August 1, 1945
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310.218.1-2.2017 Transcription
Somewhere—France
1 Aug 45 (I’ll be here a little
while longer it seems).
[A.S. Lately I haven’t pointedly acknowledged all the
stamps enclosed in various letters, dear.][1]
Hi, dearest,
It seems Ive been writing letter furiously
for 2 solid days. Between delays in forewarded mail
& being gone those 8 days as truck Confvoy Officer
[during which 8 days I only wrote one “one-pager” the first night out
when we were 1/3 of the way to the bottom of France c̅[2] our materiel][3]
I was “snowed-under” c̅ over 2 dozen answerings
to carry out. 19 of those answerings were yours, &
I wrote a “15-pager” to answer all the 19 in one
sitting. I surely hope that letter makes-it-through
(as well as the one following (yesterday) which contains Terry’s[4]
present to you on his Birthday—yup! his present to
you that he asked me to get for you. Seeeeeeeeeeeee!)
Ill let the enclosed letters of Margee & Margery
do most of my “talking” for me today.
The only thing I want to write (& Ill rep it 3X
in subsiquent letters) is this:—Originally, & until
about May 12th to June 30th, 1945, a Bronze Star
meant/stood-for/carried a more worth while
significance than it has since that May 12th-June 30th
period. During those dates the politicians in the Army
(& there are thousands as you know) threw Bronze Stars
around like water to each other just so as to get
5 more points on the Adjusted Service Rating. Thus, as
it stands to date, a Bronze Star can be purely
political-eyewash-point grabing or it can be a
truly & sincerely earned award as it was originally
intended to be. P.S. I’m no politician—need my 116th letters prove
Anyhoooo, I surin’ Hell love da boadt uz Yuz c̅
All my love, Dave
P.S. Your “ancient” July 2nds limped threw re: T’s {eating & teeth.[5]
Yes, rep, his EFM.[6] & the #2 cheese finally arrived.
[1] Bracketed text written in the upper-left-hand corner of the original.
[2] Medical abbreviation meaning “with.”
[3] Bracketed text is part of original.
[4] Their infant son.
[5] In original, “eating” is written above “&,” which is written above “teeth.”
[6] Expeditionary Force Messages, with numbers corresponding to messages for quick correspondence.