Month: June 1944

Letter 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 had 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

Saturday Night
Dear Family,

I’ve been busy tonight but even at that I haven’t accomplished everything I’d like to. We went out yesterday at about noon on a problem that I said might be called off and got back from it this morning sometime around 10:00 I believe. We didn’t get much sleep but we didn’t have to do any extensive hiking and it wasn’t too hard on us.

The rest of the day has been spent doing details around the company, cleaning up our equipment, and trying to get a little rest between times. I have had fatigue clothes, sox, etc to wash from two problems this week so I have done quite a bit of laundry altogether.

I have spent most of my evening getting my stuff ready for an inspection  tomorrow morning. This is the inspection of all our equipment that was supposed to come off today if we hadn’t gone on the problem. It is the first of our inspections to get us ready for some movement. I can’t feature this outfit going over as a unit instead of as replacements as they have been doing but that’s what they are talking now.

We’ve got to get up at the regular time tomorrow and it will be a regular work day till the inspection is over. But by the time everyone is inspected I expect most of the day will be gone. I’ll close now and just hope for some time to finish tomorrow. D.T.

Sunday Evening
This hasn’t been much like Sunday and consequently I won’t be able to write such a long letter as usual. We got up at 6:00 and cleaned up the barracks as we do on any working day. Then we spent all morning waiting with our equipment and clothes displayed out in the sun. By the time they got around to inspecting us it was about noon.

So consequently I didn’t get to go to church this morning. Then this afternoon although I wasn’t in the mood for going to the movies there was a show on I didn’t want to miss so I went. It was Pearl S. Buck’s “Dragon Seed” about which I had studied in literature classes. It was a modern Chinese story about the war and it turned out to be a very good movie. After I got back I intended to write but I fell asleep instead and almost missed supper by not waking up. I have managed to do a little reading in between times but outside of that this has been almost a wasted day.

I was very glad to get your letter today but the package hasn’t arrived yet. I don’t know what we’ll be doing tomorrow but I haven’t heard any rumors so I expect we’ll be here tomorrow noon. A box will come in just as enjoyable then as it would have today.

From the looks of things now we will be pulling out but it won’t be for a few weeks yet. Anything is guess though and we’ll just have to wait to see what develops. I have several things I’ll have to send home and I thinkI’ll fix a box in the near future. I have several pairs of cotton sox that I don’t use now since we have to wear heavy sox to work in. I also have a pair of wool pants that I got while in the supply room at Benning. I was going to use them to wear under my fatigues if we went on winter maneuvers but it looks as if I won’t need them for that. They might come in handy for some similar use around home. If I get started I may find a good bit to send and what I don’t send now will have to be got rid of before we move as we can take only issue clothing and equipment. You are allowed 5 lbs of excess equipment though and I think I’ll keep my civilian shoes. I get a great kick out of wearing them.

A little incident happened last Monday that shows how much kids even a bunch of soldiers can be. We were out on a problem and we were attacked by a bunch of tanks. After the “battle” the tanks stopped and several of the fellows were climbing around over them getting a good look inside. They talked one of the drivers into taking them on a ride and they were hanging all over the thing. Well I was in that bunch and I rode astraddle of the cannon. We got as big a thrill out of that as if we had done something big.

Well I hope everything is going OK with you.

Love,
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 what I expected it to be. We studied booby traps, anti-tank mines and anti-personnel 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.