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