Donald V. Tappan

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

[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

June 11, 1944
Sunday
Hello Folks,

Well today might be a whole lot worse but it isn’t exactly a day of rest. The reason is that I am on guard. We went on at 5 o’clock yesterday evening and get off about that time this evening. I walked from 8 till 10 and from 2 till 4. That would make me walk from 8 to 10 this morning and from 2 till 4 this afternoon. But since there are twice as many posts at night as there are in the day-time there are twice as many men  as they need in the daytime so they gave one post to 2 men and let each man walk one of the shifts.

I got the afternoon shift and so since this is Sunday they gave those of us, who don’t walk till this PM, the morning off. I won’t get much resting done because we have to go back at 11:30 but at least I’ll get my Sunday letter written and get to go to church. I appreciate this because I was afraid that I wasn’t going to get to go.

My night consisted of only from 10 till 2 and from 4 till 6:30 but I think I’ll clean up and hit the hay as soon as I get in tonight so maybe I can make up for it.

The company gets up at 2AM tomorrow morning to start on a two-day problem. My name is on the detail list for some kind of detail tomorrow but I don’t fall out till 7:30. I may be stuck for two days but at least I won’t have such a short night tonight. There is always a bright side to everything I guess.

There was a general around inspecting yesterday and he wanted to see us working so we didn’t have our regular Saturday inspection. I went over to the radio school as usual. We studied radio yesterday for the first time in two or three days.

Friday afternoon we had quite a strenuous but interesting job at communication school. THey wanted to give us practice  in using a compass so they set up a compass course for us to run. And what a course it was! We each started out alone and were supposed to follow certain azimuths (magnetic degrees) for so many yards. We had no way to tell distance except by our paces. We followed one azimuth for 2200 yds, another for 2000 yds and a third for 1200yds and were supposed to end up where we started from. It was all up and down hill and through thick woods. If you can see a hundred or so yds in front of you and walk towards certain object this is a fairly easy task, but through woods you have to look at the compass about 25 or thirty yds and this makes it very easy to get off your course. Then through brush, etc. you really have to concentrate to keep track of your paces.

I got back at just about the exact point I was supposed to and by the map we had to keep I had reached the points we were supposed to so I got through the course all right. Some of them even got lost on the course. And come to think of it this wouldn’t have been so hard to do. It would have been pretty easy t o get 2 or 3 degrees off your course when going up and down hill for a mile and a half in one direction. That much off can make a lot of difference when going that far. 

I was sure glad for the letters I got from you this week. That surely must have been a horrible train accident… [folded sentence]. I have been out in there but I just don’t remember having seen the crossing. Is it just west of that power station on the Riverview road?

How was the circus? What color and kind is Old Corie? How is she coming by now?

As you can see by the things I sent home you can see how strict they are getting about having extra things. In connection with this I have a request I want to make. When you send me packages I would like for you to send them so that they will be here between Saturday evening and about Wednesday evening. If you could do this it will give me time to have it taken care of before Saturday inspection. Of course, Sunday is always the best day to get packages.

Well I’ll sign off now and put on a tie for church. I’ll write soon more tonight it I have any more news.

Love
Donald
Evening
Well I have a little to tell you. I got your package and letter today; you timed it just right. Thanks for everything. Please send another cigar box like that some of these times. That is sure good candy. I suppose it’s home made? 

I have a request for the next package. I’d like for you to send me a pair of swimming trunks. Any kind. I suppose 30” waist will work. On Saturday afternoons we sometimes are allowed to go swimming for our exercise if we have trunks. Maybe I could learn to swim this summer. The simpler the better on these.

June 6, 1944
Tuesday Evening.
Hello Folks,

Don’t get excited about the air mail stamp because I just feel like getting a letter to you in a hurry tonight. For no special reason either that I can think of.

I do have just a little news about my ear though. I kept my appointment  yesterday and went over to the clinic. But I waited all afternoon and they didn’t get around to me. All they did was give me another appointment for the 14th. Well this just disgusted me to the very end. You don’t need to think I’m trying to keep anything from you but fully truth – it hasn’t been hurting me. I just didn’t want to go for another whole week without being looked at so I went on sick call this morning. Since the clinic wasn’t doing anything they at least looked at it, gave me some different drops for it and said to come back Saturday. The doctor said it was a whole lot better than it was last week but he still wanted me to go to the clinic next week. Even though he didn’t do much he at least took enough interest to make me feel a whole lot better. So much for that.

I have begun to get back into the radio work again. Only now, instead of just working on radio we are learning about the other types of communication. We started learning about telephone yesterday. We learned to use tree pole climbers and a little bit about splicing wire. Like everything else I’ll just have to wait and see how deep we get into this.

We saw an air demonstration this afternoon (the entire post went to see it). I guess the purpose of it was so that we would realize the necessity of learning to protect ourselves from the attack. The thing that impressed me most was the power of the bombs. They were dropped on a hill 3 or 4 miles from us and you could just feel the ground shake that far away.

Well K.P. has finally caught up with me. I must hit the hay so I’ll be ready for it tomorrow.

Love
Donald
Good to get a letter from you this evening.

(Addressed to sister Mary)

June 4, 1944
Sunday Eve.
Hello Mary,

And of course all the rest. I believe you said that I had never addressed a letter to you so you may consider this one yours. I was very glad to get two letters from home yesterday – one postmarked the 31st and the other on the 1st.

I have just been back here a week this evening. That time doesn’t seem so long but it seems like a long time since I was home. And speaking of things seeming like a long time agao it sure seems like a long time since a year ago last Friday (June 2). I can sure remember what I was doing a year ago now.

It had rained a little last Sunday evening when I got in and it rained a nice little shower while we were eating supper tonight. At least I suppose it will make it more pleasant sleeping tonight. It has been so hot lately that the sweat just pours off you whether you are even moving around or not. It was hot when I left here for home but it sure did get a whole lot hotter during those two weeks.

Boy a little wind sure can play havoc down here. On Friday evening a wind came up that would hardly have thought about at home but it sure caused a sand storm here. The sand filled the air till you  could see only about as far as you could in the hardest snow storm I can remember. That may give you some idea of how the sand blew for 15 or 20 minutes.

I went to chapel this morning and of course wished I could have been home for more than one Sunday but am thankful for the one I was there. I wonder if you had a preacher for this Sunday.

This afternoon I went to a movie and then came back and laid down. You can guess just about what happened. I went almost immediately to sleep. The next thing I knew they were calling us for supper.

My ear hasn’t hurt very much this week but it is still running. My appointment at the ear clinic comes up tomorrow so if nothing comes up to prevent it I hope to have something done about it by this time tomorrow.

While I was straightening up on Friday evening I found two or three pieces of Mother’s divinity that I has stuck away when I got back. It is impossible to express how good that tasted to me. I guess I just had too many good things to really appreciate any of them thoroughly enough when I was home.

I hope everything is ok with you people. I wonder if Jim has found his old setting’ hen yet. How’s the bee house coming?

Your brother,
Donald
I wonder if any of you can figure out where the letter that  contained my dog tag was postmarked from.

June 4, 1944
Sunday
Hello Grandparents,

Well I have been back here a week now and it seems like a good while ago since I was home. It all seems like a very pleasant dream to me now.

I suppose that Mother let you know that I got back here in good shape and on time. I got back around 6 o’clock in the evening and had time to get my things straightened up so that I could get a good night’s rest to start off the week with. 

It was hot before I left but it seems that Summer must have come in earnest during the two weeks I was away. I don’t know what the temperature has been but it has been hotter this week I believe than at any time I can remember at home. You just sweat all day as much as you would if you were working in a hay-mow on a very hot day. We have started taking salt tablets already to keep from getting over heated.

It rained some this evening so it has cooled down enough that we’ll at least be able to sleep tonight.

We did about the usual kind of work last week. I sure noticed that I had softened up a lot during my furlough. I am beginning to get back into shape and into the routine of things by this time.

I went to the chapel this morning and wonder if the church at home had a preacher today.

How are things coming at the school house now? The front lawn sure looked several hundred percent better before I left. I hope Aunt Mary is coming along all right by now. I suppose everything else is coming along about as usual.

Your grandson,
Donald

June 2, 1944
Friday Morning
Hello People,

It may seem funny to be getting a letter from me written this morning but I had a night hike last night and have this morning off. I have about spent the entire morning getting ready for tomorrow’s inspection so it hasn’t exactly been a free morning. 

I have hardly had a free evening this week. Tuesday they were changing us around in the barracks and I was moved from downstairs to upstairs. All my clothes and equipment had to be moved so that just about took that evening. Wednesday evening was taken by working up in the kitchen as table waiter. By the time I got back and got cleaned up the lights were already out. 

Then yesterday we had the hike and it was about midnight when I got off. Of course, tonight is Friday night and we’ll be busy as bees scrubbing the barracks and getting everything ready for inspection.

I haven’t had K.P. yet this week so likely I’ll get it either tomorrow or Sunday. If you don’t get a letter from me that I would have written Sunday you can just about guess what happened.

Yesterday and the day before those of us that were on furlough went to mine school. It was just about wat I expected it to be. We studied booby traps, anti-tank mines and anti-personel mines – both ours and the enemies.

My ear is still running a little but doesn’t hurt me hardly any now. June 5 is only a few days away now and if nothing turns up I’ll get along all right till then.

They haven’t done much about the radio work yet so I don’t know much about it but I think I’ll be able to get back into it.

Of course, I can’t help from thinking about my furlough and things and people back at home. It all seems like a pleasant dream to me now that was too good to be true. I must say that I enjoyed myself. 

Now that school is out I suppose you are getting a lot of work accomplished. I hope that Richard is getting along OK with his work and that everything else is coming along as usual.

Lots of love,
Donald
Hang on to my drivers license which I am enclosing.