June 19, 1945
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310.195.1-5.2017 Transcription
Bad Mergentheim, Germany
19 June 45
Dearest,
Hope springs eternal!—each
day for mail & none comes. It is
veeerrry peeeeculyar that newspapers,
magazines, & pkgs can come through but
no letters! Ask Dad how on God’s
green earth that can even be logical;
if mail is mail; & handling is handling;
why cant letters be “handled” into the
same bags (or shippment) as mags, n’wsp’p’rs, etc?
Anyhooo, 97% of us are roarin’ mad—
yet the dear sweet 116th, you know,
never does anything but the meek,
condecending, “Yes-man” thing—
even when it’s the “impossible.” Guess
I never did strike that key-note
clearly for you before, did I dear—
yup, that C.O. is the typical “Yes-man”
to all above him irrespective of
the {discomfort inconvenience[1]} ramifications upon
his personel. So it is c̅[2] the mail;
no squaks, no “bitches,” no nuthin’
about a situation that is nigh unto
intolerable; COMPARED TO OTHER OUTFITS!
[2]
I’m kinda tired tonight. They There
was a lot of lifting-lugging-running
to move the Surgery out of tents up
into the (“reped”) swanky Kraut[3] Spa-Hosp.
Guess I never told you a standing
(never-failing) “joke” c̅ the 116th—
every single time we have ever moved
we have had thrust upon us prior to
being-set-up-time, one or more serious
patients—EVERY TIME, IT’S HAPPENED!
This time it was a guy fussing c̅ a
handgrenade that blew threw his chest.
There we were—moving into
strange rooms c̅ lotsa Jerry junk
in them to be cleared; then set up
furiously so as to do serious surgery.
Oh me! oh us! oh Eternal! P.S. Just as proof
of the “Yes-man” precept that is undying—it
is possible & common to say for the C.O. to say:—“No,
we cant admit such a patient; we are right
in the middle of moving; so you take him to
“Such + Such” Evac instead. The 116th?!?—Hell
no!—bring him in; the 116th is just hitting
their stride on this mad-rush, gross-inconvenice [sic],
“Impossibility”-stuff—yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, MAN!
Come to think of it——most
all my letters are nuthin’ but bitchin’,
eh what? Aside from “the-old-Army-game”
principle it also happens to be the
truth. Maybe someday things/circumstances
[3]
will be at least a 50:50 shake, & then
[a] guy wouldnt even dream of “bitchin’”—
it would be such Heaven! (to be at a 50:50).
The 63rd Div. Theater tonight has
“Carmen”. I’d hope it to be the McCoy
(even though abbreviated) but I can’t quite
imagine the U.S.O. circuit being
able to handle such a musical
masterpiece as “Carmen”. Anyhoooo, I’ll
go based on musical-hopes, & will
probably ad lib about it in tomorrow’s
letter.
Say! I never have seen hide-nor-
hair of the new P[ower] of Att[orne]y that the lawyer
was going to send to me months ago.
Do you know anything about it, dear?
Which reminds me—that car insurance policy
is a darned good one even though a bit expensive.
It hasn’t “lapsed” has it? Did they “ups” the premium
on us because of accidents? [Rep:— Im darned
proud of you, dear, for being able to pay up that
life insurance loan—and so quickly—how
did ya do it, you ol’ B.[anka] B.[elk][4]?][5]
Which reminds me—these
past weeks I’m carrying more
money on my person than I ever did
before. [P.S. He! he! ya thought I’d been gamblin’ & lost,
didn’t ya? Exactly once in 9½ months I played in
the every-night-existant poker game & that time I
lost $2. Ashamed of me?—P.S. I’m not!][6]. Anyhooo,
[4]
the reason I havent sent PTA[7]-gifts to
you or Terry[8] is that (as you know) for weeks
we have been in a status of indecision,
& I wanted plenty (tho not huge amt.) of money
to do what might be required once
we were back in the beloved States.
Say! express an oppinion, Mrs One-Half-
The-Family, about whether I should
fly from the east coast or go by train.
Naturally, I know that you dont the
circumstances {leave time—when, where, connections
{reservations—their possibilities etc
{inclusive/exclusive travel time
but I don’t know them either as they
should exist in [(rep: 6X)][9] Sept (or early October).
Guess what I’m asking is—
should I spend plane-money difference
as against train money if the money
spend means 2 or 3 days difference of time
at Home?
Gosh! if I could just get a letter
from you I know I could write
better—anyhooo, I couldn’t
love-better—c̅
All my love,
Dave
[1] In original, “discomfort” is written above “inconvenience.”
[2] Medical abbreviation meaning “with.”
[3] German.
[4] In original, “anka” and “elk” are written in small print, stemming from “B.B.”
[5] Bracketed text is part of original.
[6] Bracketed text is part of original.
[7] Personal Transfer Account for sending money back home.
[8] Their infant son.
[9] Bracketed text inserted into original with a caret.