Categories
Germany Letters

May 8, 1945

VE Day

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                                                                                                                                                      May 8, 1945
Dear Folks,
Yesterday sure was a great day for me. We attacked on the sixth and were supposed to shove off again yesterday morning. But instead of receiving an attack order, we were ordered just to stay where we were. Then a little after ten o’clock we got the news that the Germans had signed unconditional surrender. Even though it doesn’t take effect officially till tomorrow, it meant that we were though fighting. Boy oh Boy! What a feeling. The Lord has certainly been good to me. I’ve got lots to thank Him for.

The “Stars and Stripes” also brought us some pretty good news yesterday. It said that over half of the combat troops would get a furlough back in the States before they are shipped to the CBI1The China, Burma, India Theater. Don’t plan too much on it because there’s just about as much chance against it as there is for it. But wouldn’t that be great!

Yesterday also I received a box from you and my name was turned in for a pass to Paris. It was the package containing pop corn and it really hit the spot. The corn was still as crisp as it was when you packed it. It would have done your heart good to have seen the fellows (and me) go after it. I wish I could send the box home and let you fill it up again.

If my pass had come a little bit sooner it might have kept me out of a little fighting but I’m glad to get it now. I’ll be going in a day or so. Considering everything that happened, wasn’t yesterday a pretty eventful day for me?

Well it looks like Spring again today. Maybe the weather is doing a little celebrating. We’ve really had some pretty rough weather for this late in the season during the past week. There has even been a little snow. I hope it stays nice now.

It’s been almost a week now since I got any letters but no doubt there will be two or three when they do come.

Hope everything is ship-shape back there. Be good and God bless you.                                              
Love.
Donald

Categories
Fort Jackson, South Carolina Letters

September 15, 1944 (probably)

The 87th Division staged at Camp Kilmer, at Stelton (now Edison), New Jersey, on 10 October 1944 – placing this around Sept 15, 1944 based on letter

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[Unclear Date – United States Army stationary – with mention of school – possibly written to Carver Grandparents]
Friday Night
Hello,

I got about half an hour so this can’t be very long. We have just finished scrubbing the barracks and getting everything cleaned up for inspection tomorrow.

I got the letter you sent out on Wednesday this evening. I also got a letter from the Mongomerys today. They sure are great folks. They said that they had the Lilly Creek ministry read my letter to the church. I suppose it was alright but it wasn’t a very fancy letter. Most of what they had to say was news about happenings that likely you know. I was glad to hear that Bob has taken up football and that Richard is helping him out a little.

They sent me the first news I have had about the Lilly Creek preacher, but I don’t quite get the whole story on him yet.

It seems to me I have heard of the new teacher but I just can’t place her now. No doubt I have seen her. It sounds like you’ll be able to get things straightened out and running in good order.

Down here we’ve been doing the usual kind of thing. It does seem that it may not be very long before we’ll move out of here. We took a physical examination today and they are packing up equipment all the time. Things like this don’t happen all at once though so we may be here for 3 or 4 more weeks.

I don’t have much news and maybe I’ll have time to write a decent letter Sunday. I sure hope so anyway. Good luck and God bless you.

Love,
Donald

Categories
Fort Jackson, South Carolina Letters

June 15, 1944 (probably)

 [hot  – sometime after Basic at Fort Jackson, South Carolina – written on “United States Army” stationary – mentions “news” – perhaps after D-Day?]

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Thursday Noon
Dear Folks,

I’ll start this now and I’ll be just a little ahead of myself tonight. This is a pretty sweltering day and I hope it is a little more pleasant back there. We had a pretty hard day so far and I think  we are going to do a couple hours of hiking this afternoon. So far the really hard part of our work was a period of physical training and an hour of bayonet drill and believe me this i swork.

To top it all off I don’t feel like work today. I haven’t had to take any shots for a while but yesterday afternoon it had to be done again. I got a smallpox vaccination, a tetanus and a typhoid shot. I don’t suppose the other two will bother me but the typhoid is sure sore today. The arm is about hail(?) and I just ache all over. It really made me grit my teeth to take those arm exercises this morning.

Yesterday all day except for about an hour in the afternoon when we were the shots was spent doing basic subjects like we did this morning.

What do you think of the news by this time? I sure hope things go well as they have in the last few days. I just wonder how these developments will effect me.

Thurs Night
I sit down now to write and I find myself wondering what I am going to say. I just about hit the nail on the head when I guessed about this afternoon’s work. We spent over half the afternoon hiking out and back from a training area so we didn’t have a whole lot of time to spend out there. But I guess they consider the hiking part of the training too.

I sure have been a drag to myself today. I just seemed that part of the time I wouldn’t be able to put one foot ahead of the other.

I got a letter from Aunt Mary this evening and from what I can gather she isn’t feeling very well yet. It’s been three months now and so surely her tonsils weren’t the only trouble.

Aunt Nora also sent me a very nice box of cookies that I received tonight. They were really good and we all got a very big kick out of them. And I forgot to say anything about them but those cookies int the last box from you really were something. You can send that kind to me any time you want.

Well I want to take a shower and hit the hay. We got in late tonight and I didn’t get to take a shower before retreat as I’ve been in the habit of doing. So I’ve still got it to do.

Hope everything is well with you. I’ll not put an airmail stamp on this but save it for some other time.

Lots of love,
Donald

Categories
Basic Training Date wrong? Fort Jackson, South Carolina Letters

April 15, 1944 (probably)

Partial letter – last two pages

With several other letters from Feb/Mar in an envelope postmarked March 8

UnKFebMar1944-5(partial)Download

(written after basic training – missing page 1 on United States Army stationary)

… work on even papering to do.

It has been raining here for the last couple days and it has given ,e just a little bit more reason to like it here. Back in basic we would work out even in a cloud burst but yesterday afternoon we had classes inside so that we wouldn’t have to work in the rain. At least they give us afair chance to keep well. Of course, we will be out in a lot of bad weather before this is over but there is no sense of going to extremes at the expense of health.

It cleared up this afternoon and we had an unusual class in airplane identification. We had a couple of classes in Benning on this but it was mostly from pictures and we didn’t get too much from it. But today we went out about a mile to the airport and saw the actual planes. We didn’t get to see them on the ground but they came down to 25 feet or less for us to get close ups of them and they did a lot of performing to show us their stuff. Boy some of them sure have got power.

I wonder what the chances of you getting my watch fixed are.

Well I’m pretty sleepy and I think I had better do a little reading before I turn in.

Love, Donald 

Categories
Fort Jackson, South Carolina Letters

April 2, 1944

Was in envelope postmarked March 3.

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April 2, 1944
Sunday
Dear Folks,

It is a very nice day today in South Carolina and I considering how it is at home. I hope the weather has cleared up some by now.

I went to church this morning and no doubt you did the same. We had a larger crowd than usual but I think it was because of the nearness of Easter. I spent the evening last night at the library and the service club so I think that I’ll just take it easy this afternoon. Reading, writing, sleeping, etc. I got a book from the library so I’ll have plenty to do. I am now acquainted with the library and so I don’t have to worry any more about something to read.

I got your box yesterday evening and it was swiftly consumed. It sure helps a lot to get a package from home. The excitement of getting and the thrill of opening is almost as good as the actual contents.

The first of my mail from Ft. Benning also came yesterday. I think that I have received just about all the mail that has been sent to me now.

I am beginning to get just a little more into the swing of things around here and am feeling a little better about my lot than I did. I might as well make the best and get as much from it as possible. Even if I never get to enjoy it, I will be a lot less miserable if I don’t hate it. Since this has fallen my lot, I am glad that the SATP basic was an infantry basic.

I wonder how football practice is coming by now. I hope the sore ankle is coming O.K. Once in a great while during our physical training classes we play football and I at least have learned the difference between the line and the backfield but that is about all I know. I often wish I knew a little more about the game.

By the way, how did the state tournament come out. I missed that entirely during my move.

About my K.B.F. (Kiwanis) medal – It was supposed to be sent in about middle of April. If you should happen to be in Marion in the next 2 or 3 weeks you could drop it off or you can send it in. I’ll send you the letter so you can get the address, etc.

6PM:
I have a couple more things I want to tell you before I close this letter. One is that I found a scale in one of the PX’s and at last  I know approximately what I weigh. In my shirt sleeves but with my heavy shoes on I weighed 158 lbs. That means about 18 lbs gained since I have been in the army.

I am going to start the letter to Dady’s room and I’ll let you know later how I come out.

8:30PM:
I got the letter finished and am sending it at the same time as this letter. I sn’t very fancy but maybe it will serve. One thing I want you to remember is that it is for your room and not public exhibition. I think you can see what I mean.

If you would rather I’ll write the letter to the marion company.

Love, Donald

Categories
Fort Jackson, South Carolina Letters

March 29, 1944

first letter found so far from Ft. Jackson, South Carolina – seems that he has been there 1.5 weeks

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March 29th, 1944
Wed Night
Hello, 

Well another week is half over. Even though it has been in a new place it has been a whole lot like the ones we have spent in the past. We are doing quite  a bit of the same things we did in basic but the rest of the men in the division are doing about the same things so we aren’t so different. I can’t remember whether I told you or not but the division was on maneuvers all winter in Tennessee. They are more or less reviewing now – doing bayonet work, running squad problems, etc, etc, etc.

They shifted us all around into different barracks this evening so I have about spent my whole evening straightening out my stuff. 

Where I am now I have a lot more room than I did before and we all have single beds here. I have slept in the top bunk of a double bed ever since I left the 16th Company so it is quite a relief to have a bed to myself again.

It is raining outside tonight and the temperature is getting pretty cold. It has been raining off and on ever since we got here. I have caught some cold but it isn’t very serious.

I’ve got only about minutes till lights out so I’ll close for tonight. Likely I’ll put this excuse for a letter in the envelope in the morning.

Goodnight & God Bless you All, Donald

Categories
Fort Benning Letters

March 16, 1944

This is the last letter from Fort Benning, GA before he is transferred to Fort Jackson, South Carolina to join the 87th Infantry Division.

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March 16, 1944
Thursday, afternoon
Dear Folks, 

I hope it doesn’t make any difference because I am going to tell you where we are going. They made a public announcement of it and so it seems not to be a secret. I’ll be there by the time you read this anyway. We are going to the 87th Infantry Division at Ft. (or Camp I don’t know for sure which) Jackson, South Carolina.

I didn’t want to be put in the Infantry but it seems that there is where I’ll be. Of course, there are a lot of jobs that wouldn’t be too bad but I don’t know whether or not they will want me in one of these. But I still think all things will turn out for the best.

We stopped training at noon today and we are supposed to move out sometime Friday. We’ll spend most of the time between now and then cleaning up things around here, and turning in equipment.

We had a pretty hard day on Monday and then yesterday I did K.P. It seems that we worked harder for the first half of this week than we did during basic training.

Don’t worry about me and I’ll write you more when I know more to write. I’m not very windy today so I’ll sign off.

Love, Donald

Categories
Fort Benning Letters

March 12, 1944

Says Basic Training has ended

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March 12, 1944 – (written on “United States Army” stationary)
Sunday Afternoon
Howdy Folks,

Well basic training is now over at last. And even though it hardly seems possible, I will have been in this army six months tomorrow. It seems now that a very few more days will end my stay at Ft. Benning and I sure wish I knew what the future holds for me. There is no use worrying about it and some way I just have a feeling that everything will be for the best. Although it is often hard to find there is usually a bright side to all our seeming misfortunes.

For instance: I had a very bad piece of luck last night but I think maybe it was for my own good. When I was dressing after taking a shower my watch slipped out of my hands and dropped on the cement. It stopped running immediately and I have not been able to get it to go again. But while I was trying to catch it I discovered that the strap was all but in two. I knew that it was a very cheap strap and that it was wearing out but I had no idea it was that far gone. There is a chance that maybe even tomorrow the strap might come apart and the watch get away from me entirely. This way I still have the watch even though it will have to be watch even though it will have to be repaired. 

I imagine I had better wait till I get to my next camp so that I’ll have a permanent return address before I send it home. And there is a chance that maybe there will be someplace there where I can have it fixed.

While it is on my mind – if you remember I asked for a belt one time when you asked what I wanted. Well I found one in the PX yesterday for $.65 which answers very well. So you can forget about this.

And now for a little news of what I have been doing. On Friday we took our physical exams. They included such things as doing 33 push ups, doing 300 yard dash, etc. It  wasn’t so bad until we came to doing the 4 mile forced march in 50 minutes. We had to carry full field packs and rifles and it was necessary to run most of the way. Boy maybe you think we weren’t tired when we got in. In fact I can still feel the effects of it.

We spent yesterday morning turning in equipment and in general straightening up our stuff. Then we wound up in the afternoon with a parade. Of course we weren’t perfect but it seemed to me that the parade went off pretty smoothly.

I spent three hours yesterday evening doing my laundry so I have clothes strung all over everywhere.

This morning I went to chapel services and I am spending the rest of the day just being lazy. I am a little behind on my letter writing so maybe I can catch up some on that. 

We have a little better idea as to where we are going, but nothing is certain. I hope everything is alright back there. I was glad to hear in the letter I got this morning that you finally got your stuff moved.

Love, Donald

Categories
Basic Training Fort Benning Letters

March 9, 1944 – Grandparents

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March 9, 1944 – Letter to Carver Grandparents
Thursday Noon

Dear Folks,

I folded my little note book up and put it into my pocket this morning so that I could get a letter started during my noon hour. It seems that at night I either have something else to do or am just lazy to get much writing done. I will ask you to share this letter with my folks and in this way I’ll be killing two birds with one stone.

This week we have been mostly just going over the things we have already had. We also have had to take some tests both mental and physical to see how much we have accomplished.

We are out in the field all day today practicing tactics. We didn’t even go back in for our noon meal but the mess truck brought it out to us.

Only two more days now and one phase of my training will be over. I sure do wish I knew what was coming next. They tell us that we will be moving almost immediately after our basic is over. There have been a lot of guesses as to where we will go but no one but the officers knows for sure. At least it is pretty certain that not many of us will stay here.

They are certain enough that we are moving that they want all of our correspondence shut off as soon as possible. I hate to stop getting letters but since orders are orders, I’ll have to ask you to stop writing until after I get settled again. I’ll write you as long as I can but even that will be shut off before long, I imagine.

Thursday night:
As you can see I got cut short. We had a fairly easy afternoon but I had a funny thing happen to me that I want to tell you about. We were practicing tactics and had a little stream to cross. I was about 8 ft wide and 6 inches deep in most places. Well I started across in what I thought to be a shallow spot. But instead of being shallow it must have been the deepest spot in the whole thing. I sunk in at least up to my knees and splashed enough water to get myself wet up to the hips. The afternoon was warm, luckily, so I soon dried off.

We have been having some really cool nights lately but it gets pretty warm in the daytime. It is getting to look an awful lot like spring now. The season is about a month and a half ahead of that at home.

Well I’ll sign off and try to write some more before too long.

Love, Donald

Categories
Basic Training Fort Benning Letters

March 1, 1944

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March 1, 1944 (Wednesday)

Dear Mother and All,

I started to write you yesterday but I only got about a half dozen lines written, before I was interrupted so I merely tore out that page and started over. I realize it has been almost a week since I wrote last but please consider the situation.

Well yesterday was the extra day of Leap Year. I don’t believe I heard it’s significance mentioned at all. It was also pay day for me. I got my usual $23.35. I am not sending any home just yet till I find out whether or not we will have any chance to go home before we start in on something else. I truly doubt if there is any chance for a furlough but I want to be prepared if the opportunity comes.

We had an eight hour night problem last night so we are off today. Right now we are doing most of our work at night and we are trying to sleep in the day time. By this time we are getting better at going through dense woods at night. Last night we didn’t have any means of guiding ourselves except our general sense of direction and our knowledge of the stars. The problem itself was to infiltrate through enemy lines (without their knowing it of course) and then attack them from the rear. We got in about 4AM and had breakfast and then slept through till noon.

On Sunday we marched back to camp and then came back out here before evening so we had barely enough time to take a bath and catch our breath a little while we were there.

Monday we had a full day of work and then a 4 hour night problem. But instead of resting yesterday morning as I should I had to go back to the dispensary and get my blood typed. They took us back in trucks but it took most of the morning. By the way it is a very uncomfortable experience to be crowded into a small 1-½ ton truck with about 20 other men and to be taken any distance at all.

I got your package and boy did those homemade cookies taste good. I don’t believe mother’s cookies ever tasted as good to me when they were freshly baked as they did this time even though they were 3 or 4 days old.

That little whetstone sure is a dilly. Where did you ever run across such a thing as that.

I sure have enjoyed that last Reader’s Digest you sent me. I have kept it with me most of the time and have read it in my spare moments. It is almost finished already. Be sure not to forget me on the March issue.

I am beginning to wonder how the sectional came out. Your last letter said that Alex had won her first game but that is the last I have heard. I’ll likely hear more about it this evening when the mail comes. I also wonder if you got moved alright.

Well the afternoon is about half gone and I want to clean up a bit and clean my rifle before our night problem tonight. We have been having almost ideal weather so our experience out here hasn’t been too trying. It has cooled up a little to what it was but even yet it is very pleasant.

The end of basic is only a week and a half away now. I sure hope I can make it (and I have very little doubt but that I can).

I forgot my lead penny the other day and now I also have a zinc nickel (or at least I believe that is what the new nickels were to be made of).

You will have to pardon my scribbling because I am writing from the prone position and my pencil is only a stub.

Lots of Love, Donald
Did you have my Gruen taken care of?