December 5, 1944
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310.51.1-4.2016 Transcription
Somewhere—France
c̅[1] 7th Army
(I think 5th) Dec 44
9AM after getting off
Dearest,
I don’t know just what to put
on paper as to when I last wrote
you —— my days ‘n dates
‘n nights are so mixed up due
to this 8PM → 8AM working
schedule. ‘Bout all I know
is I love ya, I love ya!
There are 8 of us in this one
particular room. One of them is
the Chaplain. He just walked
out the door in a big hurry
as he finally got permission &
a jeep from the C.O. to go
take a trip of some miles today
in hopes of getting mail for
our organization. Gee! hope c̅
us all that he can get mail
for us. As I wrote before — we are
all so somethin’-or-other because we’ve
had no mail for what seems ages ‘n ages.
Some minor points I forgot
to tell you in the past letter. Here
[2]
in the “foreward-part-of=war”
everybody gets certain free
articles viz:—[daily][2] 1 pkg cigs;
one small sized peice [sic] of Hershey
bar (about 1/3 a regular one as you know
them); one box of matches; & one
stick of gum — this happens
each night as we walk out of
the mess hall. Then — on
certain sporadic days we have
added to the above a few
things to choose one of th such
as: one razor blade; pipe
tobaccos; brushless shaving
cream; or a type of toothpaste.
[Lordy! there are brands (manufacturers) of
toothpaste that I never even heard of.][3]
These too are free, but they
show-up few & far between.
I was surely amazed that they
gave officers anything when it
happened that first night, & now
I sorta expect it — infact
I even get out of bed earlier
in the late afternoon than I
would otherwise just to claim my
[3]
rations. There just “ain’t” no
PXes[4] or the like to buy such
things where we are.
I think I’ll go to bed soon
darlin’ & heres why: - a mobile
(portable) Quartermaster shower bath
unit moved up here behind us
yesterday & are pitched in tents
about 20 minutes walk from
here. I hear they stay open till
7PM so Ill hurry to bed, eat
quickly this evening, & go try
to find it & my first shower
in so long a time that I’m
ashamed to tell you the data.
Anyhoooo, I’ll betcha you & Terry[5]
would love to see me even as
I am so I’ll hustle to a
“dream trip” to visit you two
Precious Guys —— c̅
All my love to you both,
Dave
P.S. That letter I wrote 24 hrs ago this exact time
was pretty frank — I hope it won’t appaul
you too much. Anyhooo, to “blow steam” helps.
[1] Medical abbreviation meaning “with.”
[2] Bracketed text is part of original.
[3] Bracketed text is part of original
[4] Post Exchanges, for shopping.
[5] Their infant son.