February 9, 1945
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310.103.1-6.2016 Transcription
Somewhere–France
c̅[1] 7th Army
9 Feb 45
Dearest,
NO ONE knows who/when/how
the Etousa[2] shift to C.B.I. [3] will take
place, BUT so as to make sure enough
ahead of time that a “refresher-fact” is
refreshed———A SILENCE PERIOD
IN MAIL MEANS A GUY IS ALLRIGHT!
Remember, darlin’—you’ve had ‘em
before—& they always meant/PROVED
things to be allright?! Please answer
this paragraph specifically, dear, ‘cuz I
just gotta know your mind is
“refreshed.” (P.S. I’ll repitition this over the weeks).
I got 3 letters from ya—I
guess one [(or two)][4] of them is what you would
call “peevish” [as forewarned by a Jan 29th letter
you hoped would (& did!) come first][5]—BUT,
honest, Em, I don’t particularly see that
it is “p e e v i s h” at all—‘n that’s the
truth——honestly!
Your Jan 21st’s:— Ho! hum!—you
spoke about how Terry’s[6] fast-sit-up (c̅
foreward fall) scared ya to death—
darlin’, before very long, he’s gonna be
falling-kerploping-“gesmashing”
[2]
himself so hard & so
often that you’ll wish you
had an Xray machine in
the back wash room-porch that you knew
how to run. And, each time your Xray
machine would say [QUOTE][7]:- “No boney
pathology noted!.” Also, I’ve got half a
hunch that if he’s the kinda guy who’ll
laugh more times after a kerplop than
he will cry after a kerplop. [Most of the
crying is due to being scared by the: “unusualness
of that goofy thing that just happened,” said Mr. Terry.][8]
Infact, maybe he’ll have his Pappy’s
trigeminal nerve type of head sensory
distribution which just must be hypo-
active, as practically no head-smash is
hardly even felt. OKKK?? OOOKKK!
100X I, as a doctor, would have bet my ADA key the kiddie broke somethin: Xray=”neg.”
Nuthin’ much else in this letter
except to rerave about how super those
new-camera snaps are—geeeee!
Repitition:- I sent 3 last night that are merely
reprints of prints you already have, but lots better.
Oh yes somethin’ in the closure of
this letter [& kinda hard to “put-right” on paper][9].
Darlin’, you shouldn’t have (QUOTE) “prayers
working again[st]” my going to CBI[10]
as hail & hardy as I (maybe) will go to
CBI. OK? I’m afraid the 116th Evac. is
P A N O R A M I C A L L Y
[3]
just too good (& too new) an
outfit to be sent HOME
so soon (Despite its not being potentially—
this is all in spite of its leading officers,
as you already know. [Yesterday, added
to the list of Proven Shits (really always a known
Shit) is the Chief Nurse—but just to
show you my roarin’-control (?? at times)
Ill not even bore you c̅ at least 5 pages of
bitchin’ on how she through simply/absoloutely
feminine catiness blocked that trip I wrote
about in la yesterdays letter to say goodbye to
our swell nurse anesthetist being sent back to
the States][11].
Your Jan 25th’s:- (“Tanks” for the steady stamps).
Guess this letter is what you call “peevishness-
in-5-pages.” I don’t! so what say we just
skip it & (as necessary always) “file” it in the
waste basket. [P.S. Dearest—I am so very
very sorry about “The Plague’; I, as a doctor, will
trust (-rescue-“cure”) you from it as very soon
as the Lord will grant it so][12].
Your Jan 30th’s:- For repititions sake,
I am not 2nd Aux Surg Grp as of the writing
of said letter but oh! how I wish I were
so many times a month. [Especially, like those
times (above) such as the chief Shit Nurse “deal”][13]
I must reemphasize this—a Major
Peas came a short time ago when one
of the big shots (a Lt. Col) got the sack “out
of / here—Major Peas is a fine surgeon;
[4]
a fine man, personally; &
a fine Christian. Sooooo
if I should ever need anything done, I
feel a lot better about it. Again, I say
I am “spoiled” by being an “anesthetist-c̅-
ringside-seat” to know/have seen the
best surgery possible. –thus the other
surgeons dont stink, as a whole, they’re
just average-plus. A few days before
Major Peas, a [persecuted –re: rank-][14] Lt. Urrutia from
San Antonio also joined the 116th & the
two of them make 2-good-surgeons-making
a-good-team! Do ya feel better, hon——
I do!
Golly, I’m so rock-bottom/miserably
sorry I anticipated Thump[15] (& you) re:
those teeth & teething. Oh boy!!!!!!!
And while I’m expressing A P P R E C I A T I O N
let me “repitition” about those SWELL PANTS!
Geeeeeeeeeee.
Say! did I ever tell you that one of Doctor Lillian May
Gale Wilsey’s pet peeves & “renowns” was that
baby teeth should be protected-cleansed-cared for &
not neglected as so many feel—based on:- “Oh,
well, they’ll fall out, anyway!” She was as close
to a children’s-tooth-specialist as they had in those
days.
Ad lib—did ya get/find the 7th Army
Insignia Patch, Terry, that I sent in yesterdays
letter to you?! Whumpf! These women S’Sers![16]
The famous Nazi SS-Divisions recently have been found to have “Wacs.”
[5]
Say! I could really use
some “Arrid,” those swell
“Almond-Butter,” & English Toffy
bars, as well as the small cans of milk that
I’ve mentioned before. (P.S. you oughta be
“stockpiled” pretty well on “requisitions” –huh?!?)
Shecks, shooks, shucks!—here I’ve
been writing this letter in the “Charm-Way”
(before mail-time) that usually brings a
letter to me but today “no-soap.” Anyhooo
Ive been fortunate on mail (comparatively);
fortunate on War hardships (comparatively);
& fortunate on EVERYTHING IN LIFE (comparatively).
And thats what so much of Life is
anyway—Comparativeness.
But nuthin’ can compare, Em, c̅ the
all-ness, deepness of
My love,
Dave
Franc Notes:—?
FRENCH
5 Fr (man c̅ beret: oriental looking woman)
5 Fr (helmeted woman: sailor)
10 Fr (“Thinker” peasant woman: helmeted woman)
20 Fr (3 women)
20 Fr (scientist & bridge: peoples faces)
50 Fr (sort of a Madonna: a “Thinker” man)
100 Fr (DAT MUCH DOUGH NEEDS NO IDENTIFYIN’!)
ARMY-FRENCH
2 Fr}
5 Fr} all a routine non-pictured-type.
10 Fr}
[1] Medical abbreviation meaning “with.”
[2] European Theater of Operations, US Army.
[3] China Burma India. CBI was the US military designation for this area during the war.
[4] Bracketed text inserted into original with a caret.
[5] Bracketed text is part of original.
[6] Their infant son.
[7] Bracketed text is part of original.
[8] Bracketed text is part of original.
[9] Bracketed text is part of original.
[10] China Burma India. CBI was the US military designation for this area during the war.
[11] Bracketed text is part of original.
[12] Bracketed text is part of original.
[13] Bracketed text is part of original.
[14] Bracketed text is part of original. In original, “-re:rank-” is written below “[persecuted].”
[15] Nickname for their infant son, Terry.
[16] In original, “Souvenir Scroungers” is written underneath “SS.”