December 1, 1944
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310.48.1-3.2016 Transcription
Somewhere—France
c̅[1] 7th Army
Evening 1 Dec 44
Back c̅ gang for good (Hooray)
Hello, dearest,
[Or maybe I should say “good-
morning, dearest — I just woke up after
sleeping like dead following my first night
on the night shift of 8PM to 8AM][2]. Anyhooo,
heres hoping I can “awaken” enough
to talk to you for a few minutes
before I go on 8PM to 8AM again,
P.S. This damn French electrical current
is so dim I can hardly see to write,
believe it or not — I’ve practically
got my face down on the paper.
Would you believe [I would not
have][3] that a hand-grenade could
go off in a soldiers pocket &
do anything but spread his guts
all over the ground? — well,
last night we did such a case,
& all it did was blow the upper-
most edge of the end of his penis
off. This all proves one thing that
becomes daily more impressed upon
one in this War — the most
major things can happen in War &
mean essentially nothing, while
[2]
the most minor things can happen
& cause death. Soooo, dear, you can
see that God has Life ↔ Death all
figured out.
We [I say “we,” cuz I am a part of it][4]
save in this 2nd World War at least
6 or 7 out of every 10 who would have
died in the 1st World War. Some of
the things we do, (& can do, & “get by” c̅)
just amaze even us. The two general-
catagory things an anesthetist does
are: — (1) thoracic-cases would have
been all dead in 1918 & (2) when
physiology + shock is so severe as to
have a man “dead,” the anesthetist
keeps him alive until the blood &
plasma + the surgeons have done enough
fixin’ to let the patient “do” his
own physiology.
Again today I write that an Army
Post Office allegedly has moved up in
behind us fairly close — this means
[WHOOPIE][5] that I should be receiving your
8th (maybe 8th, 9th-19th) letter since overseas.
However, it may be all “hooey,” but we
surely do live from day to day via
the hope embodied in this “hooey.”
Oh, Em, I miss you so!! I love you
& Terry[6] soooo! God surely is watchin’ you good.
Dave
[1] Medical abbreviation meaning “with.”
[2] Bracketed text is part of original.
[3] Bracketed text is part of original.
[4] Bracketed text is part of original.
[5] Bracketed text is part of original
[6] Their infant son.