Author: dan

Letter after learning of death of Grandfather Tappan

(letter seems incomplete – just released from the hospital)
Saturday Eve.
Dear Folks,

I don’t know how to start this letter but of course I am sorry for what happened. It came as quite a shock to me. I got your telegram about noon today and because I was more or less dazed anyway from  just getting back from the hospital a few minutes before, it hit me pretty hard.

I went immediately to my company officers to see what could be done for me. They thought that since I had lost out anyway and would have to be transferred that I should have a furlough. But they cannot give emergency furloughs for death outside your immediate family. So they sent it to battalion headquarters and it was refused.

The only thing I knew to do then was to call you. I hope you could understand me. I was surprised at the rate the call went through. Most of the time the boys call home it takes 3 or 4 hours to the call to go through. My call came through in about 15 minutes or maybe less. It cost me $1.75.

I hope you took care

(Ward C-13 Station Hospital)
(To Carver Grandparents)
Dec. 15, 1943
Dear Grandparents,

I am not intending this to necessarily be a newsletter. The reason I am writing it is to wish you a very “Merry Christmas.” Of course I won’t get to be there for Christmas but you know where my heart and thoughts will be.

I don’t know how I will spend Christmas day but I have no doubts but what I will have something special to eat. There is also a chance that I might git the day off from our usual work.

I would sure hate for those at home to spoil their Christmas just because some of us like Ben and I can’t be there so be sure and have Christmas.

I hope everything is coming along alright back there.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,
Donald

From the hospital

(Ward C-13 Station Hospital)
Friday Afternoon
Dear Folks,

I hope by the time this letter reaches you that I will be out of here. There doesn’t seem to be much chance now that I will get out during the six days so I am getting used to the idea of taking several more weeks of basic.

I had a queer experience Wednesday afternoon. By that time my temperature had gone down quite a bit and I was feeling a lot better. About 3:00 PM a nurse came around bringing us fruit juices to drink and I took grape juice. This made me sick and I threw up almost immediately. Then my temperature shot up to 105* and I couldn’t keep anything down until the next day.

Well yesterday the fever started going down but that high fever left me with such a dizziness and headache that it really hurt to open my eyes. I just spent the day lying there with my eyes closed trying to rest.

It is hard writing in bed so pardon the dimness! Today I feel like somebody again and have done considerable reading. This is sure some hospital. It is made up of hundreds one story buildings that are connected by the hallways. It covers several blocks in area. I suppose there are exceptions but each of these buildings is a ward. The back end is offices etc. and the front is a big room. In our ward there are about 35 beds. If you are really sick (as I was for 2 or 3 days) you are waited on as in a regular hospital but if you are recuperating etc you wait on yourself. You make your own bed, sweep under your bed, walk to the bathroom and go get your meals. Today is the first day I have really been able to do this.

After you are nearly ready to leave they give you a bathrobe & let you go to a mess hall that is somewhere within the hospital. There is also a PX and recreation room to go to after you can get out. Well I don’t want to start a new sheet & that’s all anyway.

Love, Donald

Talks about going into the hospital, so before one of the “unknown date” letters

(Ward C-13 Station Hospital)
Tuesday Evening
Dear Folks,

I don’t enjoy telling you this but I am now in the hospital. I began feeling bad Sunday afternoon and I had to struggle pretty hard to keep going yesterday. I thought my trouble was mostly a chest cold but I could tell that I had some fever and I and I also had a bad headache and sore throat.

I was supposed to be on guard duty last night but before my shift came up I went down to the dispensary. My temperature was 103.8 and trouble, as you might have guessed, was tonsillitis.

This was about 7:30 and by 8:30 I was started to the hospital and a substitute was taking my place as guard. It was lucky that I went to the dispensary when I did because the doctor said that if I had slept in the tent one more night with the fever I would have had pneumonia.

I have felt pretty bad today and have taken about a ton of medicine. I think the medicine is mostly to make me sweat & sleep, both of which will be good for me. My fever is going down and I feel better this evening.

I don’t know how long I will be here but it oughtn’t be too long. Anyway it could be worse. This basics sure is giving me some varied experience.

Don’t worry and don’t broadcast it too much.

Love, Donald
If I lose less than 6 days I will be sent back to my old company and will make up the work. But if more than 6 days I will be sent to another battalion in about their 6th or 7th week of training. This will make me 4 or 5 weeks later in finishing my training but it can’t last forever.

Now it is your turn to keep your chin up.
Thessalonian 5:16
Unless you have done so don’t send my Christmas now until I give the signal.

(16th Company 6th Trng Rgmt ASTP)
Sunday

Dear Folks,

This is the first half day off I have had in 2 weeks. I even go back to work this afternoon. We have been learning about shooting our rifles in battle conditions for the last few days. You would be surprised how much harder it is to hit the image of a man at an unknown distance. This week we will have moving targets. We will also shoot the mortar and machine gun before the week is over.

I am going to church at 10:00 this morning and get a few letters written. Since we leave before daylight & get back after dark you are the only ones I have written to this week. I’ll bet everyone else thinks I have forgotten them.

I had the misfortune of losing my pocket knife last week so maybe you can tell it to someone who wants to send me something.

I haven’t had a chance to do any reading for so long that I don’t have any idea of what is happening outside. We really had an easy schedule for the last few days as far as hard work goes so you needn’t worry about that.

Oh yes I almost forgot. We have been taking medicine for the last few days. It is a member of the sulfa drugs family. Sulfathiozol or something like that. It is supposed to cost about $50 and be impossible to get in civilian life. It is supposed to kill and cure colds. I have got some cold now (the first I have had since I was down here) but maybe this will help me.

Well I hope you are all ok. It is cold & damp down here but I’ll bet it’s a lot colder there.

Love, Donald
P.S. Richard will be interested in knowing that our rifle really hardly kick at all. As far as I can remember our shotgun kicks a whole lot harder than they do.

Seems to be a list of things they could send him. Early in basiuc training? Christmas list?

[Unclear Date – Gift Wish List – probably mid-November 1943]

These things don’t have to be sent now but they will fill your request!
(1) Nail file and maybe scissors to trim nails

(2) Some contrivance to keep a locker key (one of those little leather cases like the one on Grandpa’s car would be good)

(3) A piece of emery cloth and a little hunk of emery stone or something of that kind for sharpening & taking the rust off my knife.

(4) A couple of shaving sticks one for inspection & one for camping out. (Send these before long or let me know if you can’t get them. They are like shaving cream only in sticks.)

*(5) Watch

(6) First aid kit.

(7) Tube of unguentine 

(8) My razor box.

(9) Mother could make me a little case of oilcloth or some waterproof material for carrying a few matches. 1 inch x 11/2 or thereabouts.

(10) I lost my little hand brush in one of the shuffles so another one of these.

*(11) You might send me an army belt with a gold belt buckle but this isn’t necessary

*(12) I might use a sleeveless khaki sweater if I ever get in very cold climate.

*(13) I could use a Bible if it was small enough.

*(14) I don’t know whether or not I will be issued military slippers when I go to school but these would come in handy then. I would like for them to be the tie kind & they must have plain toes.

(15) I might use one or 2 bath towels after a while.

(16) A non breakable toothbrush holder with a top on it. II can get these here if you can’t.

(17) A ten-cent plastic dog tag chain. I broke my other one wearing my key on it. I always wanted a hunk of this kind of stuff to use with the parts of my other key chain so I am sending it home to use in civilian life. I am using a string one now.

This is all I can think of now & the ones starred (*) are only very optional.
*(18) Something more or less permanent for keeping track of my writing equipment.
(19) A cigar box or 2 to keep that stiff in that I have to keep for inspection, etc.

*(20) Some kind of slippers to save bare feet on dirty floors. There is one kind with wooden soles & only a a strap across the top that many of the fellows have. These are handy & can also be worn in the showers to prevent athletes foot.

(21) A comb to carry in my toilet article case. Somewhere between the size of a pocket comb & a barber comb.

Pardon the scrappy papers

*(22) Small flashlight

Also a follow-on, probably November 30

November 28, 1943
Fort Benning, Georgia
Sunday Eve.
Dear Folks,

I am writing by candlelight tonight. Therefore I will write a very short letter. Confidentially this is about the worst Sunday I have ever spent. I didn’t even have a chance to go to church.

We started at noon yesterday and marched till almost dark. Then we pitched our tents, dug shit trenches, ate C (combat) rations and went to bed. Then to beat it all it rained in the night. We got up in the dark this morning and rolled our packs. A pack is hard to roll in daylight and 3 times as hard to roll in the dark. We got here at about 10:00 and ate breakfast. We have been working almost all day at such jobs as cleaning up around here.

We live in tents with dirt floors but we do have beds to sleep in. Tomorrow we go out on the range but I don’t know exactly how or what we will fire.

I had my first experience firing on Friday. We fired the carbine but not for record. I got by but didn’t do anything outstanding. The worst part of this are is the lack of water. We have to get along on a canteen full a day. We must wash and shave, etc. in it. For this reason I may have to start drinking coffee. That is about all they furnish us at meals and when I have to furnish my drink out of my canteen it soon runs out. 

I am not going to say this often but frankly I will be glad when this basic is over.

I can receive letters & packages out here but don’t send anything that will be too big to take back. Keep praying and don’t worry.

Love, Donald

December 1, 1943
Wednesday
Dear Folks,
I am OK but am too busy and tired to write. We have been firing our rifles so far this week. This will let you know I am still here. I am including a letter I wrote Sun. but didn’t even have time to mail. I am in better spirits now.

Love,
Donald

Thanksgiving
Dear Folks,

Well I guess this is the first Thanksgiving that I ever really had to work. At home it might not have been unusual to work but it was either for pleasure or of your own free will. Today we spent all morning dry firing with our rifles and this afternoon we spent 3 hours learning the mechanical functions of the carbine (pronounced car-bIne) and one hour listening to a lecture on military sanitation and first aid. Our afternoon was easy enough that maybe that was our Thanksgiving vacation.

Tomorrow we go out to the range not far from here to fire the carbine. Of course I won’t be firing near all the time and I will be doing one one of the many jobs connected with the range. This will be my first taste of real firing and I will have to tell you more about it after it is over.

I suppose you want to know what kind of Thanksgiving meal we had tonight. We had a very nice meal. Some of the officers and non-coms had their wives here and the fellows acted decent for once. We ate at 8:00 and dressed in our best clothes. The mess hall was decorated a little and there were tablecloths on the tables. We had turkey and dressing, buns, peas, corn, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, salad, oranges, cookies, pumpkin pie, lemonade and ice cream. We were all very full when we got through but as usual it was all cleaned up. There are very few times when there is anything left after a meal.

We are busy getting all of our clothing equipment etc ready to go out on the range. We leave Saturday noon for two weeks of real experience.

I got your air mail letter today. I won’t be able to see Glen for a while but I will write to him. Maybe after I get back from the range I can see him if I get a chance and can find him.

About my sweater: it is something that (I) can use but there is no real hurry for it. You can knit it yourself and it will be quite alright with me.

I haven’t got your Thanksgiving package yet but we can expect poorer service as the Christmas season nears. The match pocket you sent me in the letter was quite alright except that I put a button on it. It was my first experience working a button hole so you can imagine how fancy it is.

It would be alright if you want to send me Christmas cards if you can get them here in a week or so. But I had figured on only writing letters so if you don’t send the cards it will be alright.

Well that is about all for now. I am so full of turkey that I am going to bed before long.

Love,
Donald
What have you done about the Readers’ Digest?

Tuesday Night
Dear Folks,

After wallowing in Georgia sand all afternoon trying to learn to shoot the rifle, I had to take a shower tonight. I also had to shave, etc. and then had to tear my rifle all apart to get Georgia out of it. Therefore this will be a short letter so that I may get some sleep before morning. This may seem like the same thing I always say and that is just what it is. Your rifle has to be cleaned every night and also you don’t dare miss shaving for one day. I skip it on Saturday night though because we don’t have any formations on Sunday.

So far this week and we will continue to do for the rest of the week except for one or two hours, we have been dry firing on the rifle, mortar and machine gun. I will certainly be glad when the next 3 weeks are over.

We are also supposed to learn the mechanisms of and fire the carbine before this week is over.
Richard asked me (I was looking over last weeks letters last night) how I broke my glasses. Well I broke one of the lenses. It was cracked in a thousand pieces but it stayed in the frame.

I hope you are all OK and everything is coming alright. You will have to imagine that this has been a letter. Its main purpose was to let you know that I am OK.
Love,
Donald

Thursday Nite

Dear Folks,

Have I been working tonight! We ate supper about 7:00 and since then I have taken a shower, washed my hair, shaved, polished shoes, cleaned my rifle and a few other things. I still have a few minutes before lights out and since we will have to scrub up the hut tomorrow evening I will write a short letter now.

Since I last wrote we have spent about all of our time working with machine guns and dry firing our rifles. That dry firing is really something too. You get into a strained(?) position and hold it in an attempt to get used to it. I am getting sore muscles from it and especially sore back muscles.

We will continue on our dry firing for the rest of this week and next and then we will spend the next two on the range.

This Georgia weather certainly is funny. There is about a 30* to 40* change in the temperature every day. Indiana weather with snow would be very interesting to me.

Richard’s description of hunting a rabbit gave me a thrill even though I wasn’t there. I was also happy to hear that Alexandria won her first basketball game. That is about as good as she did all last year.

Oh yes, we spent about a half day yesterday learning how to put up barbed wire entanglements and barriers. There is a certain way to do everything in the army even down to stringing wire entanglements. They are put up in definite patterns. My eye is still kind of blood shot in the corner but outside of that you can hardly tell there was anything wrong with it. I’ll bet you will never notice it unless you look for it.

I am still coming along alright. Good night.
Love,
Donald