Year: 1945

From 346th Infantry:

The next move came on March 13th as the Regiment with the 735th Tank Battalion moved to the quaint little hamlet of Rubenach, Germany. White flags were now making appearances in all civilian homes. The outfit’s mission was to defend the Rhine-Moselle river line. Cannon Company supported the Regiment by fire from positions near Wolken. An intricate system of patrolling the banks of the Moselle River was set up, so that the bank would be patrolled at least once an hour. Information was seeping in slowly. The Fourth Armored Division said that the German 34th Division was in barracks on the East side of the Rhine at Fort Ehrenbreitstein. PW information brought forth the fact that the enemy was 200 strong on the small island in the Rhine River at the northern part of our sector. Active patrolling was maintained for the next few days. Patrols were sent across the Moselle River into Koblenz and the First Battalion was the first American troops there since the army of occupation from World War I departed.

                                                     March 16, 1945
Dear Mother and all,
   Before I forget it, I want to wish mother a happy birthday. This will be late getting there, I know, but I hope you’ll forgive me. I thought about it before I wrote my last letter but forgot it again when I got around to writing. Lots of things slip up on me and I feel sort of good just to remember a date at all. I see by the date  also that three days ago I passed my year and a half mark in the army. I guess I’ve got about five months overseas time in, too. If the situation doesn’t change in another month I’ll be entitled to an overseas stripe. Of course, it wouldn’t make me mad, though, to be back in the U.S. even before another month is up.
   It’s been about a week now since I’ve had any mail. I’m getting pretty anxious to find out just what Richard is doing. No doubt by the time he is doing something or is about to. It could be (and I sure hope so)  that this half of the war might not last too much longer. But things will be far from over even then. We’ll just have to keep our chins up and keep working and praying with our eyes always looking toward the complete finish. One of these days we’ll all be home for good.
   I’ve been pretty lucky for the last few days as far as work is concerned. That is far from even implying that I haven’t been busy but I think you’ll understand what I mean when I say it hasn’t been too bad.
   Did you get my V-mail a few days ago telling you that I received a raise in pay? Before my insurance is taken out I should be getting around a hundred dollars a month counting everything. Just to fill space I’ll tell you what I should be getting paid. The base pay for a Sgt. is $78, then I get 20% for being overseas, $10 combat pay (I think), $10 for the combat Infantry Badge and I think and $2 for the Silver Star. Say figuring that all up if I haven’t been misled somewhere it’s a good bit more than I thought!
   As far as I know I’ll still be doing the same sort of work. Spending most of my time messing with the radio and whatever other communications is necessary to keep things operating. I guess I never really thought when I started to radio school, almost a year ago now, that it would ever really be my job. And not only that it’s turned out to be almost a full time job. All the communications work I do seems simple and routine but I suppose if I realized just how much knowledge I have picked up altogether since I began I wouldn’t feel too bad about it.
  Let’s keep trusting and praying. It really pays. Love, 
     Your son and brother,  
     Donald

                                                    March 12, 1945
Hello Folks,
   I’ve not much time today so one of these little letters will be my limit. I wouldn’t even try to get this to you if I didn’t want to tell you something. You may already know it by this time, though, if you noticed the address. If you didn’t notice it before, look at the upper right corner of this page.1He had been promoted to Sergeant - bypassing the rank of Corporal. Apparently this wasn't unusual in front line units, which needed to fill holes in squad leadership. What might be a bit unusual is that, based on later letters, he doesn't seem to have moved into a squad leader role - he continues doing radio work. He finished his service as a "Technical Sergeant" (renamed to "Sergeant First Class"/E-7 in 1948) but it's not clear whether this was a promotion to that rank or to E-5. It is possible that this is related to the training he mentions on March 20 to be a forward observer, maybe it helped in that role to have some rank, for credibility.
   If this is my last letter for a few days, and no doubt it will be, I’ll be busy again. Little vacations are wonderful but they can’t last forever. A chance to rest up a little, eat some hot food instead of cold rations, and go to church is about all we have a chance for. But even that much really helps a lot. Of course we also try to write a few letters.
   Let’s still keep trusting in the Lord to bring us together soon. With His help we’ll be seeing each other. Keep praying and I’ll do the same.
Lots of love,
  Donald

                                                     March 9, 1945
                                                     Germany

Dear Folks,
   There may be a little repetition in this and the V-mail I wrote yesterday but I doubt if you’ll receive them both at once so maybe you can bear to read it again. You can see that I received my package by the paper I am using. Enough other people will help me out on the using of it that I won’t have to take care of it long. Having a box of stationary to use reminds me of being a garrison soldier. I couldn’t use a folder of it a week but you needn’t worry about an occasional one being wasted.
   Just to be truthful about it I don’t think there was a thing in the box from the home made fudge down to the funny papers that wasn’t enjoyed. The candy and cookies were just too good to be true. It may sound as if I am stretching things but I have a cup of the hot chocolate beside me right now.
   In the last ten days when I was actually unable to write I received letters from you dated Feb 9, 12 and 26. I think there were at least a couple of others, too, but they got away from me somewhere.
   No doubt Richard knows a little more about this future now than he did when I last heard. I sure am anxious to know how things turned out.
   Thanks for the news and all the clippings of the sectional. I’ll bet Jim got a big thrill out of seeing it. I told someone the other day that I would rather be sweating out a good basketball game than going through some of the exciting (if you can call them that) spots we were seeing.
   I expect you have guessed from the news that things have been happening pretty fast for me the last few days. Well you guessed right. I just came through the longest and perhaps hardest stretch of fighting of any so far. We actually spent a week without ever seeing the inside of a building and then we didn’t even stop when we came to a couple of little towns. I think it would take me a year to catch up on  my sleep. Getting only one or two hours a night soon puts you behind. I’m not griping through. I really am glad to see things moving the way they are. In order to make gains it stands to reason that we have to keep pushing along.

                                                            10 March
   Well I sort of got lazy and didn’t get this finished yesterday but maybe by waiting a day longer I’ll be able to give you just a little more news. I guess the biggest reason why I didn’t write more yesterday was because it was pay day. Since I am in Co. Hq. I usually have to help out on things like that. I spent almost all day making out forms for the fellows to send money home. I myself sent $45 home but you can expect it when it arrives as it may take a good while. I am pretty sure you are receiving my bonds & $20 allotments OK but I have never heard from the other I have sent. The first time I got paid I sent it myself by money order and this makes the second time I’ve sent it by govt. Check. Let me know about these things. We got paid in German marks this time. Altogether now I’ve been paid in marks, French francs, and Belgian francs. I also used Luxemburg francs in Luxemburg. Of course our govt prints all we use over here and stands back of it so it won’t lose its value by inflation. The marks we use are know as “invasion marks” and are worth 10c apiece. Our French francs are worth 2c apiece and the Belgium and Luxemburg francs a small fraction of a cent more. 
   In addition to the letters I told you about yesterday I have found (stuck away in my pockets) letters of Feb 7, 14, 16 and 19, so you see I haven’t done too bad recently.
   I presume you really want me to ask for things to be sent or you would stop asking about it. As I have said so often it's hard to know what to ask for. Did you get the letter (it’s been several weeks ago) in which I asked for a pocket knife and cheap fountain pen? You know how we feel about anything to eat. It's up to you and it really works well but I don’t ask you every time to go to the trouble of packing the stuff in tin cans. But sometime when you are using cans I’d like for you to fill one can with good fresh popcorn. It wouldn’t be a big fill-up bit it sure would do me good. You don’t have any idea how often I think of the endless hours I’ve spent munching popcorn. You also might fill a can with some of your cracker-jack. Just as a further suggestion I often see in packages small cans and jars of stuff that you can find by just keeping your eyes open from grocers shelves. For instance, jars of jelly, any kind of thing that can be eaten cold or heated a little , esp Campbell’s soups or anything you might see. (I used Campbell’s soup just to give the idea rather than even necessarily suggesting it). It doesn’t have to be anything special; in fact plain things are even better. But remember anything I mention is just a suggestion. Be sure to use your own judgement.
   I still say that the Lord has been most gracious to me. Out of forty that started out together in our platoon, there are five of us left. And three of them have been in the hospital and have returned. He has been with me every step of the way. You’d be surprised to know how much easier it is to go through difficult situations just trusting in Him. Keep praying. Love,
                 Donald

PS - I made a p.s. So you can use this as a different request if you wish. If you use 21/2 size cans you might start one with salty peanuts and finish it with cookies. How about a can of marshmallows? It might even be possible to can up a piece of cake.

                                                Germany
                                                February 25, 1945
Dear Folks,
   Well I’ve done pretty good in my writing the last few days but I expect it will have to be coming to a halt soon. I’ll be getting letters pretty regularly I hope but I expect my writing time will likely be pretty short until we hit another time like this. I haven’t heard from you in the last couple of days but it just gives me something to look forward to. I went to church again this afternoon. That makes three times this week. If you remember, there was one of our regimental chaplains that I liked especially well. The other chaplain usually is with our battalion but this afternoon I got to hear Chaplain Ledbetter again. He preaches so simply and to the point that after it is over you really know what he said. Yesterday I saw my first movie since I was on the boat coming over. It was a regular full length film and since it turned out to be a comedy I spent an enjoyable hour and a half watching it. I suppose now that the equipment is available we may get to see pictures whenever the opportunity presents itself. Keep looking to God for strength.
Love, Your son & brother,  Donald

                                                Feb. 23, 1945
                                                Germany
Dear Folks,
   I don’t know what I’m going to say and maybe I’ll have to wait till after the mail comes to see if I get a letter. It always helps to have a letter to answer but, of course, it isn’t necessary. Maybe if I’d looked through all my pockets I could find a letter that needs answering that I have forgot about. I sure have been lazy on getting my writing done. I’ve got several or rather a few letters written to you guys but that is certainly all. I write anybody else so seldom that I forget who I wrote to last and then I wonder if I am forgetting somebody altogether. I think this is the first time since the first few days in France that I’ve had a chance to do any reading. I have all but finished the last Reader’s Digest I got and have even read a few stories in the Sunday School papers. I really should get down to business on my letter writing while I still have a chance.
   I sure do wonder what is going on back there. I hope Richard’s luck hasn’t been too bad on his enlistment. It’s really rotten to even have to think about such a thing but since it is necessary we might as well make the best of it.
   How is school going? I haven’t heard much about it recently except basketball. Not that I mind hearing about the basketball games. How I sure would like to be home seeing one of them! The last basketball game I saw was the state final in 1943 at the Coliseum. That seems like a good while ago. Or does it? The last two months are really all that seem long but they seem like so many years. The days go by pretty swiftly too, but it does seem like a long time since the 11th of Dec. We were fighting down in the Saar Valley then. Then if you read about the “Bulge” in Belgium; we came up to help reduce that. The little town mentioned in my Silver Star citation was almost on the top of the bulge. After we took that town the whole thing began to collapse almost immediately. That just seemed to be the turning point in the Battle of the Bulge.
   Well I guess I’ll sign off until this evening after the mail comes. It sure is good to be where we can get mail every day again. I hope you have received all the letters  I’ve written the last few days.
                                                       Feb 24 AM
   I didn’t quite accomplish as much as I wanted to yesterday, but maybe you won’t mind too much getting this a day later. Yesterday afternoon there was a church service announced for 6PM. I attended that and it sort of consumed the time I would otherwise have used for writing. I am sure glad I went though. It was a communion service and I felt much better for having gone. A couple days ago I wrote that it had been a good while since I had got a chance to go to services. Well since then I have attended two. I hope we are still here tomorrow because I’m sure Sunday services will be held. I am glad the chaplain takes advantage of a time like this to hold a few extra get-togethers.
   Last night besides communion there was also a baptismal service for two fellows who had accepted Christ. One of them was one of the best buddies I have left in the company. Incidentally, I signed his baptismal certificate. The baptism itself was only a sprinkling but since that was the best that could be done under the circumstances and since any kind we could have is only symbolic anyway, I feel that the boys have really been baptized. I wonder whether or not sprinkling is the customary form of baptism in their home churches. I sort of hope it is so that they won’t feel that they missed anything by being baptized over here.
   Yesterday afternoon I got a letter from Grandma Carver dated Feb 13 so I am expecting your letters between 8 and 13 to catch up with me soon. I may finish this letter up before the mail comes today though.
                                                       Noon
   If I’m going to get this out today I’m going to have to get it finished in the next few minutes. If I hear from you this evening I’ll start another letter. God bless you all.
       Love,
         Donald

Letter to his youngest brother, Jim (Jimmie)

                                              Germany
                                              February 22, 1945
Hi Jim,
   I know that it would have been a whole lot better to have written a letter especially to you a good while ago so that it would have reached you near your birthday. But since I didn’t this will let you know that I am thinking about you and am giving you my best wishes.
   Now for just a little news in general. I got a letter today that mother had written on Dec. 8. It told about where several of the boys in Orestes were then and any time you run out of anything else to say you can bring me up to date on that sort of news. Since Duane is in the third army too I wonder what division he is attached too. It could be, of course, his outfit may not be attached to a division but since everything moves around pretty fast just knowing his battalion or corps or any other information might help. We have had lots of different Field Artillery battalions supporting us and I’d just like to keep my eyes open for him.
   The new watch band makes the old watch look like a million dollars again. Wish I could think of something else to  ask for. But candy, cookies, gum or any kind of eats never come amiss. Oh yes, air mail stamps.
Love, Donald

                                               February 21, 1945
                                               Somewhere in Germany
                                               6 AM
Hello Folks,
   I enjoy getting a regular letter so much more than V-mails that I am beginning to be ashamed of them. They do serve the purpose of just letting you hear from me during a busy time, though, and I’ll have to continue using them. I generally get air mail letters a week or so sooner than the others and I wonder if would be the same way with these I sent you. For example: yesterday I got a V-mail dated January 24 and two air mails of Feb. 5 (One of them contained the watch strap. Thanks a million.)
   If you wonder why I am attempting a letter like this now, I can safely say we are back for a little relaxation period. You can hardly call a time like this a rest period but they do let your nerves relax a little. We’re not in a rest camp or anything like that but we are just spending a few days living inside in a town a little ways back. We always work at a time like this but it’s  work you don’t mind too much after some of the more exciting kind. Yesterday we spent all day giving our billets a general house cleaning inside and out (the area surrounding). Today we are supposed to get ourselves cleaned up as much as possible  and get our rifles and equipment back in shape again. If we’re here tomorrow it wouldn’t surprise me to find us starting out on some sort of a training schedule.
   Would you be interested in knowing how we live at a time like this? Since this is Germany the civilians aren’t trusted like they were in Belgium, etc. so they are all moved to one end of town. In Belgium and France we often lived in one room and the civilians in another but here we can have the whole house. When we move in we always have to clean up the place and then get rid of as much furniture that we won’t use as possible. A little room with a bed in it will only sleep two people on the bed and two or three on the floor. But the same room without the bed will sleep a dozen people on the floor. Usually everything but the stoves, a few chairs, and anything too big to move is put in the attic, basement or somewhere. Then with the floors bare or with a little straw on them we get several men into a room. With nothing between me and the floor but a GI blanket I really sleep good any more. Boy will a bed be good! Even living like this you really appreciate it. I’ve spent lots of time in barns and enjoyed it. Anything is better than living outdoors.
   In this last letter Daddy was telling about a radio program he had heard describing conditions over here. Although you don’t spend all your time living like that, everything he mentioned certainly isn’t fiction. As far as telling you a lot of stuff along this line, I figure if for no other reason it's a lot better for my morale just to not talk about it.
   Before I forget it I want to tell you that I had my teeth worked on one day last week. It really surprised me how close up work like this can be done. I had two great big fillings put in and even with the few instruments that can be carried in their portable units, I think it was as good a job as I have ever had done.
   If possible while I am still here, I want to get my silver star started toward home. I don’t know whether you’ve heard anything about it or not but the papers that go with it should do enough explaining.
   I wonder what Richard has found out by this time. If I don’t write another letter tomorrow, “Happy birthday Jim.”
Let’s keep trusting and praying that we’ll all be together soon. God bless you all. Love.
         Your son and brother,
           Donald