February 26, 1945
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310.115.1-6.2016 Transcription
Somewhere–France
c̅[1] 7th Army
26 Feb 45 @ 1:30PM
Hi, darlin’,
Since my recent letters have been
such “quickies” [& “stinkies” ?][2] ones I decided to
to write you first today upon having
gotten up early—& later do my
washing, etc.
Before I forget, that batch of pictures
taken on a roof outside the O.R. are
finished (Praises Be!) but they stuck to the
glass they were being dried on & now have
to be soaked (∴ wet all over again) off. I had
really planned on their being enclosed
in this letter.
Oh yes—let me forewarn you about
something. If a voice talks to you on a
phone someday asking if you have “a
husband Captain Doctor David Wilsey in
a hospital in France”—don’t get
scared. The voice doesn’t mean I’m IN
the hosp; just that Im “in” the hosp..
Associated Press received a huge “scoop”
on the 116th which, believe it or not, tells
every damn thing about us except the
exact 1/10th square mile on which we sit.
Lordy! is censorship a farce! 卐!Ü!⋆ !
From the AP’s “courtesy-service”—all
affiliated papers are calling up parents &
wives & giving them a “personal-touch”
[2]
excerpt of this long “newsie-scoop”—
how young we are; yet how good we are;
everybody’s name & home address; AND EVEN
that we handled 3 , 9 0 0 casualties in our
first 4 4 days of existance. (P.S. Can you now
better “see” what I’ve vaguely handled tried to
convey to you about W-O-R-K?). Anyhooo, the
article is a “glamour-deal,” even though
truthful.
Which reminds me—our C.O.
just got his “Chickens” (was a Lt Col—now
a “Bird” Colonel). This is all after being on
foreign soil only 3+ months—lotsa Evac
C.O.’s are (& stay) Lt-Col’s for years. NOW—
there’s two ways of looking/rationalizing/
reasoning this thing out. s̅[3] reiteration
you know [as does anybody who has gotten
close to him to really “see” him][4] what he is
psychodynamically-psychometrically—
yet he is hansome & his silence makes a
sort of an “impression.” But—he wasn’t
slated [chronologically][5] for “Bird-Col” as yet, &
infact he has always been on the held-down
side as regards rank. How come then, sez
everybody?!? Well———at least one
explaination is this [as you’ve read before][6]: The 116th
is as an outfit so good that the C.O. just
automatically (unwarrantedly) got full credit
as being the cause of it all——thus the
surprisingly quick Bird Colonelcy. Lastly,
this ties in c̅ something you may have
[3]
foresightedly thought-through—————
some “half assed” outfits will be disbanded
when Germany falls, BUT we fear not the
116th as uncle Sam doesnt “throw” a good
thing away but uses ‘em——lets say
in the CBI.[7] Oh me! oh iz me! Oh woe! Ohhh!
Another point about Doris’ wedding.
(I’m sorta writing “installments” which will seem
mighty silly if they don’t arrive in order; so reread.)
Despite war; despite France; despite everything—
she had a finer, more beautiful, & tastier
wedding cake than Mrs “Chicago-SanFranciso-
Ritchbitch” could have. Our mess officer
“pulled” a minor “phoney” & gave eggs, butter
sugar, etc to some “ruined” French bakers
downtown & they made a typical French
pastry creation that was a C R E A T I O N ! Over
4 feet high; beautiful adornment; bride & groom
figures on top; & the best taste you ever tasted.
Many people took pictures of the cake because
it was so phenomenal—I hope I can
“swipe” a print. When Doris saw the cake +
the champagine [sic] (to go c̅ the cake as a reception-party) +
the beautiful Baccarat (famous) crystal as a
present—she just broke down &
cried & had to leave for 10 minutes. Many of
the officers are going over to Baccarat to buy
that world-known crystal at a fairly cheap
price & send it home. Many swear it will
[4]
never make-it-through but buy
it anyway because of its beauty-
fame-“on-the-spot” cheapness. For
days I’ve been debating & debatin’.
The average purchase over there is
$15 (about $50 in U.S.A.) & I cant seem to
make up my mind about $15 ↔
pillaging ↔ breakage. Write me
back darlin’, & if I’m still in these
here parts I’ll do whatever you say.
Guess I’ll take time out for 2 reasons:—
(1) To do washing & (2) to wait until mail time
has arrived c̅ I hope, I hope, I hope a letter
form you—its been several weeks
since I did this “Charm-Writing”—the
“lucky-charm” of writing ahead of mail
arrival time which 90% of the time does
“bring” a letter from you. See ya later, dear—
[AFTER MAIL][8] Boo-hooo! no mail, yet I
had a very successful washing (Alah, praise
Fels Naptha!)
Also of a boo-hoo nature—Dobie
came by here at 12:22 PM on his return
trip today but apparently was so
rushed he didn’t have the chance to
even come over to the mess hall where
he was told I’d probably be found.
DAMN!—IT!—TO!—HELL!!!!
And especially since he was going to
buy (on my behalf) a “cloth-present” when
he was back in Epinal, for you.
So as to be awake this time when he came,
I got up early today. (as one of the early rise reasons).
[5]
Marian Lugea & Aunt Jean-
ette f Ford both wrote
recently as to what nice
letters you had written them. Cards? Letters?
Even though the orders making me a
Captain [Spec. Order #47 Hdq 7th Army—signed
Lt. General Patch][9] were “cut” (Army slang)[10] on
16 Feb 45, it wasn’t until today that the
Finance Officer got around to fixing-re
adjusting the money-angle. As yet it
isn’t complete, darlin’, but I’m changing
what use to be a $200 Class E (“E” = Emily—ho! ho!)
to a $250 Class E Allotment. OK?
If you ever want to “figure-backwards”
dont forget that the Capt’s pay started
on 16 Feb 45 (∴ sortofa half a month).
If I stop writing now (c̅ a little free
time still left) I’ll be able to line up
in a separate envelope [for simultaneous sending][11] a meager
sampling of coins you may like as
souveniers:— one pre-war German coin;
3 sorta “ersatz” wartime German coins;
& one (unchanged via War) Russian coin.
Ive had these coins for some time yet never
seemed to get them “packed.” Hell! I guess
I’ll just stick them on c̅ adhesive instead
of imbed them into card board cut-outs
like I’ve seen others do.
G’nite youz 2 Precious Lugs—
I gotta go earn some bacon by workin’
da nite shift.
All my love,
Dave
P.S. Ive spent the greater part (51+ %) of the
last 15 years workin’ nites. Can I day-shift??
[1] Medical abbreviation meaning “with.”
[2] Bracketed text is part of original.
[3] Medical abbreviation meaning “without.”
[4] Bracketed text is part of original.
[5] Bracketed text is part of original.
[6] Bracketed text is part of original.
[7] China Burma India. CBI was the US military designation for this area during the war.
[8] Bracketed text is part of original.
[9] Bracketed text is part of original.
[10] In original, there is a curved arrow pointing from “(Army slang)” to “’cut.’”
[11] Bracketed text inserted into original with a caret.