June 29, 1945
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310.203.1-3.2017 Transcription
Bad Mergentheim, Germany
29 June 45
Hi, darlin’,
No mail to answer (BOO! HOOOO!) for a second
day in a row, but I/we hope it will not return
to the lousey-stinkin status it was a short while
back—& I dont think it ever will here at Bad M.
I’ve just finished the last touches on my
presentation (“lecture”) of “Atelectasis in the Practice of
Anesthesiology” to be given at the Officers Professional
Meeting tomorrow morning. This time its presented
by the Surgical Service; next time will be the
Medical Service; & so on it alternates. Yup! I even
got out my only half-decent clothes (pinks {shirts & pants[1]) &
my low shoes. [Lordie! I haven’t had those out since Doris was
married][2]. I brushed & polished, & brushed & polished—yup!
I give the (above) presentation first; then Jacobi gets
up to give the salient points in that “History of
Anesthesiology, ETO, in World War II” report that is
21 typed pages we have been compiling over the
last 5 weeks although I’ve never said much
about it. Soooo, all in all, the Anesth. Dept
“howls”—its day to “howl”—is tomorrow.
In practically every letter Ive written for
weeks I give some repititious slant on our
being in the U.S.A. some day-some month before too
too long. (CHRONOLOGICALLY, as War goes—seemingly, however, its eons).
[2]
Here’s another slant—one of the “100+-pointer” sargents
who left for home yesterday was told by the C.O. in
a friendly, goodbye, father-like way—“Well, sargent,
I’ll see you in the States in a few months”!
(Do I hear any complaints or countermanding from the State of North Dakota?)
Naturally, this (above) statement isn’t anything official
but it certainly ties in c̅[3] all the other things I’ve
“reped” to you over the course of recent weeks.
Summarizing:—The 116th is a Class II (Pacific intended)
outfit which supposedly will be on the Second-Three-
Month-Shipping-List [when its made up in Aug.][4] out of Le Havre c̅ a 97%
chance of routing through NYC via a 28-30 day
leave (rather than the 3% who get routed through the Panama
Canal from Le Havre). Again!—do I hear any
complaints or countermanding from the State of
North Dakota? (Thus—prematurely—I say—whoopie!)
For a week Ive been thinking about something.
Since there is 6+ weeks at least to kill here in
Bad M., I think I’ll enclose a picture post card
form the past in each of my letters. It will
“brighten” these drab letters a bit as regards
interest-factor—huh?! Please acknowledge
this plan I’ve outline[d]. Also, I’ll send the cards
as #1, #2, #3, etc #30+ so you can tell if letters
fail—& also I’d like to know which cards
were lost in the overall picture, if some are lost.
Well, darlin’, gotta get some sleep so I
can think fast tomorrow while standing infront
of an audience. Goodnight, dearest—
All my love,
Dave
[1] In original, “shirts” is written above “&,” which is written above “pants.”
[2] Bracketed text is part of original.
[3] Medical abbreviation meaning “with.”
[4] Bracketed text inserted into original with a caret.