November 19, 1944
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310.38.1-7.2016 Transcription
Somewhere in So. France
A.M. 19 Nov. 44
Back c̅[1] my gang
My dearest,
I haven’t written you for the
last two nights; you will see why &
forgive me I know.
I found Dobie Fella in France!!!
The coincidence & weirdness of it all is
a fascinating story but Im afraid I
have only time enough to tell it in breif.
[Gee, I hope I have time to write this letter
Decently as it may be some time before
I have another chance to drop letters into
a fairly rapid mail-outlet][2]. Back to
Dobie — pure coincidence made it
that we had a half day “breather” in the
anesthesia-mad-house. [Censored
words]. On returning, I happened to
“choose” a vehicle 9most coincidentally)
that had as its (hitch-hike) driver a
soldier who knew vaguely that Dobie’s
gang had pulled into Southern France.
Just about dark we pulled up to where
we almost knocked Dobie down as he
stood in a mess line. I’ll leave the
surprises-joys-& conversation up to your
imagination. Chances of seeing Clyde
are “transporta[t]ionally” poor for both of us.
Dobie came to my place c̅ me for 3
hours. — this was all on Friday night.
[2]
On Sat. morning I capitalized on another
partial anesthesia “breather” & hitch hiked
to visit Dobie again for 1 hour [Someday
you’ll die to hear about the weirdness & “hazzards”
of hitchhiking in France][3]. The main reason
I stuck-my-neck-out to see Dobie again
was that his outfit has established an
outlet for Expeditionary Force Messages
[“canned”-phrases-via-wireless & Western Union
for only 60 ¢][4], & I gave him one “canned”
E.FM. to send off immediately & a second
one to send off to you in a few days
hence. Lordy! Dearest, I feel so badly
that they are holding up mail to our
Precious Ones at home while we get
letters from you — why! when I got
back here to my postal sargent I had
received your 5th letter written on Nov 5th.
Gee! your letters are not only a supreme
joy because they are letters-from-home
but mainly because they are so
beautiful in thought-word-&-“deed”[Church][5].
Dearest! dearest! if I could only express on
paper my feelings that are exactly the same
as yours — & you do it so beautifully!
To go back — maybe now you will
hear from me even though even though it
is only “canned”-writing, but just pretend
I spoke every word of it softly into your
ear as I held you tightly, darlin’.
[3]
The next “jubilance,” chronologically,
was that I became “unloaned” from
that General Hospital back to my own
gang. What an unexpressable relief!!!
Gee! Whoopie! Hooray! However — this
time I am again going to be “loaned”
elsewhere but many of the gang will be
c̅ me this time — this again creates
some trepidations as to future busting-up
but the odds are more in our favor of
reunion than during that first “loan-out”
to that General Hospital that I went through.
Gee, dearest, I hope this all won’t make
the mail-outlet to you too lousey, tho
I’m sure it will “lousify” it somewhat.
Boy! how I can coin words this morning! – huh?!
Your mail to me is going to be lousey via via being separated from the
main gang. Speaking of letters from home —
I almost forgot about that one from
Dave McGee. He says that Nancy McGee
was married c̅ full pomp & splendor —
which even included Bishop Alden
Mire along c̅ Reverend Lorenzo Court to
perform a eucharistic ceremony just
like we had when we were married.
Now to answer your two letters
that came since I last had a decent
chance to write. The Nov. 3rd one in
which da Dad included his 2 pages
surely told me some cute & pride-causing
things about Terry[6] — [QUOTE][7] “The sparkle
[4]
of intelligence — yes, intelligence, — that is
in those baby eyes is really something
to marvel at & make parents thankful
indeed” [UNQUOTE][8]. See, dearest! — remember
what I wrote you once about Terry
someday shaming his Olympic-training
brother & sister into doin’ a little bit of
studying? Gee! I wish you could be
making another super-swell sister Clarice
for Terry while I’m gone. Gee! Golly! Umm!
I was so very very happy to read what
you wrote about Terry letting you get
your first good nights sleep. Im real
thankful that you gave me the main
details about your visit to Doctor Brandt.
Did he use electric cauterization, chemical
cauterization, or heat (red hot metal heat)
cauterization of your cervix? Yup, Dextri-
Maltose #3 is used in constipated babies,
but you [it][9] can’t exactly be worded/thought of
as you worded it, that — D.-M.#3 be
“substituted” for lactic acid. Lastly, the reason
[I imagine][10] that you haven’t gotten that
governmental V-mail change of address
that we signed as a blank (as to data), is
that we still are not permanently enough
assigned/attached to warrant our final
APO[11] address or cablegram address. P.S. On those
EFM’s[12] I gave Dobie I just didn’t have a cable address to
Put onto just those blank’s space where it goes.
[5]
Now to your Nov. 5th letter —
don’t you ever worry about me being [QUOTE
you][13] “bored” reading any letter from you,
even if they were stacked a mile high.
So far the good Lord has been just swell
to me by not letting them pile up, but has
sent through 5 in a nice spaced sequence.
I almost split my sides to learn how
foxie Thump[14] is on voiding into his eye.
My only other reaction about what you wrote
was — Gosh! if I could only be c̅ My
precious to help her through those million
& one little things that “happen” to every
baby. Dearest, I’ve flailed against this
unfairness of War a thousand times as
regards us. (I realize millions of others are like us too).
[EYES OFF MOTHER: — Terry, so help me, I
Promised and threatened to spank your
Mother if she did not stuff you with
Vitamins ‘n such while I was gone.
Honestly, Terry, Professors of Pediatrics say
your taste-buds aren’t very discriminatory
at an early age & you should be “educatable”
to “bad” (?) tasting stuff. Please, please, help her!][15]
I have one more paragraph to
write as a closure for this letter but
before [I write it][16] I want to emphasize (& sorta reiterate)
a point regarding the immediate
future: — Please, please, dearest, don’t
worry if there is a break in my letters
for a little while to come. A rapid
[6]
mail-outlet may not be available for
awhile. However, there is just as good a
possibility that there will be a rapid
mail-outlet — but as viewed from
here there is no knowing.
Darlin’ — we both spend a
lot of time dreaming; you over formula
mixing or the feeding of that super-
swell baby you made inside you. —
I do it walking to or from operating rooms,
or during an anesthesia when a patient is
all “stabalized” & needs little watching.
Please, dear, don’t believe those people who
say such dreams are not good for one, as
their niceness alone is sooo helpful,
soooo normal/proper. [I’ll tell you just th of
my dream-about-meeting-you — I hope you & Terry
are not at a R.R. station but at home, someplace][17]. Oh!
dearest, you are so right that our
first year of married life was pretty
childish but God did it that way to
make us ultimately the better for it —
& make us more appreciative as we
become more mature. you are so sooo
My Everything, Dearly beloved, —
for Sunday-Monday-& Always c̅ —
All my love,
Dave
[1] Medical abbreviation meaning “with.”
[2] Bracketed text is part of original.
[3] Bracketed text is part of original.
[4] Bracketed text is part of original.
[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 written above crossed-out word in original.
[10] Bracketed text is part of original.
[11] Army Post Office.
[12] Expeditionary Force Messages, with numbers corresponding to messages for quick correspondence.
[13] Bracketed text is part of original.
[14] Nickname for their infant son, Terry.
[15] Bracketed text is part of original.
[16] Bracketed text inserted into original with a caret.
[17] Bracketed text is part of original.