November 7, 1944
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310.32.1-6.2016 Transcription
Somewhere in Southern France
7 Nov 44
Dearest,
Again — its so good to be able to say
I love you, I love you, sooo! Gosh how I “hungered”
to be able to talk to you.
This is just hellish to try to write a million
& one thoughts & yet every word must be so
carefully thought out for fear of writing something
of military importance in this super-censorable
Theater. Anyhooo, here’s tryin’, dear —
Firstly [if I don’t write quite in sequence][1] don’t
you get as excited as I did about something.
Ostensibly, tomorrow at 10AM I start out to be
“loaned” to a General Hospital unit, & for an
unknown time I will be out of this Evacuation
Hospital unit. Now — this is both very
bad & maybe very good. I hate like Hell to
leave my gang/my pals/my swell type of outfit.
On the other hand — a General Hospital is a
lot better a unit to be “loaned” to rather than
lots of other types of units. Only God in Heaven
knows how long I will be moved away, but
supposedly I should get back to my gang sometime
in future weeks. Gosh! dearest, one minute I
just cuss & scream — (& {fret [&] worry[2]) — & the
next minute I think that it not only could be
a lot worse a “loan’ but I might even be
grabbed up by this general Hospital as a permanent
[2]
member & then would always be way behind the front
lines — but I’d then feel less dynamic/less
useful than in an Evacuation Hospital unit. Maybe
I just better stop fussing-on-paper & write you
more about all this tomorrow night. When thing’s
may be a little clearer. — anyhooo, here is
my ultimate hope — that the Theater Commander
doesn’t bust my gang all to pieces while Im
gone & that I get back to it as soon as possible.
Before I forget — all this (above) brings up
Just one of the nuisances viz. DON’T CHANGE YOUR
ENVELOPE ADDRESSING. Every so often I should be
able to travel back to my outfits headquarters
to pick up my mail. Damn-it-to-Hell! not that
mail service isn’t delayed enough already, but
what my delays must be further increased by
having our headquarters hold my mail [they could
foreward it of course, but via readdressing, etc, etc, I feel
the hazzard of loss & mis-routing would be even worse][3].
Which reminds me — don’t expect I [a][4] new
APO[5] # of the 116th Evac. Hosp. for at least several weeks.
This country is (naturally) interesting but it
is also disgusting. In France, you know, you void
urine behind a board-screen [WOMEN TOO][6] that covers
only the middle part of the body — AND, you
void it onto the ground. Soldiers are different ---
they have NO board screens. The French women
purposely come to watch you void — then one
or more says [QUOTE VERBATUM][7] “Me sleep c̅[8] you
all night for peckage of cigarettes”!! Cigrettes [sic] are
worth $2.50 a package. Champagain[sic] $18.50 a bottle;
[3]
a hotel room c̅ bathing water $20.00 a night; & [here alone are][9] 40,000
licensed whores [with an official French card][10] which are
$1.60 to $5.00 per single “time” or $30.00 for staying all
night c̅ you — the $1.60 is less “desirable” of course
than the $5.00 woman, BUT it surely makes your
hair stand on end when that pretty, shapely, & fairly
clean looking (note—looking) girl offered herself to
us for a whole night for a package of cigrettes [which
even though they are valued at $2.50 here, we bought for 5¢
a package on the ocean][11].
They say we are permited to say “Somewhere in
Southern France” and also that “I visited in
Marseille.” Before our bed-rolls arrived we slept on
the cement floor of a barn-like-building [some of
which had horses stabled in them][12]. Our bed rolls
arrived in the middle of the night & gee! were we
as happy as kids. Those of us who have air mattresses
[remember, how worrisome I was about not getting mine][13]
wouldn’t sell them for $5,000 right at this moment.
This same cement-floored-“barn” had Germans sleeping
in it just as recently as September. Boy! how
these French hate the Germans — they cant even
say (pronounce) the word “Bosch” (meaning German) s̅[14]
having contempt of a veheminent [sic] type on their face
& in their voice. However, it is said that the French
whores speak fluent German c̅ you if you happen
to know that language instead of French. The
French schools wont even permit German to be
taught as a simple language-subject. [P.S. Draw
your own conclusions about “collaboration” if whores speak German so fluently.][15]
[4]
I [& all of us][16] havent had a bath in 14 days — so for Heavens sake
cherish your God-given privelege [sic] & pleasure of turning
on a faucet [infact, the next bath you take — take it for me].[17]
However, we don’t stink too badly as we sponge-bathe
out of our canteens even though water is precious.
Even before war, France was notorious for having
dangerous water in every faucet & stream, & we
use only super-chlorinated water which dribbles
in much too slowly [seemingly][18] for cleanliness. Oh, I
forgot to mention [so you wont be confused][19] — ships
have only canteen & mess hall water; no cleansing
water.
Gee, darling’, I just heard today that here where
we are there is no V-mail photographing machine.
Thus (PROBABLY) that first V-mail I wrote you will
not get to you for some time even though I felt
so sure it would be even faster than the two
civilian air-mails I dropped into the box at exactly
the same time. Thus I’ll probably write mostly
airmail until I hear otherwise. [Please, darlin’, dont
forget to enclose air mail stamps as we planned — it’s so
hard to get near where they well them c̅ any convenience. Since
we learned there is no V-mail picture machine here, the fellows
just beg air mail stamps off eachother. P.S. This is my last
stamp on this envelope unless I’m lucky & get where I can
buy some][20].
Which all reminds me — is it impossible, dear,
to find those stationary-bo-sets of air mail onion skin
paper WITH BLUE-RED EDGED ENVELOPES? It seems this type
of envelope is so much more assured of going air mail.
To also help make up a box of “sendable” size will
[5]
you please send me one (of 4 or more) pliers that I have
scattered in the car. Also a pair of (womens) hair tweezers
would be super, & maybe add too a pair of surgical
“tweezers” (forceps) out of my medical bag. [Boy! can I lay
it on as re: requests][21] BUT to help fill out said box could
you ask Dupont Pharmacy in Elks to mail you 8 oz of
that Dr. Wilsey Special Hair Rx via C.O.D. (I have already told
Dupont that someday they might bill you for hair Rx they might send direct to me).
Some later
Oh boy, oh joy! since last writing I received my
first letter from Clarice’s brother Roy — it is
a wedding announcement (& thus not very newsie) but
it is so clever it was a real joy to receive it.
As you know Roy has been in the printing business
for the past year & thus the printing press sheet I
will send under separate cover (it would make this letter
weigh too much) about his wedding marriage to Rene
will be real interesting. I want this letter to sail
along without overweight penalty so you’ll just have
to wait for the pleasure of seeing this clever
wedding announcement of its printing details.
While on the general subject of letters, I can
let you know that our C.O. (while mad about other things)
screamed out that we were — “Damn lucky if
our first letters of the V-mail type get here before 2 mos.”
Of course we all sank-into-the-floor. But — he was
mad & he seems famous for overstating & pessimism when
he is mad. Sooo, we all just live hope-against-hope.
I must close because of late hours & possible paper over-
weight. Tomorrow I’ll write pages about my first days
experiences as a “loaned” doctor to this General Hospital.
All my love to you both, Dave
P.S. Today’s news shows Joe Stink doesn’t have any change of his name?
[1] Bracketed text is part of original.
[2] In original, “fret” is written above “worry.”
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[5] Army Post Office.
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[8] Medical abbreviation meaning “with.”
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[14] Medical abbreviation meaning “without.”
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