May 5, 1945
Here’s what I almost wrote
May 5, 1925
Dear Family,
I’ve been hoping that the war would be over or something big would happen today. But the big surrender of the Germans in the north and in Holland and Denmark that we got news of last night was about as much of a birthday present as I could expect. Last year at this time I was wondering when I was going to get my furlough and this time I’m wondering when the war is going to be over in Europe. And come to think of it, it’s only ten days less than a year since I was home. I sort of hope that the war here will be over before ten more days.
I’ve sort of been on a vacation for a couple of days now since I’ve been back at cannon company. I can’t quite understand why they wanted me back here but since it’s such a holiday I’m not complaining. There sure is a big difference just to be even no further back than this. Maybe if we were in the midst of the war instead of the tail end of things wouldn’t be quite so settled back here but its almost like having a rest period to me. I am learning a little and sure am hoping that I never have any real need to use my knowledge.
This is really a crazy war now. You don’t know whether to expect it to be over soon or not. You know what sort of stories you hear about victory etc. at home and you can just about imagine how much worse it is here. Really the big question in our minds now is what will happen after Germany is finished. Everyone is dreading the thought about going to the other half of the war. And then if you want to hear some big rumors you should you listen to them about this. I hate to think about it but I wouldn’t be surprised to find myself among those that do go from here to Asia. As far as the army is concerned I guess there’s no big reason why I shouldn’t . The Lord is supreme there too so I’ll just trust him as I have thus far.
As far as my birthday goes, I have received three or four cards from you. If I could get back to the company this evening I expect I would have a couple of letters. And to be truthful a letter with a little news in it is appreciated as much or more than anything that could come.
Mon. Night
Well I didn’t get this finished at the time I was writing it for the simple reason that I sort of relaxed for a minute and went right to sleep. Then when I awoke we were receiving orders to shove off so that fixed the letter writing. So much has taken place between then and now that I’m just going to sign off on this and start a completely new letter.
Love, Donald