for today.

So long again,

Love

Son

The Society For The Extermination Of Dentists

Mon. 2 April 1945 10:35 a.m.

England

Dear folks,

Well still here. In case this letter beats others I shall back up and say that when the cast came off, X-rays showed the bone hadn’t united. It feels about as it has for a year or so but the Dr. decided it wasn’t right and yanked me over here to the hospital last Sat. It’s the life of Riley but I want to be doing something. Yesterday morning after I finished that letter to you it was dinner time. I’m pretty worried about that letter. I am convinced I should have written it but I’m afraid of its eventual results. Time will tell. Dinner was very good – chicken, dressing, potatoes, gravy, bread, butter, asparagus and cherry pie. After dinner I talked to the Dr. a while. So far I don’t know what’s in store for me on this wrist but the way he talked I may be around here quite awhile which could mean losing my outfit. That might be good or bad, it’s impossible to tell. I think I shall keep quiet and see what course events take. I’d like to stick with my boys but I can see this will continue to bother right along so if they can fix it up, well maybe they better. Along about 2:00 in the afternoon I took off on pass. Passes are from 1:00 to 10:00 over here. I caught the bus to town and another bus over to the other town which is my stamping ground. I got a snack at the R.C. and then went out to camp and picked up the mail for the boys (none for me). I stayed there awhile and then rode back to town. It wasn’t a very agreeable day yesterday, quite windy and rainy occasionally. At about 6:00 I met my friend and we went to a show. It was one of those Sunday night “concerts” as they call them over here. It was some English band plus a couple comedians. The band was pretty good and played some real numbers. I never will get anything out of these English comedians. For one thing I don’t understand ½ of what they say and the jokes lack punch anyway. I had to catch the bus at 9:00 to get back over here. The connections run pretty close, but I made it O.K. I was in bed by about 10:30. They set all the clocks up an hour during the night so we lost an hours’ sleep. Proceedings begin to proceed at 7:00 a.m. around here. I got up and got my bed made before I went down to chow – scrambled eggs, cereal, milk, bread, butter, jam & oranges today. I can start a black market in oranges pretty soon here. Ah the pay just came – 5 pounds, 8 shilling, & 10 pence. That gives me 6 pounds, 18 shillings & 11 pence to last me the month. After breakfast we did our housework and were through. I started to write but had to go for a dental check. Yeh, he found 4 or 5 small cavities and then he took a pick to a couple and they started to fall apart so at 1:00 this afternoon I go back for an extraction. They are the last ones on each side of the uppers – wisdom teeth I guess. I tried to talk him out of it on the ground it didn’t hurt but he said by the time it started to hurt it would be infected and then there could be trouble. So I’ll probably have 2 nice sore jaws for a day or so. Boy they don’t miss anything over here. I got my blood type taken when I got back, and now I guess I’m through for the morning. I think I’ll start a society for the extermination of dentists. Oh well. It is a very nice day so far and I have a pass for the afternoon, so I guess I should feel happy. I’d go nuts just sitting around this place. I hope by tomorrow I’ll know where I stand on this and about how long I’ll be here. If they do what they might, it could be 6 or 8 weeks. What a thought. Well that’s about all the dope for this morning. I think I shall go shave and clean up a bit, eat and then be back to see my dentist “friend?” So for today I’ll call this quits and see you later. If they should do anything such as slap this hand in bandages or a cast the mail might drop off so don’t worry if it does. Be seein’ you,

Love,

Son

The Fatal Letter

Sun. 1 April 1945 – Easter

England – 9:00 a.m.

Good Mornin’ Everybody,

It’s me again. Well its Easter but I’ll have to confess I’ve seen better days. Right now it’s cloudy and windy with a sprinkle in the air occasionally, but by noon the sun might be out bright. I got to sleep pretty early last night – earliest in a long time. I fell asleep about 9:00 and woke up to go to bed at 10:00. They woke us at 7:00 this morning so I got washed and shaved and then went to breakfast – oatmeal, milk, eggs, bread, butter and an orange. The food is good so far. After eating I helped clean up around here for awhile. Everybody has a job – mine was on the latrine this morning. Now here I am. I think I’m getting a pass for this afternoon and evening. I hope so but then I’m not sure. I guess I’m so used to taking off on pass that it will be hard to get used to not doing it so often. I’m hoping to get out of here by Tues. or Wed. at the latest but you never know. In case this letter gets there ahead of others I’ll back up to say I’m in the hospital since yesterday. The X-ray showed the break isn’t knitting so here I am. I don’t know just what they are going to do. Maybe I’ll find out tomorrow. So that’s all there is to say for things now around here. Now I’ll try to answer some more of these letters for as long as my limited ambition lasts. Last night I got through everything up to Mar. 9 so now comes Sat.-Sun. Mar. 10 & 11 – Well Jack Stevens has a nice deal for himself. Ah, I just signed the pass list so I’m “in.” I remember when somebody else tapped on that window too. I imagine Dad was really tired all right after the trip. That was pretty steady driving for him. Which part of Ohio was that? I got the idea it was toward Chicago but that’s Indiana so I guess I’m way off the beam. The sun is trying to get out now. Was he on dirt roads? Well he was in quite a fix with the lights for awhile. Matches are a good thing to carry I find. I usually have a box in my jacket just in case. Oh, so he drove alone. I’ve seen the name Healey over here spelled with the extra “e” but as I said before Healy is definitely Irish. I checked up on that for you. You see I know a little Irish girl in town whom I asked to make sure about it. I don’t expect you’ll think much of the idea and maybe I’m crazy but she is a pretty nice kid, the only really decent one I’ve seen around here and she should know as she’s from Dublin – a real Rebel. And now that I’ve mentioned it I might as well tell the whole story as I’m no good at deception and there’s no reason for it anyway. I have a good idea of what you will probably think & say but here goes. Think it over before you condemn me. I’ve known her about 6 weeks (ah, here’s that thermometer in my mouth again), since Feb. 20. It was a rather accidental meeting. You know what my attitude has always been with regard to girls; “not interested.” Well it still went. It seems one of the boys had been going with a nurse from town for a couple months. I knew the girl as he had introduced me and I’d talked to her a few times. Well it seems she had a friend, a nurse also, who wouldn’t go with G.I.’s because she had never met one who was a gentleman. I knew nothing about her but one night I walked into the “Y” and there were the 3 of them sitting talking. I spoke to the 2 I knew and kept on my way. Pretty soon he came over and asked me if I wanted a date with the other girl. I said “no.” He wanted to know why and I told him I didn’t drink or anything like that and would be very dull company. Then he tells me he told her that and that she said “good.” So I thought it over and decided “What can I lose,” and went over. He introduced us and we sat there talking awhile. I think she was more nervous than I. I never could carry a decent conversation with a girl, maybe lack of experience. Finally the 4 of us took off and we 2 waited for the other 2 to eat something. They decided to head for a “pub” someplace so I asked her if she’d care to go to a picture and that was that. When we got away from the others she began to talk more. She let me know just what she thought of Americans in about 5 minutes. She said she’d never met one yet who didn’t turn out to be a heel. Well that was a sort of challenge to my Irish spirit or something and I let her know right off the bat she had met one who was different. So that’s how it happened. I liked her and she seemed to like me so as a result we have become pretty good friends. She is a nurse at the city Isolation Hospital. I can’t give you the city naturally. She has been in England since July 1939. She lived in one town here 4 years before moving to her present job last October 1. She’ll be here until October and then she’s going into the English women’s nurse corps for 5 yrs. service in India, she says. She’s 23, 5ft. 3 ½, about 125 lbs, dark brown hair, blue eyes, a few freckles, and an occasional dimple. She’s not like the average English girl with 17 layers of makeup that you could chip off with a knife. She uses very little makeup, practically none. She’s no glamour girl by any means but quite attractive. One can have a whole lot of fun with her and the kind I enjoy. She was working nights when I met her and had Sunday afternoon and 2 days a week off. So on those days we went to movies together. That’s all there is to do around that town. So Sun. afternoons & Wed. & Thurs. evenings she and I took in movies. You know all the pictures we saw. The Sun. I got back from London she changed from night to day duty and started having Mon. afternoon, all day Wed., Fri. evening & every other Sun. evening off so since then I’ve seen her a little oftener. We’ve still stuck to the movie schedule except for a couple times we just took off and walked around town. Most girls wouldn’t think much of just walking around but she’s just a bit different. She had 2 full days off so that motivated my 48 hour pass this last week. I went to that play with her and she showed me around the town as it’s where she studied to be a nurse. She had the tickets for that play about 2 weeks ago but I didn’t even know it. So that is about it. I have a date for this evening if I make it. Now you’ll probably say no wonder he’s been taking off on pass all the time and not writing letters very long but that has made no difference. Except for this past week or so I’d never seen her oftener than 2 nights & Sun. It’s bothered me a lot because I know you wouldn’t exactly approve however I would probably have done the same thing back there. I am human and there’s not much I could do about that. At least I’ve proved to myself there is one decent girl over here and she knows now that there are a few decent G.I.’s. I’ve been debating for a long time how I should mention this or whether I should at all but I see no reason for keeping quiet. Someday you would know about it so the sooner the easier. After all there’s nothing to it anyway. It’s a perfectly normal thing I guess. I think you’d like her if you’d let yourself, but she’s Irish & has a pretty good temper. You know I’ve kicked myself plenty of times for ever dating her but then something else comes up and says “why” so there I am. You know you always say things are meant as they happen. If we hadn’t been stuck here I wouldn’t have run into her. Also if I’d gone to London that time or if Buck hadn’t been sent to school I wouldn’t have met her either because I’d have been someplace else with him. So if as you say all those things were meant to happen, then maybe this is also. I don’t know. I feel pretty guilty because I know you pretty well and it bothers me but still I’ve done nothing wrong so there it is. Now see what that Jim Healy in Clyde, Ohio started. I expect a few repercussions from this letter but I guess I’ve asked for it. After all you ought to be able to trust me and my own judgment a little by now. I won’t mention this in any other letter until I receive a letter in answer to this so I’ll be waiting to see where you got April 1 letter. If you think I’m crazy you’re probably right but I don’t know. The bad part is the length of time it takes for an answer to filter back & forth. Anyway we won’t be here long so that will end it anyway. Now to finish answering this letter – Parker’s ink will gum up a pen for some reason. We’ve had rain off and on since last Wed. here now. I guess I gummed up Dad’s wrist watch when I had it with me. You do much better at answering letters than I do I know. I have enough handkerchiefs & stuff now or at least all I want to carry. Well you know me, I’d tell you not to worry about anything. Keenan Wynn was in “Lost Angel” I believe. That’s Ed Wynn’s son isn’t it? Buck is back in the outfit now again. I have taken only 3 pictures so far. Maybe I can finish off the roll pretty soon & get it developed. Well that’s that letter. I’ve probably said too darned much already but at least my conscience is clear. I wonder what the censor will think of this. I know just about what you will think and I don’t exactly blame you but then maybe you’ll surprise me. After all I guess it’s not very unusual or criminal to have a feminine friend any more than going around with Buck or Ferd or Julius & the rest.

Well I’ll be waiting for an answer to this as you know.

So long for now,

Love

Son

Resplendent In Pajamas And Robe

England

Sat. 31 March ‘45

12:50 p.m.

Dear folks,

Well here I am resplendent in pajamas and robe lying on a nice soft hospital bunk. In case letters come in backward order I’ll explain. I had the cast removed yesterday and the wrist was X-rayed as I said in yesterday’s letter. According to the X-ray, the bones aren’t knitted right so the Dr. decided I’d have to come here for a couple days. I talked him into letting me come back today after I had a chance to get my stuff together and get my toilet articles. So he let me go back last night. I’m allergic to hospitals anyway and didn’t want to come at all but he outranked me. I haven’t the slightest idea yet as to what will be done. The wrist feels about like it did when I first jammed it back at Ark. If I move it right it is a little sore and sort of catches. So that’s all I know about it now. Time will probably tell. I was over here nearly all day yesterday and got back to camp at about 5:00 I guess, told everybody I had to take off and got things partially in order. I better not be here very long as today is pay day and if I’m not there to make the payroll my job may be gummed up, but I guess there isn’t much I can do about it. The main thing is I don’t want to be sitting here some fine morning and find out the gang has “pulled.” If I have anything to say about it I go with the rest of my boys. I have good reasons for saying that too. After supper last night I cleaned up, changed clothes and went in to town at about 7:00. Don’t know when I’ll be back but I’m going to try to get out of here on pass tomorrow. If I had to be here very long I’d probably go slightly “wacky.” I looked around and spent some time at a little carnival or fair as they call it over here. It wasn’t much, a couple rides and the rest darts, target shooting, penny pitching, etc. It’s all under one canvas instead of spread out like an American carnival. Then I walked around a little more, ran into Haines, we got some sandwiches at the R.C. and then rode back to camp and went to bed. I was lazy this morning and even slept through reveille. I got up about 7:15, dressed, packed my stuff, made up the morning report and then headed for here. It is a beautiful setup here for a “goldbrick.” It’s a pretty nice ward I’m in and not at all crowded. Three of us from C Co. are right here together. The radios are fixed so music is on all the time. They have my clothes except for my shoes but I can get them anytime I get a pass which will be tomorrow if I have anything to do about it. The food here isn’t bad at all. Dinner today – beef, gravy, rice, corn, peas & carrots, bread, butter, pudding and a couple oranges. Now it’s afternoon and here I am. There is a movie shortly so I may go to that. The mail was good yesterday. I got your Mar. 19 & 21 V-mails and your air mails of Mar. 6, 8 & 9, 10 & 11, and the 19^th. Also there were letters from Edna & Amelia. So now I’m way behind once more. I have about 14 letters from you to answer sometime when I get to them. I’ll probably end up with another cast on this arm so if that happens my writing may be curtailed until I get access to a typewriter again. We’ll see.

Back at about 4:00. I saw “Show Business” with Eddie Cantor & George Murphy this afternoon. So that’s about all the dope for today. By the looks of things they won’t even bother with me until Mon. so I will probably get stuck for longer than I expected. I don’t like it but then what I do or don’t like doesn’t mean a lot. I told the mail man to hold my mail back there as I didn’t want it chasing me around. I’ll be back there every chance I get anyway. This life isn’t for me. I understand we can get 4 passes a week but I hope not to be here that long. The heck of it is once you get in its hard to get out again or seems to be. So that’s that. Don’t worry because the wrist is in about the same shape as it’s been for a long time near as I can tell by the feel of things. Everything works out for the best you always say. Sometimes I wonder about that though.

I have stacks of letters to answer here so we’ll see how far I get until supper time. The first one I have is Mon. Feb. 26 – I see it was almost addressed to Cp. Maxey by mistake. My glasses are still O.K. The one pair has a couple chips out as you know but are still useable. That Dr. in Texas was off the beam on my wrist I think. An X-ray would have probably showed something then but that was the 99^th Div. Those truck rides I mention are G.I. trucks run between the Red Cross & camp as a free bus service for us. Well, the nurse just stuck a thermometer in my mouth – for what? We have a little nurse, partially gray haired. I can’t mention what you asked about in the Atlantic. I’m always glad to get the V-mails. I think both of us are doing better now. I get at least one letter nearly every day now. This fact that it takes a month to get an answer is bad. It makes it hard to follow something. Ah yes, the radio reminds me its Easter tomorrow. Last year Leonard & I spent the day in Paris, the year before Bert & I were in Frisco, and next year? I wonder if those cards got there on time, probably not. There, that’s one more letter and cleans up everything for Feb. finally. I’ve already answered Mar. 1 & 2 so next comes Sat.-Sun. Mar. 3 & 4 – The robots were coming in in the daylight when we were in London. It’s about time they got the pedestrians on the ball back there. Well, so Pop is electrifying my room a bit too. One of the boys’ wife wrote that his Feb. 14 letter was in bad shape, had been wet so I guess they got dunked someplace. I’m still here yet. Well if Dad didn’t owe any more taxes that’s something. Yes, our letters run about the same as to fast & slow ones. I have had just the one letter from Hugh so far. Financially, I was really ”hurting” this month. Those two 48 hour passes ruined me plus the fact I had 4 pounds lent out. I came back with 2 pence but got 2 of the pounds paid to me so that helped. I hope they bring us our pay tomorrow or Monday.

Back from supper. You know this is developing into the life of Riley. A couple days and I may get to like it. The food seems O.K. – meat loaf, potatoes, gravy, spinach, pears, jam, bread, butter, cocoa & oranges for supper. You get all the oranges you can carry practically. Well its 5:40 so I shall keep writing for a couple more hours or until I run out of ambition & ink. Good music on now, as it seems to be all the time. So you think I’m English. Well Healy is Irish and Forist is English according to the best authority I’ve found over here so far. This authority hails from Dublin so it ought to be pretty reliable. These English rush everywhere they go. You ought to see or hear a crowd of them walk. They all wear heel & toe plates and a group of 5 or 6 sounds like a team of horses. Woolworth seems to be in all the cities over here too. Bouillon cubes are quite popular over here. Oh yes, these English cut loose with a little hillbilly music occasionally. It’s good you were an “old maid” only for the 3 days. Now I know which door was closed up. It’s a lot of fun to fix up a place when it’s “yours.” I wore wool underwear for awhile and the first warm weather we had I started a gradual change until I got out of them. I don’t particularly care for fish although I’ve had some over here that was pretty good. You mean England isn’t blacked out. They do have a few lights on at night and vehicles drive with full headlights instead of blackout lights but still its pretty dark at night believe me. The moon affords more light when it’s up than anything else does. The army doesn’t give one much chance to chose his own style diet. My eye is the same as always. Yeh, Buck was the one I referred to as my boy. The robins over here are about like your sparrows. All of us get that down feeling occasionally. I’ve hit it quite a bit lately but then it doesn’t last. Oh yes, “My Dreams are Getting Better all the While.” I like that song. Also I like “I Walk Alone,” “Some Other Time,” and “As Long as there’s Music.” I must be getting sentimental in my old age. Next in line comes Mon. Mar. 5 – Well that’s a good deal for Jack Arning. I thought he was still in the States. We had a boy who was appointed to West Point and we dropped him off before we went to P.O.E. I wasn’t sending V-mails because they would have been typed due to the cast. I figured someday you’d notice how little I say in answer to some letters. Sometimes I can’t answer everything and then again I’m just not in a writing mood sometimes or I feel it would be better to just skip certain things. You don’t say too much, I just don’t say enough but sometimes silence is golden when it’s applied to me. I have a peculiar habit of putting my foot in. They’ll offer a lot of bills on manpower. Wait until they pass one before worrying. I don’t know just how you meant that remark you made about dancing where you said “but that doesn’t need to fall on you also.” Anyway I still haven’t done any dancing. It takes 2 people you know and I’d hate to mangle anyone’s feet. You are getting a full repertoire of dog stories. I won’t be sending many if any cablegrams. Haines got one announcing a daughter the other day. Sam was in Holland last I heard. I still have all my blood yet and I’m keeping it if I can. I haven’t made requests to anyone now but you yet. I have all the pictures and have trimmed them down so they fit in those celluloid envelopes.

Well that’s one more letter. I guess I can write another page yet before this gets too heavy. Next in line Tues. Mar. 6 – Oh yes, I finally got a good conduct ribbon. You’re telling me time has rolled around, particularly the last 3 months. Gold bars or stripes on the sleeve represent 6 months overseas service. You know you can borrow all you need. It will take a long time at $25 a month. That makes $300 a year or 10 years with no interest. That printing just happens to be on the V-mail paper I use. It’s not all exactly the same. Yes, it takes let downs & bumps to make us appreciate things in life but sometimes they are hard to take. I haven’t had many yet but I’m building up my store. The news is all good now. It could happen any time. Next comes Wed. Mar. 7 – Well the boys are all getting promotions but me. Now whoa, I don’t remember writing anything to Marie to give her that idea. I did say once that I tried to be sure & write every day because I knew you worried about me. She wrote & told me not to write so I’d worry you so I guess she’s trying to read between lines. Forget it. You’ve done O.K. for 2 years so why worry about that. I have nothing to say. It’s time you quit paying so darned much attention to what others say. I don’t think your feelings are that calloused. I imagine Pop had enough of his “furlough.” You’re a pretty good guesser most of the time. Oh, so Pop wanted to protect the life of his truck. It’s developing into a windy, rainy night outside. Next I have Thurs. & Fri. Mar. 8-9 – I always like to see cactus plants growing. They are usually pretty cute. My letters, or some of them, have been reaching you very quickly evidently. I’m glad you get an occasional smile from what I write. You kept pretty busy while Pop was gone. I haven’t got many pictures yet. I have one snap of myself on the roll which isn’t all taken as yet. I’m not particularly interested in what Dunkel’s daughters do as you know. I go to a show to go usually regardless of what’s on. I’ve done pretty well on passes here, more than ever before anywhere. I’m afraid I will never get up to Edinburgh but if I do I’ll probably call on Nellie.

Well that answers partially at least, a few of these letters. If I write any more, this will be too heavy so I had better call it enough. So at 7:10 I shall sign off until next time.

So long again,

Love,

Son

Right Handed I Could Have Trimmed Him

Friday 30 March ‘45

9:50 a.m.

Dear folks,

I’m out at the hospital waiting to get this cast off and since I have to wait until this afternoon I’ll write a little. Last Tues. I wrote a V-mail and an air mail. Then Wed. & Thurs. I wrote just V-mails when I was on pass. One is in pencil and they may send it on through unphotographed but eventually you will get it. Let’s see now what’s happened since Tues. I found 3 letters when I got back – your Mar. 16 air mail, Mar. 20 V-mail and a V-mail from Julius. Tues. night as I remember we had a good meal – spaghetti, hamburger, peas, bread, butter and pineapple I believe. Anyway it was good. After awhile I took off and walked into town with a couple fellows, just sort of wandered around awhile, got a bite at the Red Cross and went back to camp and to bed. I suppose actually I waste my time but still I just can’t see spending much time around camp if I can avoid it. I just want to get away from it. But enough of that. One of these days I’ll probably pour out my feelings in a 5 or 6 page letter if I happen to hit the right mood. Wed. morning I was up as usual but a bit later because rain prevented reveille. I got my early morning work out of the way, shaved and cleaned up and took off on pass. I can’t tell you too much about it because I didn’t go very far. I walked into town, ate dinner, looked the place over pretty well to see what it was like on a busy weekday. There is plenty of bustle and business, actually probably more than in downtown Lansing at the same time of day. Everybody over here is in a hurry to get somewhere or other. Then in the afternoon I caught the bus to [cut out by censor]. I spent the rest of the afternoon just looking the place over. It’s very nice, a lot better than our city. I guess it’s about the same size. The business district is much more attractive. The stores look smarter, the streets are wider, and cleaner, in fact everything seems “more awake” if I can use that term with reference to a city. The American Red Cross over there has ours beaten all the way. It’s a huge hotel which has been taken over. The theaters over there looked better from the outside in fact everything did. It would be a nice place to be. I should have gone there before but just kept putting it off. The residential sections are better I believe also and there are a couple very pretty parks that I wandered around through. All in all I like the place a lot but I’ll probably never go back. I got something to eat and in the evening went to a play at the opera house. It was “Junior Miss,” a comedy and was very good. It’s the first I’ve seen over here although they have a new one each week. The Opera House is really a nice place also. There is much more offered over there in the way of what I call “decent” entertainment. I got out in time to catch the last bus back. I stayed in town at the Red Cross and those sheets and that pillow really felt good. I slept until about 9:30 before I got up, dressed, cleaned up and ate. Then I wrote you a letter and before I knew it the forenoon was gone. It was cloudy most of both days and drizzled a little a couple times so I didn’t have much luck but did try 2 or 3 snaps. I got into a ping pong game with an English boy at the Y yesterday afternoon but got beaten by 2 points. Right handed I could have trimmed him. Yesterday I did virtually nothing. I did a lot [of] walking and saw a lot of new parts of town. I guess I’ve covered most of it by now. Then I ate supper and went to a show- “Call of the Wild” with Gable & Loretta Young and “We’re in the Army” with the Ritz Bros. & Jane Withers. I guess they were both pretty old pictures but they were good. I went back to camp last night and slept there so that’s my pass or what I can say now. Maybe someday I’ll get into more details about things but you know how it is.

Well this is developing into a good sized letter although I haven’t said much. I guess they fill up faster when one doesn’t type. It’s an off and on day today from rain to sunshine and back to rain. April must be on its way. April already & here it was Dec. just the other week.

I was going to come over here tomorrow to have this looked after but it may be pay day so I decided on today. I have quite a bit of work to do so I hope I get back sometime this afternoon. That’s about all there is to say today. Wow, it’s really pouring outside now. It’s about 11:00 and nearly chow time so I’ll call this it. Now the sun is shining. See what I mean? So long for once more until next time,

Love

Arlington

Later, – the cast is off but the X-ray shows the bone isn’t healing so tomorrow I come back here to the hospital for a couple days. I don’t like the idea but at least they are trying to fix it up. So if the mail gets a little off the beam don’t pay any attention to it. I’ll probably be out Mon. or thereabouts.

Son

Taking A Chance On Pencil

V-MAIL LETTER

Thurs. 29 Mar. ‘45

10:50 a.m.

England

Dear folks,

No ink in my pen so I’ll take a chance on pencil. Just a V-mail note again today. I took off yesterday afternoon and spent the afternoon and evening in Cheltenham. I looked the place over during the daylight and last night went to a play “Junior Miss” at the Opera House. It was very good. I doubt if this letter will photograph. I stayed here at the Red Cross last night and I’ve been up about an hour. Haven’t decided yet what I’ll do today. Tomorrow I’ll be back in the groove again. So long for now.

Love

Son

A Pretty Little Plaster Of Paris Cast

Sat. 17 Feb. ‘45

Dear Folks,

This may be a running letter of a couple days. I don’t know just yet. Yesterday I had the medics take a look at the wrist and they bound it up good and tight to sort of brace it a little. They are going to have it X-rayed I guess to see if there are any cracked or chipped bones. The soreness is wearing out quite a bit now though and I don’t think there is much if anything wrong with it except the old sprain I have had now for quite awhile. But if they want to look it over it’s all right with me. I got your V-mail letter of Feb. 3 yesterday so I am about 2 weeks away from the news. Last night I went into town, got something to eat, looked around a bit, and came back. The lines at the shows have been too long all week to wait out to get in. I got to bed about 11:00 I guess. The boys got in yesterday so this morning we were back in the groove with reveille at about 6:30. Breakfast was eggs, oatmeal, milk, bread, butter and fruit juice. I got to work at about 7:45 and now I am here. It’s about time to go have the medics check on things in the wrist so I’ll sign off. If there is nothing wrong I intend to take off on pass tonight with Buck.

Well I am back at 3:00 p.m. I’m resorting to a sort of hunt and peck system of typing as I have a pretty little plaster of Paris cast around my right wrist and thumb. I went down to the dispensary and they sent me to the hospital for an X-ray. They found that the novicular bone was broken whatever that means. The pictures showed a little clean break down by my thumb. It wasn’t out of place so no setting was required. I didn’t want to have to stay at the hospital so they put the cast on and let me come back. Buck and I were going to London tonight but at the last minute he found that he has to go to school Mon. morning so we had to call it off. We were going to try to find one of his buddies from Ft. Wayne whom he hasn’t seen for a couple years. So that’s that. Maybe it’s better that way. It is good it isn’t payroll time as my typing isn’t too good. So instead of London I will probably go to ____ tonight. So for now I’ll sign off and call this a letter for today. Don’t worry about this arm because it is nothing at all. It is just a sort of nuisance. Be seeing you

Love,

Son

I Was Practically Eligible For A Dog License

Fri. 26 Jan. ‘45

Dear folks,

I’m back again. It’s a pretty snappy day here. No more snow but pretty cold. Last night after supper – hash, spuds, corn, beets, bread, butter & peanut butter & fruit cocktail – I changed clothes, got a pass and went into town. I usually always drop into the Red Cross & the YMCA first. Someday I may run into someone I know as there are probably quite a few fellows near here that I know. Then I went to a movie. It was “Dragon Seed” with Katherine Hepburn and wasn’t bad at all. It was a very long picture about the Chinese War. By the time I walked back to camp it was about 10:30. The barracks was really empty. I woke at about 7:00 this morning and finally got enough courage to crawl out and dress and take off for chow – grapefruit juice, all bran, milk, eggs, potatoes, bread, butter and grapefruit. I got ambitious and came to work early this morning and built the fire to get myself thawed out. I quit for dinner at the usual time – fish, potatoes, peas, salad, bread, butter & fruit salad. I don’t usually eat fish but that was good today, even for cod fish.

I think perhaps I shall stay in tonight and do a little washing and a few other things. I miss my boy Buck. He has a friend from back in Fort Wayne whom he hasn’t seen for nearly 2 years who is stationed not too far from here. Buck has been figuring on getting a pass to go see him. This morning the other kid shows up here looking for Buck but unfortunately he’s out in the field so they missed connections. I don’t seem to hear from any of my boys over here lately, not even Sammy. I don’t know yet how the mail will be today.

So for awhile I’ll start to answer all these back letters. Report – no mail today. Now Thurs. Dec. 14 – I got that letter from Amelia & answered it over here. So that kid finally got married. Can’t see it. I don’t answer very much in your letters some times as I may have already mentioned the same thing in my letters to you. The subjects are a bit cooled off too by the time a month elapses between answers. It does take nearly a month for a letter to be answered. I haven’t been getting my hair cut very often over here. I was practically eligible for a dog license. It’s almost long enough on top to comb again. The only mail I got from the time we left Texas until the first mail over here was 3 letters the first day on the boat. Today I read in the paper how thick the subs are in the Atlantic. It’s good we didn’t know it as we didn’t worry particularly about them on our trip over. Now Fri. Dec. 15 – You dated it the 16^th. We didn’t leave in a hurry. In fact we stayed longer than the average. If you ever wanted to send me a cablegram my cable address is AMIGUV. I don’t know just how it really does work but I believe you use that instead of an APO number. If I had it to do over I’d bring practically all of that stuff with me that I sent home at the last minute. I still have all the Xmas cards I got. I sort of hate to throw them away. You know me. You may as well use 3 cent stamps as the air mail doesn’t make any difference. Save the money. I haven’t heard from Walt. We can write to each other on this side but delivery is very slow. It doesn’t have to go back to the States. Now Sat.-Sun. Dec. 16-17 – All you put on the V-mail is a 3 cent stamp same as any letter. Oh yes, everybody came along. So Pop censors your mail for you. Now Mon. Dec. 18 – Well your correspondence is speeding up. Did Marie get down or I should say up to see you yet? You know time is really going surprisingly fast. Only 2 months ago we were in Texas. That seems long ago but New Years seems just a few days ago. So long as we stay here things won’t be too bad.

Well that answers a few letters and brings me up to Dec. 27. I still have 4 more to answer next time and perhaps more if it arrives. If any of those subs sink any of my mail “gives it war.” Well I’ll call this enough for now and sign off for one more day. So long for today,

Love

Arlington

Things Are Tough All Over

Mon. 15 Jan. ’45 – 7:45 p.m.

Dear folks,

It’s me again. It’s a beautiful day in Chicago and not too bad in England either. It has been quite warm today. I got to bed fairly early last night and slept until nearly 7:00 this morning. After reveille I took off for breakfast. Buck sleeps down in the supply room so I usually stop on the way and wake him up before I go on to the mess hall. He’s on K.P. all night tonight. Breakfast was – corn meal, milk, bread, butter, jam, eggs, and grapefruit. After breakfast I straightened up my junk a bit and took off for work. I was fairly busy all morning but not rushed. We quit at noon for chow. Not bad – meat loaf, spuds, corn, bread, butter and cocoa. Then back to work for the afternoon and that’s today. I finally got the package from Elmo today. The box was all beaten apart but everything was O.K. inside. There were 16 candy bars (Hershey almonds, Mounds, Clarks, etc.), 4 pkgs. of gum, walnettos, peanuts & a big hunk of fudge. So my larder is being kept well filled. I haven’t cashed my P.X. ration now for 2 weeks. I’ve been eating some of your walnuts tonight. They really are good. I’ve been rationing the stuff out to myself. I still have a fruit cake put away. Buck & I will take care of it maybe tomorrow night if he’s not on guard or something. I also got a V-mail from Edna today. She forgot to date it but she had received the letter I wrote on the boat V-mail to her. So I’m hoping you got my first letters sometime around Jan. 1 to 4. We’ll be due for more mail in a day or so I figure. I’ve got to get on the ball and let Elmo & Edna know I got their packages all O.K. as they are probably wondering. Now to get back to my letter answering. Oh yes, before I forget, Buck & I went up and snooped around the old cathedral yesterday. We should have gone inside as I understand it’s really beautiful but we didn’t. It’s a huge structure and really old. It was started sometime before 100 A.D. I understand and was completed 200 years before Columbus discovered America. Edward the II has been buried there about 1000 years. It looks very fragile like bric-a-brac. It’s hard to conceive how such a huge and really beautiful structure could have been produced with the crude implements which must have been available during those times. Now I wish I’d kept my camera but then none of us knew where we’d be or what it would be like. If I can find a picture of it I’ll send it so you can see.

Now to your letters – Thurs. Dec. 21 — That clipping you sent was right – the Xmas is still down there at the Red Cross Club. There was a Club mobile out here Xmas Eve with a sort of portable tree to add some atmosphere. Maybe the “firebug” is in action around Lansing again. That tabernacle was the one Jim Bowden used to go to. I believe his dad or uncle did some preaching out there. You are really getting some winter. There ought to be good skating there this year. The old M.S.C. stationery looks really good. How I’d like to be able to use it. The streets must really have been bad with ice. Your letters are untouched. If you cleaned out that desk of mine you had a real job. You may have seen the moon but not I. I remember the 21^st – it was terribly foggy in the morning. At night it was a little better and we were at the anchor at long last. I’m getting quite a few letters right now. I guess people think – Gee, he’s overseas, I better write – They’ll probably lose their enthusiasm pretty soon. Of course I’ve got to get on the ball and answer them too. When you mail me a pkg. do they have special rates or do you pay postage to New York? I was curious about it. You must have really had a full mail box there one day. Now Fri. Dec. 22 – I haven’t heard from Tillis yet. Now you can plot everything on your map as it happens. Yeh, I got the Xmas tie situation all doped out O.K. That’s right, February is fast approaching. I’ll be wondering what you’ll do. I haven’t heard from Walt, Hugh or Leonard as yet. Yes it really was limited at McCoy. Now Dec. 23-25. I understand Miller is still missing. He was a pretty good musician but then things are tough all over. Looks as if they’re cracking down on the folks at home now. I can’t see it. The Americans as a whole don’t realize there’s a war on but “so what.” The points are really going to go fast for you now. I also understand they are going back to dim outs and blackouts. It’ll be like England over there pretty soon at that rate. The closer we get to the war the less we hear or know about it. I remember Jack Parker but I don’t expect he’ll be around this neck of the woods. You have a nice supply of points on hand. You ought to get by nicely. I’d like to have seen the little “arrangement” you fixed up for Xmas. It sounds cute. But I believe I’d rather just have been there, right?

Well that answers all but your Dec. 26 “Boxing Day” letter. I don’t answer everything in your letters but you know me & know why. It’s nearly 9:30 so I think I shall wind this up and begin to commence to head for bed. I’ll be glad to get a letter saying “well I finally got some mail today, 18 letters” or something like that. Well for now I’ll sign off,

So long

Love,

Son

Resting On The Oars

Fri. 29 Dec. ’44 8:00 p.m.

Dear folks,

One more day. Not too much to say today. I finally got a letter, a V-mail from Edna written Dec. 17. A lot of us told our folks to use air mail instead of V-mail but so far V-mail is all that’s coming thru. Maybe it’s the Xmas rush holding stuff up. Even her V-mail took over 10 days. Last night I wrote V-mails to Aunt Edna & Fred K. before going to bed. I crawled out at the usual time and started the old routine all over again at about 7:00 this morning with reveille and then breakfast – cereal, milk, scrambled eggs, bread, butter, and V-8 fruit cocktail. Then off to work until noon. The company took another hike this morning. They are getting a lot of them lately. It was really foggy this morning. The sun looked like just a big red ball. Dinner was good. I skipped the fish but took spuds, lima beans, beets, bread, butter, peaches & cake. After dinner they gave out our P.X. ration cards & sold out our weekly tobacco ration. All of us buy all we can of everything and pass it around. I have no trouble getting rid of the cigarettes, maybe someone else will have something I want next time. I got my work pretty well all up to date today so I hope I can rest on the oars a couple days. Supper tonight was good too – roast beef, canned (it reminded me of days up north on vacation), potatoes, turnips (uh huh), tomatoes, bread, butter, and pudding. After supper I did out my laundry – some socks, underwear & handkerchiefs. My former assistant was made a T/5 today as mail clerk. The old one got busted. In fact stripes are coming off all over the place lately – 4 men in the Co. so far this week. He informs me you can send one 5lb. pkg. a month plus whatever I request. Is that right? They had a show for us here on the post tonight but I didn’t make it. Tomorrow is Sat. so another weekend is here & my first week in merry old England is finished. Well there isn’t much else to say. If I ever get some letters to answer I’ll have more to write. I may get a pass tomorrow or Sun. I turned one down tonight. Well I’ll call this note a letter and hope mine is reaching you faster than yours are getting here.

Good night,

Love

Son