Update on status of going home

310.269.1-3.2017 Transcription

[The first page of this letter is a carbon copy of 310.268.1-3.2017, with few notes written throughout.]

APO[1] = ?

Paris (241^st Genl Hosp)

31^st30 Oct 45 Tues

Infact!—Halloween.

[A.S. I use a 189^th GH[2] return address because

a Wis[consin] Postal Sgt there is the most likely

(trustworthy) to foreward APO mistakes.

AS ^#2:—If a roommate Lt Merrill Dan gets

out of here he may telegraph you for me.][3]

Dearest,

Again!Ü«卐—Im writing carbon-copy

letters. Reason? ——cuz I havent written you

since last Wed night. Which?——which

means a “gaposis” that might mislead you

into thinking I was enroute——————

which I should have been. Very briefly its this:—

Last Wed night I wrote about the

possibility of being on that list of 290 to

Paris for air-evac—I WAS! We were

to rush onto a hosp. train Thurs AM, soooo

it came only 14 hours late. All during the

trip (c̅[4] many stalls on sidings, etc) RR dispa[tc]hers

told the train to keep hurrying as planes

were waiting. Ambulances s̅[5] blankets &

litters [needed for about ½][6] at the Paris station is just one of the

FURTHER shameful delays to eat up alleged

precious Time. Long story short= we were [FURTHER][7]

sent to the wrong hosp [this 241^st GH in the

heart of Paris][8] instead of the Air Strip Holding Hosp

& we’ve not been able to get out of it for 5⁺

days now. Its over a 51% possibility now

that we never will get out via air-evac.

This means we go back into “Boat Evac” channels

which may mean more weeks sweating a ship!

[2]

Like I said last night in the original

of this carbon copy—WHY does it

seem that God doesnt want to let me get

H-O-M-E, dear?

There isnt a thing——really! ——to

write about what I’ve done—I ain’t done

nuthin’. However, tomorrow is All Saints Day

& I have [after lotsa disgusting fuss ‘n feathers][9] a pass

to let me out at 6AM to catch a subway to

The American Cathedral for a Eucharistic Service.

I tried it on Sunday (last) but the fuss took

up so much time I never got there till the

Service was over (plus, a misprint in the newspaper).

Natcherly, I read ‘n read ‘n read. Maybe

its mental degeneration/incipient psychopathology

but I’m readin “Westerns.” Seriously though,

after so much of that blasê, pedantic, “500,”

“elete” stuff that is the tenor is so great a

part of modern “good-literature” (?), I find a

Western or two very refreshing. Am I a

snob?—or am I just not Easternseaboard

Born?

Another age-old Christian theme was expressed in a

slightly different wording in yesterdays Foreward:—

“Man must struggle to develope, & that i[ne]vitably

entails suffering” (of one kind or another). After this “militarism”

is over for Us, we each should be considerably

more developed. Here’s to kneeling “beside” you tomorrow AM

AML[10], Dave

[1] Army Post Office.

[2] General Hospital.

[3] Bracketed text written in upper left-hand corner of carbon-copy (310.269.1-3.2017).

[4] Medical abbreviation meaning “with.”

[5] Medical abbreviation meaning “without.”

[6] Bracketed text inserted into carbon copy (310.269.1-3.2017) with a caret.

[7] Bracketed text inserted into original with a caret.

[8] Bracketed text is part of original.

[9] Bracketed text is part of original.

[10] All my love.