June 13, 1944
Tuesday Evening
Dear Folks,
In my last letter I told you that I was to be on some kind of detail yesterday but I didn’t know what it was. Well little did I dream what it was. About a dozen of us were sent over to the dental clinic to get our teeth fixed. I guess they knew we needed work done because of the records that were made from the physicals we were given when we first got here.
I had two teeth filled. They were some of those teeth that already had fillings in them. Those big fillings had to be taken out and it made quite a lot of drilling. They were pretty rough with the work and I was sort of mad about it last night but I feel better about it now. At least that is over with now and my teeth should be in pretty good shape once again.
Last night we went out (in the trucks thank goodness) and spent the night with the company on the problem. I spent a pretty restful night on the bare ground with nothing but a raincoat between me and the sky.
This morning our position was attacked by a regiment of tanks. And since our anti-tank weapons could only simulate firing at them they were not stopped and we were theoretically captured. There was so much make believe in it that it turned out to be almost a farce.
We came in about noon and have spent the entire rest of the day getting ready for an inspection which is supposed to come either tomorrow or the next day. We should have got the afternoon off since most of the fellows were up about all night on the problem but of course they couldn’t possibly give us any time.
Maybe you have read that Thursday is Infantry day. We are going to celebrate it by scrubbing, scrubbing on Wed night and then parading for the public on Thursday. We’re doing all the work for something supposed to be in honor of us. Ha.
I was going to tell you a little about the church service we had Sunday in my last letter but I forgot about it. There was a new chaplain, a sort of young fellow, and he sure suited me. In the first place he sang songs that I was familiar with and that made it more enjoyable to me. Then he preached a sermon that really contained something and was still easy to follow. I got more good from the service than any I have here in a long time.
I was reading in the paper today about Harold Swain’s wedding. Boy there sure are very few weddings now that are anyways near that much like weddings in normal times. It was a peace time wedding even down to the last detail of “The couple will reside on a farm northwest of the city.”
By the way I saw about the marriage the other day of Alva Thurston of Summitwille. I suppose it is “our boy” isn’t it?
It will be quite alright for mother to send me my shoe trees if they are still around.
Well, I’ll sign off now and maybe think of a little more before I go to bed. Hope to hear from you soon.
Love, Donald