March 7, 1945
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310.120.1-5.2016 Transcription
Somewhere–France
c̅[1] 7th Army 12 Mar 45
Hi, darlin’,
Didnt writcha last night—
never went to bed till 3:30PM (after nite duty)
accounta workin’ to fix up the Board
application. All such fixin’ over here
goes the “hard-way”—finally
wound up on a Nazi-typewriter=tricky!
Certifications, sworn statements, etc,
etc till your head spins. Today I
walked quite a way [I wanted to][2] to
get a [$25][3] Postal Money Order. Now all that
remains is the pictures downtown
which is are promised for tomorrow at 2PM—
however I am going to try to get
them from 11 to 12 AM as then I can
make the outgoing mail @ 2PM. [Practi[c]ally
no French business-man opens till 10AM;
then lays-off 2 hrs from 12 till 2PM; & quits
for the day @ 4PM or 4PM. It is said they use
the 12-2PM for siesta ↔ intercourse. I dunno!][4]
I hope my previous 3 (or 4) letters arrive
decently telling about this Anes. Board
stuff—you’ll be terrifically “fogged”
if they don’t. However Ill repeat one part:—
[2]
I can really use 6 Arrids.
I could really use all the
printing paper you can get.
For most all Specialty Boards there
are I Written II Practical III Oral. Quit[e] a
number of guys take their (1) Written
while overseas, & if lucky enough to
have a Board examiner overseas (such as
Dean Middleton, Dr (anesth.) Tovell / Paris, etc) they
often can get Part II Practical off too.
However I believe for Part III you must
be in the USA where about 7 docs
“gang-up” on ya all at once. Sooooo,
can you start to send me those
questions located in “Anesthesiology”
journal called something like:—“Questions
Asked Previously On Board Exams.”
Not each issue carries them but many
- If it doesn’t wreck an article
(on the backside of the paper) just cut it out;
if it does wreck an article I hate
to add to your work & limited time to
hurridly scribble the listing into your
letters. I’d like to have be able to ask
for the journals to be sent but until
we are more “settled” or “transportation-
adequate,” we’ll just have to “shelve” it.
[3]
However, maybe (ho! ho!)
Ill have you send Journals
to the CBI[5] incorporated in food boxes
or as a big box unto itself (weight factor, etc).
Your March 2nd’s:— came today.
Dear, do you know that every word of
the whole letter was devoted to this
“Captaincy-biznezz”? my explaination,
lets call it “Capt’s-philosophy-letter”
should be in your hands in 3, 4, 5 days
so I wont even answer this Mar 2nd’s
at all. [Taking your letter as a whole—all
you say is true—if it applied to me 100%,
but, darlin’, your off the beam on some of the
most basic facts—thus 80%-90% of what
you write about is just nice to think
about as regards the world at large, or
future contacts c̅ people].[6] P.S. You say (QUOTE)
“…our pappy hasn’t reached the rank he
deserves yet….” Once before I wrote (but ± lost)
that the Table of Organization prohibits anything
higher than a Capt anesthetist—one would
have to transfer to a Gen’l Hosp to be a Major. Why!
even Tovell cant go higher than Colonel & he is
the anesthesia-“It” of the whole Etousa.[7]
Oh yes, 22 hrs ago I learned that
Dean Middleton is not a Br[igadier] General.
Some vicious-embarrassing-wildfire
rumor [re: becoming a B.G.][8] did to him what it did to Dr
Cutler, etc. 100s will need to be explained to.
[4]
I can really use more
of that swell dental floss.
I could really use onion
skin writing paper just bought as such (env[e]l[o]p[e]s aplenty.)
A million times I’ve speculated
(along c̅ all others) that we were about to
move. Of all times, it certainly looks
like we just might move foreward
soon. They say into tents too, where we
really belong according to T.O. & S.O.P..
I have 7 {2 of cake 5 of people}[9] wedding
pictures. I’ll only “hazzard” one at a
time so here is the first one. Also
I should be able to send #1 (of a 2-total)
of the extras left over from Board
picture shooting [rep.][10] in my tomorrows
letter.
I love ya, H O N E S T dearest,
Dave
[Truly,
dear, this
isnt a one-bit-mad
question at all.
Just a “neutral-
philosophical”
question.][11]
P.S. Just for your “military-information” (education);
2 majors could/can make a promotion
almost impossible for, lets say, a Sgt, Lt, etc.
Especially when one is the “#1-Fair-Haired-
Boy” (teacher’s-pet) of the C.O.
P.S. It will be hard for you to grasp this question
(maybe sorta “grasp-it-philosophically”) but why,
darlin’, should you (QUOTE) “be disappointed
in my reaction” re: Captncy?—maybe it will
change after the “Capt-philosoph letter” arrives. Why should
ANYONE be
(QUOTE) “disappointed.”
[1] Medical abbreviation meaning “with.”
[2] Bracketed text is part of original.
[3] Bracketed text inserted into original with a caret.
[4] Bracketed text is part of original.
[5] China Burma India. CBI was the US military designation for this area during the war.
[6] Bracketed text is part of original.
[7] European Theater of Operations, United States Army.
[8] Bracketed text inserted into original with a caret.
[9] In original, “2 of cake” is written above “5 of people.”
[10] Bracketed text is part of original.
[11] Bracketed text written inside of a bubble, with an arrow pointing to the second “P.S.” section (“P.S. It will be hard for you…”) in the original.