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 19th. 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 99th 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 16th. 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 21st – 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
There Aren’t Many Pores Or Air Holes
Thurs. 28 Dec. ‘44
12:35 noon
Dear folks,
Hi again. I’ve got some time on my noon hour so I’ll start a letter. Something must be wrong as it’s developing into a nice day. The fog has cleared away and believe it or not the sun is actually shining. I got to bed at about 10:00 last night and was up at 7:00. I’ve been averaging 9 hrs. sleep per night lately which is good. We have regular reveille every morning now and it’s really cold out at about 7:00. It’s colder than at night. We hear it was 26 degrees below zero in Chicago last week & that Detroit had a big snow so you must be having some real winter there. There’s no snow in sight here, only white frost on everything.
Back at 7:35 p.m. The days are pretty routine now – reveille, breakfast, work, dinner, work, supper & then here I am. Let’s see: the menu today was – breakfast – hot cereal, milk, apple fritters, syrup, butter, & stewed apricots. Not bad at all. Dinner was beans, creamed carrots, salad, bread, butter, corn bread and cookies. Supper – spuds, sauerkraut, bread, butter & pears. We get a good variety of fruits, canned naturally. So far we have plenty of butter – some canned but mostly fresh lately. The bread is good but a bit more solid than American bread. There aren’t many pores or air holes. Our vegetables are mostly green leafy, that is the ones not canned. We get canned string beans, etc. and fresh vegetables like cut cabbage, brussells sprouts, plenty of cauliflower & carrots & spinach occasionally. The meat runs pretty fair with a few too many pork chops so far as I’m concerned but all in all the food is doggoned good so far and a lot better than I expected to find over here.
When I got to work this morning I learned that the other boys worked last night so I got on the ball and batted out my pay roll in a hurry this forenoon. She’s all done and nearly all signed now. Once that’s in we’ll have less rush in our work. It warmed up a bit today but is cooling off plenty. One of the boys found a 2 day cleaners in town so I sent my O.D.’s in with him for a cleaning and pressing job. They really need it. After getting lost last night I believe I know the way to town and I have the 3 theaters lined up in case I want to go. The shows are sort of old but still something to see. I guess we’ll be getting a little better deal here in camp pretty quick. They are going to get us movies at least twice a week. Also the P.X. opens in a couple days. All P.X. stuff is rationed. Each of us gets a card good for 8 weeks. Some items you get every week, some every 2 weeks, some every 4 and some every 8 depending on the scarcity. We get a weekly ration of candy, soap, cookies, etc. Every 2 weeks we get peanuts & a few other items. I don’t have my card yet so I’m not exactly sure how it all runs. Anyway we’ll have a chance to buy a few things. Stationery comes every 8 weeks so here’s a new request. Send me – some stationery, light weight air mail would do as we use but one side anyway, find me a steel shaving mirror, put in a couple pairs of wool socks, and fill up the rest with candy, cookies, gum, peanuts, raisins or anything else you have. This is the second request. Now you don’t have to send this out as soon as you get it. The idea is you have to have a request from me to be able to send me anything so I’m making sure you have plenty of requests on hand. See. I got 20 air mail stamps today so I have a few but don’t hesitate to send some as I can always use them. Cover the expense from the allotment. There’s plenty there to cover it all O.K. No mail for us today – 4 letters for the entire Bn. Some day there’ll be a whole barrel of mail (we keep telling ourselves).
Well that’s about all there is to say tonight I guess. I don’t imagine you’ll get any of my letters for a week or two yet. You’ll probably get V-mail first if it works like it has here. All we can do is wait. There’s still something out for every day. So for another day I’ll say so long,
Love,
Arlington
MERRY XMAS!
MERRY XMAS!
Mon. 25 Dec. ’44 Xmas
Somewhere in England
10:45 a.m.
(5:45 a.m. in Lansing)
Dear folks,
One more Xmas is here. It’s a rather hazy, damp and pretty cold day here. I wonder if you have snow there. Last night I wrote some V-mails to Gramp, Elmo, and Amelia just for something to do and to give them my APO number. I got to bed at about 10:00 I guess. They called us out for reveille this morning at about 8:00. Breakfast was bran, milk, scrambled eggs, bread, butter, and grapefruit juice. After eating I got my work out of the way and then got dressed & picked up my pass. It’s good until 11:00 tonight but I’m staying here for dinner and I expect to be in before then tonight as there isn’t much to do in town I suspect. I got 7 pounds for my money and still have some shillings and pence coming as they ran out of change. Probably most stores will be closed today – Xmas. I hope I get some mail tomorrow. It will make up for Xmas a lot if I do. I dug out my long woolen snuggies yesterday & I’m plenty warm except for my feet. They’ve been cold ever since I’ve been in England and I can’t seem to get them thawed out. There were a lot of turkeys visible in the kitchen this morning and there was a very pleasing odor there but I’d rather have smelled it in your kitchen like Sun. Oct. 15. Remember that? Well I’ll sign off now and wait for dinner which will be on before too long I hope.
Back at 9:25 p.m. It was a long wait for dinner but it was worth it. We didn’t get to eat until nearly 2:30 – turkey, a big slab of white meat, mashed potatoes, dressing, gravy, cauliflower, salad, cranberry sauce, bread, rolls, butter and pineapple cake. It was plentiful and really tasted good. At about 3:30 Buck and I took off for town. It’s quite a place.
Tues. 26 Dec. ‘44
12:15 noon
Dear folks,
Back again. I’m doubling up on my letters to make the stamps go farther. I had to quit last night when the lights went out. Now it’s 6:30 so I’ll start in again. I’ll finish this tonight and mail the 2 days in one. We walked in to town yesterday. We didn’t know the way exactly but we just went in the general direction and ended up in the center of town. It’s about like one would expect. The houses are small apartments very snug looking. They all look alike to me. You can go for a couple blocks and see only one kind of house. The streets are a bit narrow and curve all over so that it wouldn’t be hard to get lost I’m thinking. We wandered around and saw what we could of the town in daylight. Then we went up to the Red Cross Service Club downtown. It’s a nice place patterned after our Service Clubs but it was pretty crowded. Everything was [closed] yesterday due to Xmas probably. They have places for fellows on pass to sleep, a small dance floor, a few ping pong tables and a place to eat. It was pretty crowded so we left and found another place where we got some free cake & sandwiches. It’s useless to try to eat in a restaurant so far as I can see. The civilians deserve it anyway so if I do any eating in town it’ll be at Service Clubs. After eating we walked around a bit and came back to the Red Cross. They have a big log book there where fellows sign according to states. I hunted through it and found about 10 men from Lansing none of whom I knew. Then we got on the end of the line or queue as it’s called over here and got supper. We got a fair meal – potatoes, gravy, roast beef, bread, & fruit cake for 1 shilling, 3 pence or about 25 cents. That’s cheap enough and a better meal than one could get anywhere else. After eating we headed back for camp and got back about 9:00. It really was foggy last night as usual. I started to write a little but the boys were sleepy so the lights went out. After 6:00 or so town is blacked out and you can’t find anything except the “pubs” which I wasn’t hunting for. It’s good there isn’t much traffic. All the stores were closed Xmas, the 26th & 27th for the Holidays. Today is Boxing Day, whatever that means.
We were up at 7:00 today & out for reveille. Brr. It was very cold out today. We had quite a frost last night and everything from the trees down to the weeds & spider webs was all white frost and it was really pretty if only there could have been a bit of sun to shine on it. It’s been so foggy all day you can see only a few feet away. As usual they say its way colder than normal. It’s the same old story that you hear everywhere. Breakfast this morning was good — hot cereal, milk, bread, butter, scrambled eggs and grapefruit juice. I went to work today and worked all day believe it or not. It was about time I guess. We’ll be on a payroll pretty quick. Dinner was stew, potatoes, brussell sprouts, fruit salad, cookies, bread & butter. Supper – spuds, corn, bread, butter & pineapple. That’s the dope on today. We got 13 V-mail letters for the whole Co.today – none for me. I’ll cut this off so it won’t be too heavy. This cleans out my stamps. Here’s your first request – send me plenty of air mail stamps. Also send a pkg. of non-perishable food when you can. Cover the expense from what I send. You can get the dope on size of pkg. etc. from the Post Office. Stick in a couple khaki handkerchiefs & single edge blades. If I think of more I’ll mention it another time. This should serve to satisfy the postal clerk as if it goes past the censor it’s O.K. with the C.O. So for now I’ll sign off and call this it for tonight at 7:15.
Love to all of you,
Arlington
Somewhere In England
Sun. 24 Dec. ’44 – 11:20 a.m.
Somewhere in England.
Dear folks,
Tonight is Xmas Eve but it surely doesn’t seem like it. I remember when Xmas fell on a weekend before and we used to like the long holiday it made. I didn’t like last year but it was a lot better than this one probably. I don’t know what sort of meal we’ll have but with things the way they are the meal is all there is to the day. I can just see our old time Xmas and I wish I could – chicken, mashed potatoes, good gravy, sage dressing, hot biscuits & all the cakes & pies & the olives and little things that went along too. A rumor just wafted up from the mess hall that there’s turkey aplenty for tomorrow so that’s good. I know you don’t have a tree this year. I’ve seen but one so far – a little one on the boat. I’ve been sort of wondering if Julius might get home for the holidays again like last year. I hope he did.
I got to bed quite early last night at about 9:30.
Back now at 4:35. I wrote a short letter to Marie last night before I got to bed. I was up at about 8:00 and off to breakfast. It’s a long process to wait in line but it was O.K. – scrambled eggs, bread, shredded wheat & milk. The milk is powdered but it tastes O.K. to me. After breakfast I went to work but nothing was doing so I came back and started this letter. I quit for chow at 11:30 and it was after 1:00 by the time I got back but it was a good meal – roast beef, potatoes, string beans, cabbage salad, bread, butter, & cake. We went exploring for awhile this afternoon. There are some big hills nearby which we climbed – myself, Buck & the 3rd member of our trio – Staff Sgt. Everett Haines from Warsaw, Ind. – our mess sgt. The view from up there was pretty good. The sun was shining for some strange reason and even then it was sort of hazy and hard to see too far.
They had a Red Cross “Clubmobile” down here for us awhile ago so I went down and got my 2 doughnuts. They had it all decorated with wreaths & stuff & even had a little Xmas tree there by the truck. That’s the second one we’ve been served by in 3 days so they are around. I ate about ½ dozen doughnuts in nothing flat the other day. The Red Cross seems to be doing a pretty good job over here. They gave us cards with the name of the truck so I’ll send it along to you to see.
Now I’m waiting for supper. I turned down a pass for tonight and I’m glad I did as our money hasn’t come yet that we turned in for conversion to English currency. Time out for chow.
Back at 6:45. Chow tonight was O.K. I hit the line twice and really got filled with spaghetti, cooked cabbage, beets, bread, butter, and pears. The showers were hot tonight so I took one and then shaved. I’m scheduled for a pass for tomorrow so I think I’ll take off after dinner. I’m not going to miss Xmas dinner if I can help it. I was on for C.Q. tonight & tomorrow but Kumins took me off when I told him I had a pass. I haven’t collected by English money yet and I haven’t sent that $50 to you either. I probably won’t need much money as there isn’t much one can buy. It’s practically useless to try to buy food and just about everything else is rationed. Probably once in town will be enough for me. There are a few theaters but they’ll be pretty crowded I imagine.
I’m wondering what you are doing tonight. I know you haven’t had any mail from me for about 2 weeks and I figure it will be until the first week in Jan. before you do get any. I wish I could sneak up and pop in on you believe me. There’s not a bit of snow in sight here and naturally I don’t know how it is back there. I’ll always be about 2 weeks behind you.
Well I guess that’s about all the dope for today so I’ll be closing. No mail for us until Tues. due to the holidays so I’m hoping to hit the jackpot then. Anyway I’m wishing you the best possible Xmas & maybe next year it will be different (or did I say that last year?)
Good night (Good afternoon to you – 2 p.m.) & Merry Xmas
Love to all of you
Son
They Really Do Drive On The Left
[date has been cut out by censor]
Dear folks,
I’ll start you a letter now and write until I’m able to mail it sometime. I think its O.K. to say our trip is nearing its end. [section cut out by censor]…we left the states. I got a fair night’s sleep last night. There isn’t very much I can say right now. This will probably be cut a lot as it is. Food is a wonderful subject, I’ll start with it. Breakfast – oatmeal, milk, bread, jam and a boiled egg. Supper – potatoes, beans, bread, butter, cold meat and an apple which I saved for the rainy day. I got one of those big Hershey almond bars from the canteen today along with a bunch of life-savers. I’m storing up a little for the day I’ll need it. I never ate life-savers until now but I find that they are sort of good to have to eat from time to time. We were issued “K” rations today and I guess their content is no secret. They come in 3 boxes, one for each meal. Breakfast has coffee & eggs, dinner – cheese & a fruit drink, supper – meat loaf & bouillon. In addition each has biscuits, gum, candy & cigarettes. It isn’t bad stuff to eat, its compact but really fills you up. The cheese is best.
It’s a beautiful starry night outside. A light is occasionally visible in the distance. To me that light is beautiful but I don’t suppose many people see anything in it. What happens each day from now in becomes more & more and uncertainty. One thing sure, if I never knew there was a war on before I do now. A [cut by censor] flying overhead is a beautiful sight. Well it’s nearly bed time so I’ll sign off for today and continue this when I can again. I think I’ll go see what I can and then get to bed. Good night or I should say good afternoon as it’s only about 4:30 p.m. for you.
[cut by censor-date?]
I’m back for a few more words. I’m taking the chance of saying that I’m somewhere near England I think. I couldn’t prove it but the fog is thicker than any I’ve seen even at San Francisco so I take that as an indication. Not much to write as we’re sort of just waiting. It’s a little colder but otherwise, except for the fog blanket it’s O.K. Naturally we don’t know for sure where we are and we have no idea where we are going. Time will tell that. We missed our little candy snack this afternoon. Breakfast was fair – oatmeal, milk, prunes, bread & jam. I’m waiting for supper now. Old mopping detail comes up again tomorrow. Well its chow time so I’ll sign off and see what delicacies are in store for us tonight. Back at 9:30 after supper. Naturally – spuds, bread, butter, sauerkraut, & rice. I almost feel like a civilian on a cruise tonight. No blackout. Instead of stumbling around in the pitch dark, its’ light enough for me to write this out on deck. I can see as far as the rail and then fog. It’s really swell to see the lights and I’m not kiddin’. The fog lifted this afternoon but she’s back now. Right now I’m listening to Harry James play “Two O’clock Jump” as I write. Well its’ bed time so I’ll sign off and head for my hammock pretty quick. Good afternoon to ye.
[cut by censor-date]
Hiya. Well here I go again. I may make our friend the censor unhappy but I can’t see anything wrong with what I’m about to say. First of all I’m here. “Here” for the time being I’ll call “somewhere in England.” Last night I stayed out until 10:00 but it was so foggy you couldn’t see anything. I dug into breakfast pretty heavy as these meals are kind of far apart with no extra candy & stuff in the middle. Let’s see, it was oatmeal, bread, butter, jam & potatoes. I got up on top as soon as I could this morning.
Back again at about 7:15 p.m. Now to begin where I left off. I was on deck from breakfast until mid-afternoon except for a time when I did my mopping. I had a very interesting time and saw a lot [of] things I’d like to talk about but guess maybe I shouldn’t. Anyway I never saw so many or so many different kinds & sizes of boats in my life as I did on the way in. Now let’s see what else can I say without giving any info. Trees & green grass surely looked good again to me. The first thing I noticed on the skyline were several church spires. They are very numerous. Two things impressed me – the tall steeples and so many domes on buildings. The jockeying into position at the dock was quite a thing. Naturally all of us were at the rail to see what we could of these strange new people. They gave us quite a welcome but why shouldn’t they? You already know my attitude toward the British in this war and I haven’t changed any. They had a pretty sharp looking band out to greet us. They played several marches & slow tunes & then reorganized & dug a little “American” jive or tried to. That made a much better hit with the G.I.’s naturally. I stayed up and took in all I could before coming down to shave & clean up a bit before chow tonight. I was just up on top again but there’s no one around this area now naturally. I was surprised to see that there is no blackout. Evidently the Luftwaffe doesn’t come around anymore. I think its O.K. to say I saw no evidences whatever of any bombing which also surprised me. Now let’s see what else I can say. The people ah yes the people. One word could describe them – “tired.” They look like they could use a good long rest & vacation. They are a bit smaller than Americans – are slim faced & a bit longer nosed. Their clothing is what we’d call a little worn & old fashioned – what I saw. Still they seem to have quite a bit of spirit. The bicycle seems to be the chief means of individual transportation. I couldn’t be sure but I guess they really do drive on the left side of the road here. Naturally I couldn’t see too much as I’m still on the boat but I saw a couple right-hand drive vehicles. That’s about all I can safely say I guess about what I saw. To me the place looks very interesting and I’m hoping I can get a pass pretty soon to see the most I can of what’s to be seen. I want to hit a post office or whatever they have at the first chance & buy one of every stamp they have. I’ve way too much cash with me any way so I’ll advance my hobby.
Well that’s about all I can say. We are pouring over maps to get the situation in mind and see where it is we’re headed. Anyway I believe I’ve covered it & this is getting long enough so I’ll sign off from Southern England “somewhere” and write again next time. I’ve still written every day as usual. Good night & good afternoon (its 2:50 your time).
Love to all of ye’
Son
Watching The Scenery
V-MAIL
Mon. 18 Dec. ‘44
Somewhere at sea
Dear Mom,
I just finished an Air mail letter to you but I’m sending this on the chance it might be faster. You’ve got a flock of letters on the way to you. We’ve had a long but pretty good trip so far. Except for a couple days it’s been quite smooth. I’ve never been “really” seasick although I got pretty close to it a couple times. We’ve had a few movies and some programs on board to pass the time. A few details from time to time also accomplished the same thing. Sleeping in a hammock was something new for me. I’ve spent a lot of time on deck watching the “scenery.” We mess twice a day but these people don’t know how to cook. I’m hoping we have our own cooks for Xmas dinner. I got your long letter and your Mon. Dec. 4 letter after I got on the boat. I’m all O.K. and you had better be too,
Love to you all
Arlington
Recent Comments