June 22, 1945
Camp Oklahoma City
Hello Folks,
Just as I’ve said ever since I’ve been here: there’s not very much to write about. I’m just doing my same old seventy-six of going after the mail, sorting it out, and re-addressing that that has to go back. I thought my mail job would be over before now but I’m still at it. The regular mail man was supposed to be back today. When he gets his teeth now he should be pretty well straightened up over his little accident. In case I haven’t made myself clear he lost four or five teeth in a jeep accident when I took his place before and now he’s getting some replacements.
We had our service records checked today and this afternoon we were issued the clothes that we lost, wore out etc. I see they are issuing shoes in the supply room now so I expect I’ll own another pair of shoes before night.
I’ll bet you can’t guess what I did this afternoon. I spent about a half an hour just taking a sun bath. Several of the fellows have good tans already but the mail job, etc has kept me busy enough that this is the first exposure I’ve had. Talking about jobs: I saw on my service record this morning that am now the official communication sergeant for this company.
—
Well I got my shoes. They are light color now. I wonder if I’d bring them home just like they are how much Wilson and Lewis would charge me to fix them up. Smooth down the rough leather, dye them, and put on a good shine. They are what are called combat boots. They are made of rough leather instead of the usual smooth kind. The light color soon darkens up in combat. On a furlough all shined up they would look really slick.
How’s everything coming back there. I’ll bet I know where Richard’s mind is now. Hope everything goes well for him.
Be good and good night,
Donald
Year: 1945
June 21, 1945
Same Place
Hi-ya;
What have you been doing today. I ran around like a chicken with his head off till the middle of the afternoon but since then I’ve been kinda taking it easy. I had two different kinds of forms I had to fill out this morning. And besides running all over the company area a dozen times and making three trips to the post office I had to alphabetize one of them. Then I had to hunt up all the names of the people who had left the company in the last sixty days and make a roster of them. Of course, the morning wasn’t long enough. Then this afternoon I had to go after the mail and sort it. After that I made another trip to the post office getting a package mailed. So with the thousand other things that have to be done I kept pretty busy.
It’s hard to tell when they’ll shut off on our writing so it could be that this will be that this will be the last time I’ll write. But if we’re here for another week or so we’ll be able to write for a while yet.
Just like the most important topic two months ago was victory, it’s going home now. You don’t want to get too excited but it’s sure hard not to. It’s easy to see the pitch of things rising daily. It’s to be expected though, I guess.
Since we’ve been here at Camp Oklahoma City we’ve had about the nearest vacation that we’ve had so far. Personally I’ve been busy but the outfit hasn’t had to drill so it’s been pretty nice.
We were issued dress blouses this afternoon so - if and when - we’ll look pretty snappy. Khakis are regulation now in the States but I suppose they expect us to wear OD’s1Olive Drabs - wool uniform vs cotton Khakis at home part of the time at least. It would be alright to wear them in the cool of the evening. But I’ll be glad to wear khakis again.
Tomorrow will be another day and I still like my sleep so - goodnight and God bless you.
Donald
Categories
June 21, 1945 (morning)
Thurs. morn.
I found this list in my pocket and decided that if it were home I'd have a greater chance of being able to keep it. I got a beautiful sleep last night and am feeling great this morning.
Love,
Donald
June 18, 1945
Leon, France
Camp Oklahoma City
Hello People,
Things are in a state now that I hardly know how much to talk about it. Perhaps by this time you have read that this division is on its way to the states. At least that was in yesterday’s Stars and Stripes. This is a staging area that must be gone through before we leave Europe. So you see the situation. I don’t want to say that I’m definitely going to the States because there are a lot of things that could change the existing plans. But it does begin to look pretty definite in that direction.
We landed here last night after a three day train ride in box cars from Germany. Of course, at a place like this there are always a million things to do - forms to be filled out, equipment to be turned in, etc, etc - and on top of it all, I’ve got to be mail clerk for the next few days. The regular clerk is going to be away for a few days getting his teeth fixed up. They’ll be shutting off on our writing anyway in a few days so don’t expect too many letters from now on.
It made me very glad to get your letter of June 7 this evening. I hope we can continue to get mail mail for a while longer at least. I wonder what Richard found out on his trip to Lafayette. I know that he’ll be started now before I’ll get to be in that area. But if and when things do pan out, I know that something can be worked out so that we can see each other at least. But I say again, don’t expect anything and then you won’t be disappointed.
I’m glad that got the second bunch of pictures and I’ll agree with you on the way they turned out in comparison to the others. I’d feel alright about it if you disposed of that silly bunch altogether.
As far as news goes there’s not very much to talk about. We’re living in a semi-temporary camp built for this specific purpose. We stay in the large type tents and have the old standby camp cots to sleep on. That’s the first time since we’ve been on the continent that we’ve been issued beds.
I also did something else for the first time this evening since I’ve been on the continent. I dug my civilian shoes out of the bottom of my duffle bag and put them on. They sure do feel better than anything I’ve had on my feet for a while. You can see in what direction my mind is beginning to run.
I started to tell you about where this place is but got side-tracked. It isn’t in Leon but is outside of some little town not far from there. That’s where we got off the train yesterday.
Well I hope things are coming OK back there. Don’t think I could fill up another page so - So long for this time.
Love,
Donald
Categories
June 10, 1945
Sunday June 10
10:30 AM
Hello Folks,
Church is at eleven this morning but if I spend ten or fifteen minutes writing now I’ll have just a little start for later. It’s only a short walk so I won’t have to leave until about ten minutes till.
I got to bed pretty early last night so I didn’t sleep quite so late this morning as I do sometimes when I don’t have to get up for reville. I think it was some time between eight and eight-thirty when I crawled out. The sun was shining then but in the last couple of hours it has clouded up. I at least hope that it doesn’t rain ‘till after twelve since our church services are held in the open. Of course if it did it wouldn’t be the first time that we’ve ever got wet.
Well from all indications our stay here is just about over. All indications seem to say that we’ll start moving west in the next few days. As near as I can get it we’re going to stop in France for a few days before completing our trip. I haven’t heard anything that would even hint this but if I was guessing I’d say that we’ll go by trucks to there and take trains the rest of the way. - 10:45
After Dinner
Well the rain did hold off long enough for us to have our church. It almost seemed as if it were waiting for church to be over before it began though and dinner was just a little late on account of it. This is one of those days that is cloudy one minute and the sun is shining brightly the next. No doubt we’ll get more rain before the day is over.
I can see now that I won’t get this finished in time to go out on today’s mail. So I might as well wait till after the mail comes today to finish it because I could get a letter from you. It’s been almost three days since I heard now. And anyway if don’t tell you in this one I might not get around to it for several days. Providing nothing happens this will possibly be the last I’ll get to write for a little spell. There’s no need of saying why.
While I think of it, there’s an article in the new (June) Reader’s Digest that you should read. I happened to get ahold of one this time without waiting for you to send it. You are interested in reading things that will enlighten you on the war and this certainly is a good description of “task force” warfare. The article is “The War from Inside a Tank.” It was written under a different circumstance but it gives you a very good idea of how we came across Germany. Of course, as I’ve said before, all infantry companies didn’t see what we did but since ours was right with (or rather on) the tanks, there’s hardly a thing in the article that we didn’t experience.
I wonder if Mother recognizes this stationery. It’s what I received from the ladies of the church. I forgot whether you said it was the Ladies Aid or Missionary Circle; it just said Orestes Baptist Church on the package. Thanks a lot anyway.
8:30PM
They’ve told us that tomorrow is the last day we’ll be able to send mail while we’re here so I’d better finish this tonight. I went to a church service at seven this evening or I’d probably have finished this sooner.
I was very glad to get your letter of June 4 this afternoon. And the news about Wendell in it made me even gladder.
I see in Stars & Stripes that the little cold spell1See the paragraphs for May-June 1945 here you mentioned about did some damage to crops in different parts of the country. Hope things around there didn’t suffer too much. I trust that things in general are running smoothly back there. Be good and God bless you.
Your son and brother,
Donald
Friday June 8
1930
Dear Family,
I intended to do this last night but bedtime slipped up on me before I got it done - To add a little variety to things around here there has been a softball league organized with each company having a team participating. I went to the ballgame right after supper and then after that I worked till dark remodeling my tent a little. Since it gets dark about ten o’clock, it’s not long from then till six in the morning.
I didn’t hear from you tonight but yesterday I got your letter of May 31. You said that Grandma had received her pictures . I hope you have gotten your’s before this. Do you know what thought passed through my mind when I had them taken? The last time (and it was also the first time) that I had my picture taken and sent it to you, I almost beat it home. Perhaps it might work as some sort of a charm and I’ll get to be home again soon. Maybe the reason I thought of it was because that has been one of the most important topics for discussion for several weeks now. That's just something to hope for and not plan on. I’m not worrying about the time I spend here, though. This may not be a place to be thrilled about but as long as I’m here I’m not in someplace worse.
It was good that Ben got to be home once again. Of course, it seems that he always has to have bad luck to get home but it looks as if the Lord is on his side too. There sure is a lot to be thankful for. Since Jim was there at the same time that Ben was home, I suppose he got enough visiting done with Ben to sort of make his furlough seem a little more real to the rest of you.
Well I seem to have more or less run out of news. I think I told you the other day, didn’t I, that we have moved from where we were near Plauen? I think the name of the town we are near now is Schleitz. But it's only about twenty or twenty five miles from Plauen so we are still in the same general area. This is an assembly area for the whole division and when we came here we thought we would be gone before this time. You never know what to expect.
It’s not unusual for me to have something other than the regular training to do so I don’t often do the regual drilling. But this afternoon I started on a hike that was supposed to take all afternoon. After we’d been out about an hour it began raining so we turned around and started back. When we got here the sun was shining but we didn’t start out again. So it turned out to be more of a nice little walk for exercise than a tiresome hike.
How are things coming in Orestes? I wonder if Richard made the trip to Purdue this week. God bless you all.
Love,
Donald
I liked that fried chicken offer and if I get a chance I’ll take you at your word.
June 6, 1945
Germany
Hello,
Tonight there is even less news than usual. Just for a starter though I’ll say that this was really written on the 5th. I guess I was thinking about tomorrow’s being the anniversary of D-day when I wrote the day. I see that Gen. Ike has declared tomorrow an legal holiday but I have not heard how it will effect us. I guess that naturally the time is getting closer to when we’ll move but no one seems to know anything definite about it. We’re just stalling time trying to train much as we did in the garrison.
---
Well this is June 6 now. It’s almost 9 o’clock and I just woke up so you can see that this is a holiday. I was side-tracked last night and had to abandon the idea of letter writing. It was more luck than good sense but since it has turned out this way this will get started as soon as if I’d finished it last night.
I didn’t hear from you last night but I don’t believe I told you about the letter I received the evening before. It was the one that had been written on Sunday just after school closed. That was the second letter that I have got recently that took only seven days to get here. So mail can make pretty good time now. Talking about mail getting home quickly, did anything ever happen to confirm or disprove the suspicion that Ben was back in the United States?
I was glad to hear in the letter from Richard that his senior week could be termed successful. So often the activities, especially the class day programs, turn out to be passable but not worth talking about.
I’ll bet Jim had a big time at Uncle Everett’s. If I were guessing I’d say that he talked a blue streak about it for four days after it was over. How is the building project coming now? Hope you are all OK.
Your son and brother,
Donald
Sunday Afternoon
June 3,’45
Hello Folks,
I believe that this is the best Sunday I’ve spent since we left England. You can easily guess what’s been going on. That’s right - nothing. I slept late this morning. Got up at nine, went to church at eleven and since then haven’t done a thing but be lazy. I’ve been reading the Sunday School papers and Readers’ Digests you’ve been sending me recently. Also there was an intermission for quite a little nap right after dinner. It’s also a nice sunny day and I can’t help comparing this with most of the Sunday’s I spent in Ft. Jackson. Next to being home this is one of the best ways I can think of to spend a Sunday. Yesterday I guess was June second but the significance of the date didn’t occur to me till just now. I can’t help thinking of June 2, two years ago, as being the beginning of a complete vacation just before entering the army. That’s the most completely lazy summer I ever spent but I believe I have more pleasant memories over it than unpleasant ones. Perhaps this summer will contain a few pleasant days too.
We got our duffle bags yesterday morning so it looks as if we’re going to live in style for a little while. Recognize this pen. It’s the one I got six years ago this Spring. It’s the one that I used all through high school. I believe that it writes easier and I know neater than my new one does. It sure has been a good pen.
Talking about things that have given good service I want to tell you about my watch. It sure has been with me through thick and thin. I believe that I’m the only guy in the company that’s still carrying a watch that came overseas with us. Mine still keeps as good time as it ever did. I can’t help thanking you again for it.
I’m going to make a statement now that I’ve made a couple of times before: If one of these times you don’t hear from me for a week or so you’ll know that I am moving again. I really wouldn’t be very excited to see that happen pretty soon either. I know that I have your prayers that any move I make will be in a favorable direction.
Well I’ll bet the building project is beginning to look like something now. Hope everything is coming OK. I’m sort of anxious to hear from Richard about his school ending.
Your son and brother,
Donald
This is written on flimsy 8″x12.5″ paper, folded into a booklet. It’s hard to read in either color or b&w, but color was a bit better. It was in an envelope postmarked May 23, 1945, presumably the wrong envelope.
June 1, 1945
Hello Folks,
I’ve got something to start with that will interest Daddy very greatly. Day before yesterday when I received the letter that described the little Aladdin stoves you are making. I had never seen them. When we came overseas we were issued a little coleman stove just a little bigger than the Aladdin ones for each squad (12 men). But in the course of combat most of them were lost. And now that we are through fighting they are reissuing all the equipment that we are supposed to have. Well this time instead of getting Coleman stoves the company got a supply of Aladdin stoves. It says Alexandria, Indiana as big as anything on the box and they are just like you described. So it looks to me as if you’re doing real war work this summer. If you could tell me some special parts that your machines make, I could really see what your work is like.
It’s about seven o’clock (1900) and I am going to church at 7:30 so I won’t get very much in one of this written before then. I’ll have to leave in time to get there. Just in case I don’t get back to writing tonight I want to tell you that I got your letter of May 23 this evening and also your package that contained the salve that I asked for. I sure can’t complain about the way my folks look after me.
Boy I sure was glad to hear from Wendell. I’ve had experiences but I’m very happy I didn’t have the one he went through. Church. Later. We had a very nice service.
My daylight lighting system is going to give out pretty soon so I expect the best thing for me to do would be to sign off and go to bed.
May the Lord watch between me and thee while we are absent from one another.
Love,
Donald
Paper in envelope dated June 22, 1945