14 March 1945
Dear Gang,
Well, itŐs been quite a winter here this side
of the world. We have had more snow, I guess, than any time
since the Indians left. Fellows keep dropping in to see me to
chew the fat, Freddie Day, for
example, last week. I wish I had kept a list of everybody who
has hung his feet on my desk in the last two months; and I am
going to do that between now and the next letter. There is a
stack of mail here from the four winds of the world and news
aplenty, but lets get the bad news over with first. We have
added three gold stars since I wrote you in December; Private
Larry E. Lind, Ô45 was killed in France in the infantry,
Dec. 14. Lt. Fred Wolhstein,
who was earlier reported missing on Aug. 15 over France, is
now definitely reported dead, as it Lt. Will
Valley, whom I reported missing in the last letter.
Among the missing are Pvt. Russel Bailey,
103rd infantry and Irv Finger.
Lt. Mike is a POW in Stalag
near Munich. Bob GleasonŐs
wife, Ethel, was in to see me a while ago and told me something
of Bob. She has both character and courage. I always hate this
part of the letter and yet I am aware that this is one of the
things you always want to know too.
I cannot even attempt to
acknowledge all of your Xmas cards. Some of them were so interesting
that we put up a bunch of them in the exhibit case in the library
for a while. One of the most unusual came from Lt. Col. THURSTY
PAUL from Germany, showing the route of the 7th Corps
from their landings, through Chartres, to Aachen. The thing
that was disturbing about it was, of course, that it arrived
just during the days of the Bulge and it helped make increasingly
real what was a haunting knowledge all through Xmas week, that
I had so many good friends right in front of that thrust. Some
of them, I found later, were drinking like pigs at a wallow
in Paris, but we can forgive them that. Yesterday brought a
letter from BOB REINOW, now
a Lt., after completing OCS in Australia in a class, 42% of
which washed out. He ran into JOHNNIE
MOULD at Ipstich one Saturday night and they seemed
to have had a convivial meeting. He also ran into GARDEPHE,
whom he located via my last letter. Lt. (jg) WILLIAM
G. HARDY has been assigned to speech cases in the Philadelphia
Naval hospital, which is putting the right man in the right
job. Pvt. VARLEY LANG, also of
our English dept., has stopped polishing his gold brick and
is now falling in and out deep in the gizzard of Texas. Lt.
HANK SISK after a spell teaching
in Texas is back at the hospital in Framingham, Conn. Lt. WARREN
DENSMORE was/is? in the States for a while after his
long tour of duty on the French Coast. I talked to him on the
phone but did not get the chance to see him. Another old friend
I missed was Capt. BOB BENEDICT,
with many a Pacific battle ribbon, who was home for close to
three weeks but every time I called him, he was out, and when
he called me, I was out. I went up to see
Miss Andrea Takas the other day. It looks as though ANDY
has as good taste in daughters as he has in wives. (OK, make
it singular.) FRANK KEHRIG and
BEN COMI have been around these
parts and left notes on my desk but I havenŐt seen them. From
the CBI came Xmas cards from BOB PETERS,
BERNIE ARBIT, BILL
THOMAS, BOB MARGISON.
BobŐs pretty wife is taking courses here at college and tells
me he was recently arrested in Assam for speeding. Lt. NICK
MORSILLO sent me a 50 dollar Chinese bill which he figured
was worth about 12˘; also a stick of chewing gum which is worth
about the same thing in this country. He says, ŇI have been
one of ChenaultŐs Flying Tigers for a little over three months
now and have only two missions to my credit so far, so I donŐt
feel much like a combat man. However, the reason for this situation
should disappear shortly so I can get under way on my other
48 missions.Ó As long as whiskey-jungle rations keep coming
through, he is staying off Jingbao Juice. It was also Nick
who made my holiday brighter by sending me a cablegram of greetings,
which I greatly appreciated. Lt. JOE
McCABE says, ŇFinally got out of the boy scout outfit
in N. Africa; in CBI for better things, I hope". Joe,
you might try writing BILL FORREST:
S.Sgt. W.E. Forrest, Hq. Sq. 9, 9th MAW--FHF--MCAS, Cherry Point,
N.C. and if Bill would like to answer Joe, try
1252, AAFBU, APO 369, PH, NYC.Lt. TOMMIE
BREEN is in China also. He has been moving around a
great deal all through the China area, setting up weather stations.
"So far I haven't had to evacuate any bases although a couple
that I had been at are no longer ours. Though the 29s are hitting
heavy, I can't but be a bit of a pessimist. These people (Japs)
don't think of reason the way we do. They are not supermen,
but they are far from pushovers, and there is a lot of territory
on the Asiatic mainland which may have to be occupied before
the end. Russia may be the key to that problem." Thanks a lot
for the Chinese money which I am adding to the collection. He
says of this, "The black market exchange is about 500 to 1.
Since a year ago October when I landed in China, the rates have
advanced from about 80 to 1." Tom wants to know if any
of the rest of you are thinking of staying in the Army? It looks
not so bad to him. I had a letter from BETTY DILLENBECK,
DOUG's wife, who says that
Doug is now in Oahu, and she sent me a picture of Doug
which I have put up with the others. You will be grieved to
know that her brother, Prof. CANDLYN's son, was killed in the
battle of the Bulge. Pvt. RUTHIE HINES,
when she wrote me in January, was having a whale of a wonderful
time in the New Guinea jungle. She ran into some Statesmen out
there but was pretty damn cagey about who. I've underground
reports recently that she was laid up with a foot disease but
is now ok. Anything that tended to interrupt her social life
is definitely bad. CURT
PFAFF is on Guadalcanal, where he ran into DALE
WOOD, who is in Army Transport and who stopped in at
Guadalcanal. They spent some pleasing hours aboard Dale's
yacht. The day after Wood left, FRANK
WOODWORTH stopped off on his way home. Frank
is now back at college, having been given a medical discharge,
and is beginning to throw his weight around pretty effectively
as an undergraduate. S/Sgt. JOHN GARDEPHE
is, as I said before, in Australia. As you might expect, John
found a first-class place to live at Askot Park in Brisbane
and some of you might look him up at SIS Base 3. John
sent an Australian thripence which I am hoarding against a rainy
day. ALLAN TERHO is at Oahu,
Hawaii. There is in Allan's letter a note which I frequently
get from people who are in relatively safe areas. It is one
of embarrassment that they are not in a position to be shot
at. Cheer up, Pal, we got two or three years to go yet. S/Sgt.
GEORGE MILLER is in New Guinea
and the letter is covered with spots where he drooled just at
the mention of scotch and soda; going to return to State. Lt.
DICK RIBNER is also in New Guinea
and writes me on the finest, cheapest correspondence paper the
Jap army can produce. At least, I think that's what it was intended
for. It has writing on it so any other supposition seems unlikely,
Mosquitoes, heat, mud, are all there, but Dick is up
in the mountains where the view is pretty handsome. Cpl. GEORGE
BENNETT, same island, has the same APO as George
Miller, if that's any help to either of them. He is sitting
on his end with AAA and doubts that there is any war within
10,000 miles of where he is, except that they keep shipping
in casualties which are pretty convincing. "By golly, the guys
in our hospital are hurt--some of them bad, and they tell stories,
which, no doubt, a censor would not all to go through for the
sake of home-front morale, that gives all of us the urge. No
use my trying to explain exactly what I mean". REX
FINSTER is somewhere on the same island, but he says
the climate is mostly heat well diluted with rain. It rains
once every 24 hours--constantly. No one else has your APO, Rex,
which looks like something they give to cross-eyed crap shooters.
While a wife and child are bound to complicate the matter of
education, they also give a man terrific incentive so that he
is apt to get a lot more done that if he is just plugging for
himself. LOU GREENSPAN is
in the South Pacific. He is with the 65th Bomb Squadron of the
3rd Bomb Group. In Sydney, Australia, where he recently went
for a rest leave, he ran into Ex-Dean SALLY DELANEY, who is
now in charge of the Red Cross unit in Sydney, and Lt. HAL
SINGER. Lou visited MIKE DIGIOIA,
who is Weather Officer for the 3rd Bomb Group and spent some
time with Captain STEVE GODFREY,
another Weather man. Lou also ran into MADELINE BEERS
running a Red Cross unit in New Guinea, of whom he saw quite
a bit when he was stationed at an airstrip near there. Lou
saw BOB MEEK at MacArthur's Hdqs.
When he wasn't visiting, he put in 240 hours of combat flying.
As for Australian women, he says, "You don't have to beat them
off with clubs--a slight kick or cuff with the hand is enough
to send them on their way when they get too bothersome." There
seems to be some question whether or not a rest leave in Sydney
is really a rest at all. Capt. CHARLIE
ETTINGER, USMC, is in the field somewhere in the Pacific.
These Marines are cagey about where they are. You're dead wrong
about my fiendish glee in recording an F in my little book;
it was an E--I looked it up. Charlie ran into MAX
EDELSTEIN when his carrier docked at San Diego a while
back. ED TOMASIAN was also
there. Charlie expects to be a proud papa about this
time--he's married, I might add. He is regimental communications
officer of the Sixth Marines; and here are his regards to the
gang and here's our best of luck to him. PHIL
(FELIX) KAUFMAN says that I was all wrong about everything
I said about him in the last letter. Well, here's the straight
dope on Kaufman: he never did any teaching at Boca Raton,
but he did have his airborne radar training there and went overseas
on short order. He is not A/C but an honest-to-God shavetail.
Phil saw Bill Forrest
during his leave, of which more later. A letter from JOHN
GARDEPHE told about running into Rienow.
John says CURLY TAYLOR has gone north, and I would
appreciate that APO, John. He wants all the SLS men to
send snapshots to DENNIS HANIAN, Chestertown, N.Y. Has a booking
for the Four Men of State in Brisbane, anytime between now and
1 July. HIRSH, MERRIAM,
REEVES, please take notice:
The latest address I have for Hirsh is Lt. I.J. Hirsh,
087570, 1314 W. University Avenue, Urbana, Ill. BOB
FOLAND is in Dutch N.G. Unlike some of these lads, he
has been running into nobody he knows. He is with a combat cargo
squadron and he has been doing a whale of a lot of flying. Bob's
a navigator. "On my first trip, my pilot inquired as to when
he should set his wheels down. I specified a particular minute
just as if I knew. When the minute arrived, we were about half
way down the runway, quite where we were supposed to be. The
pilot was impressed--I was startled. It was bad way to start
off because now he racks me back if we are over a minute off."
All through the Marianas, Marshalls, Philippines, Admiralty's,
there are Statesmen, if you can find them. Take Lt. HARRY
PASSOW, for example, who is on Eniwetok Atoll in the
Marshalls. MAC CAPPON is on
one of the Marianas. Poor old Mac. He says the food is
good, but he can't say as much for the officers, and instead
of enjoying the Islas Marianas, he envies WALKER in Italy
and HIGSEN in England. Want
to swap some historical sights for a little sunshine, boys?
NORM BALDWIN, who is on the
Admiralty Islands, I have heard from a couple of times. He writes
that he likes his new job very much, and from what I learn from
Louise, he is flying as an enlisted man on Navy transport planes.
Up above I mentioned Lou Greenspan
running into MIKE DIGIOIA.
Then there came a letter from Mike who by that time was
in the Philippines. He says, "I have seen five or six native
villages or towns and they are a bad sight. The youngsters had
their education stopped during the Jap occupation. They could
attend, but the majority refused to. People are half-starved,
half clothed. They sure are glad to see the Americans around."
He also reporting running into Steve
Godfrey and Lou Greenspan, while fat-cating in
Australia. Captain GAR
ARTHUR. Philippines, in an anti-aircraft unit, better
known as the "flashlight boys." "A new experience for me has
been the thud of bombs and the living, always on the brink.
To say one is not downright scared would be a gross understatement,
but we learn to take it in our stride." He and Betty have struck
another jackpot--this time a second daughter named Joanne. Jeanne
is 1 1/2 years old. Gar is impressed by the superiority
of the Filipinos to the natives of N.G. And his letter, like
practically every other one from the Philippines talks of the
rain and the mud. Twice I have heard from HARRY
GUMAER. He too says of the Filipinos, "They are a fine
people. The Nip air force gave us a rough time for a while with
their reversion to barbarism, known as the 'suicide dive,' but
things are quiet now. The Philippines are better than N.G. but
as for me, I want to go home." Brother, you ain't the only one.
I heard from HELEN BLAKE BROPHY
to give me BILL's address in
the Philippines; then he wrote. Bill's brother, Jim,
is president of the freshman class here, so we keep a finger
on the family. So far as I know, Bill, there has been
no decision about what to call the new gym. I recently suggested
to the President that it ought to be named in some way which
will indicate that it is a memorial to all the boys who don't
come back, and I am searching around for something other than
Memorial Hall or something equally as trite. If any of you have
suggestions, you might let me know. Most of Bill's work
has been in personnel and he says that he has a 9-man section
fighting the paper war. His bunch left Oahu for Yap and had
their target changed en route. Of the Philippines he said, "
I have had a ring side seat for most of this show." Saw JOHNNY
HAVKO in the Hawaiians. Johnny is a Red Cross
field worker. Through him Bill saw Roy
SULLIVAN, JERRY SADDLEMIRE,
and WALT HARPER as they went
through. Bill and Johnny had dinner one night
with Roy, who navigates naval transport planes and gets
around plenty. If any of you have Havko's address, I
would like to have it because what I have on file is way out
of date. I should have mentioned above that Lt. PHIL
MURPHY is in the Marianas--93th Bomb Squadron, where
he is bombardier on a B-24. They have completed several mission
on Jap-held islands; some of the strikes have been pretty rough
but the crew has escaped purple hearts so far. Typical Army
gripe: the Navy's getting all the beer. But he says "The Navy
gave this place one hell of a shelling before our forces landed--you
don't have to look far to find evidence of man-made hell." A
long letter from PETE FULVIO,
now a jg on the USS General R. E. Callan. He left the
Aquilla last March and then saw to it that Henry Kaiser did
right by the construction of his new ship. When they ran the
pennant up on 17 August, he was Damage Control Officer and assistant
to the first lt. Between that date and late January, they had
something like 35,000 steaming miles to their credit and have
never been in the same place twice. This is where good sailors
go when they die, according to Pete--a modern, fast transport.
He says they have carried everything from combat troops and
CB's to women and psycho-neurotics. As near as I can figure
out, the GI Bill of Rights will give you $75 (if you were single
it would only be $50) a month for incidental fees, books and
supplies and $500 a year for tuition. Your first 90 days service
gives you one year's education and an additional year of college
work for every year of service up to a maximum of four years.
Now, you went in Feb. '42. If you were being discharged this
month, you could, as I understand it, glean four years' education.
Lt. FREDDIE STUNT
wrote Dec. 2 from the South Pacific after spending six months
on the gravy train in the Atlantic. He reports that if you want
to hear long and many dirty songs, find an RAF outfit. He saw
a good deal of Wales, Gibraltar, Mediterranean. His ship was
converted from a DE to an APD. "This being a fast troop transport,"
he says, "Got into some of the Philippine Islands show, but
weren't fast enough once. We can all read the papers and hear
of 'only one destroyer sunk, etc.' and think 'How good. What
minor losses.' They are not minor when suddenly they are your
buddies manning that ship. Then this damn war begins to get
personal and you begin to swear at the yellow bastards and really
mean it." Says he saw Will Fremont
in December. This was on a DEĘafter some Atlantic duty. Freddie
says, "As for family statistics, I have a wife, one three year
old and one 'It' minus one month." Xmas cards from HAL
DUFFEY, PETE DANODA,
WALT HARPER and ED
HOLSTEIN, all of them Navy officers, and all of them
in the pacific. From Holstein also came a letter mid-January.
Ed hasn't seen any Statesmen since leaving home. Tell
you what to do, Ed--start looking in the back room. These
boys have a way of making themselves at home pretty fast. Ed
is a skipper on PC-571. "All I have to do now is sit on my duff
and worry like hell but I might as well get paid for it; I do
it anyway." He hopes that maybe next year he won't have to welcome
in the New Year cold sober. You don't have to worry about taking
any more courses in composition. You write what I have always
admired most, and that is good muscular prose. To hell with
the frills. Lt. CHARLIE
QUINN is on the USS Boggs, an oil piper of the
World War I era. They tow targets for newer vessels to practice
firing at. Staff officer for division commander. On shore he
spends a good deal of time in a gym trying to avoid the middle-age
waist line that his pretty Marion kids him about. You are right
about Jerry Saddlemire.
One afternoon a while back, Saddlemire and Cap'n Gordon
Rand and Gordon's bonny wife and I had a couple of snorts
together and talked through the war. Jerry had been in
the Philippines landings and had some marvelous stories about
the way the Filipino guerrillas had operated. Apparently they
had kept the Japs completely terrified. He is going to school
for a spell and then getting new assignment. MAX
EDELSTEIN on the USS Tripoli also wrote to me
in January. I gather that Max is on a flat top and has
been seeing both oceans for he speaks of Nova Scotia, Argentina
and now he is back in the Pacific. STAN
GIPP of the USS Patroclus wrote to me in January
and the came in to see us. His ship is in dry dock but rather
thought he would be going places soon. Lt. EDMUND
ERWIN wrote to me from sea. He says, "I am taking another
boat ride. It is the first one I have really enjoyed--good food,
good quarters, ice water, few restrictions and no work. It is
really a unique experience for most boat rides are a severe
pain in the neck for army personnel." He doesn't tell me where
he is going. Though if I were Mac Cappon
I would add one (1) to my APO and start looking for Erwin.
There is still a big bunch
of lads in England. Almost all of them are, as you might imagine,
in the Air Corps, either flying or in ground forces. For example,
there is Sgt. GEORGE KUNZ. It
looked for a while as though Gen. Marshall would just have to
keep George here for the whole war. Somehow he pried
himself loose and after feeding the fishes three hot meals a
day, he landed in the British Isles. George told of having
heard from LUKE ZILLES and I
would appreciate it if he would send me Luke's address,
because I don't have it and would sure like to hear from him.
For a while George was in the heart of London and took
advantage of free time to see some plays and concerts, and then
at long last, a few historical monuments, strictly between pubs,
you understand. A man has to do something after closing hours.
Some of the best bull sessions I have had in this office since
the war began were the ones that started when George
landed in town. We really chewed the fat. DICK
HISGEN has moved around some and been doing some reading.
Wrote a very moving description of an airplane crack-up that
he saw in his field. He also included a belly-laugh called A
Short Course in Rotation to ready a man for reoccupation of
the USA. Two letters from Rich
Young, who has the same APO as DAVE
BITTMAN and an APO which is the same as Dick Hisgen,
plus one (1)--if that will help anybody find anybody. Twice
Rich has been forced down in France and spent one night
in a chateau. The palce was steam-heated and for once he was
really warm. "Yeah, we really enjoyed that evening in France.
We met a gal who had six Germans to her credit--all with a knife.
She told us the story in sign language and it was very impressive.
The French people are sudden death to bomber crews as such because
of the great amount of destruction to their towns and cities.
Oddly enough a paratrooper is practically a national hero. They
think the paratroopers liberated France single-handed. We were
asked 'Avon?' We answered 'no' emphatically and did our best
to convey the impression of paratroopers." Subtract 39 from
your APO, Rich, and you will have Combs'
APO. I am sorry you missed GERDTS,
Rich, when you went up to see him, but I was glad to
see from your letter and ERNIE MANNDILLO's
that you, he and BOLO MARSLAND
and COMBS are all planning to get together. Maybe you
can pick up some other lads too. MARSLAND says in his
letter of 11 February, " I was in London about two weeks, getting
the lowdown on flying control, here in the ETO. Part of your
training included a familiarization trip to Paris where we spent
two nights; one drinking champagne and the other, seeing the
Folies Bergere." (Oh, the memories of my youth!) "I am still
in the British Isles but further north than London. I have been
to visit Glasgow a couple of times. Saw Harry
Bora back in December just passing through here." BITTMAN
has written me twice, once including some magnificent pictures
of bombers in formation--pictures that he took. My
most recent address for DAVE SLAVIN
is Base Weather Station, Shaw Field, Sumter, S.C. At Xmas CHARLIE
CAPEL sent me kind words and good wishes. Sgt. HIPPICK
sent me a postcard during a leave in London which he says he
wouldn't have missed for the world. Sgt. JOE
SCHWARTZ ran into BUTCH
FEIGENBAUM in December in London, the day before Butch
headed for the continent. Joe is stationed near London,
and could easily make arrangements to meet anyone who is about.
He says, "I have been doing extremely interesting work and must
say I wouldn't swap it for anything else. Our new camp is an
old estate, beautiful place, with gardens, trees, walks and
hedges, well-built buildings." Been up to Cambridge a couple
of times, where he had lunch with the Dean of Trinity College.
PAUL WAGNER is also flying as
first pilot on a fort. If Paul will subtract 144 form his APO,
he can get in touch with Schwartz. If he adds 2 to his APO he
can get in touch with Rich Young,
and if he adds 184 to his APO he will get in touch with Bob
Marsland. If he adds 1 to his APO, he will get in touch
with Dick Hisgen. If he adds
2 he will get in touch with Dave Bittman;
adding 296 will get him Charlie Capel.
With Wagner as center man and your own APO, you lads
ought to be all set for a party.
BERNIE
PERLMAN is also in England (sub 180 from your APO, Joe
Schwartz) with the troop carries command; spends a lot
of time polishing up so that he can be inspected by resounding
brass. The night he wrote me they were having a discussion at
the Red Cross on what is wrong with democracy, which, he remarks,
is "a good portent." "On the whole the GI's here are much more
wide awake to the war than their brothers back in the States.
The English are wonderful, especially the Tommies." EVERSON
KINN is in Northern Ireland still. FRANCE is full of
Statesmen. Sgt. Fred Weed was
still in Paris at Xmas time and DON WING
got my October letter in February with eight forwarding addresses
on the envelope. ART CORNWELL
met JIMMY DUNNING, who slept
on the deck above him in the transport. "After waiting in a
French harbor for three days, they unloaded us over the side
at night on to an LCT. I got a glimpse of what the invasion
must have been like and some idea of what guts those guys must
have had." He spent his birthday with his brother Bill.
Now he says, "I have seen planes shot down and heard artillery
boom and flash, but I have not looked a heinie in the eyes yet,
which is ok too. It is damn cold at night, but we were lucky
last night and slept in a barn." ROLF
TOEPFER, in civil affairs, sent me Xmas greetings; I
would really enjoy a letter from him. Capt. LEN
FRIEDLANDER says, "This county has really taken a beating
over here--houses, churches, vehicles--all in ruins. The people
appear very poor and outside of the big cities they live a life
reminiscent of the middle ages." He came up through Marseilles
and apparently has been working north and then east--seeing
the world. MARSHALL ACKERMAN,
who is in a hospital in South France, was first scout in the
infantry for the 36th division when a Jerry sniper put some
lead in him. Practically healed now and getting swell treatment
at the hospital. Luck, boy. RED
EVANS quotes the Stars and Stripes for 14 January, where
it says of his regiment. "Men of the 517th Attack Outfit of
Stavolot today gained 1500 yards." But Red goes on to
say "The old kid got a lucky break for once, and was on quarters
with an infected foot when they left for the front, so me and
another guy with a boil in his butt were left to guard the duffel
bags." Of the Riviera he says, "and there were more reasons
than one that I wished we had stayed down there. We were fighting
in the mountains and that kind of cut operations down to anything
but artillery and infantry, not like there is up north. That's
kind of rough. It was harder on a guy physically running up
and down those hills, but it was worth it. The Germans did not
go around like mad Indians going to relieve themselves either."
He says too, "I will never forget the look on an old frog's
face when I walked in on his family eating breakfast on D-Day.
I couldn't find me buddies for some reason, and I was the first
American he and his family had seen." Capt. JOE
BOSLEY wrote to me in November but it was January before
I got it. His 15th corps slugged it out at the Falaise Gap "and
that is about the worst slaughter of the war. Then we grabbed
the bridge-head at the Seine and sat on it until two armies
had passed over, up into Belgium at Nantes. We had 36 battalions
of FA pitching stuff at the other team and it is said that we
got 5000 of them in three days. I guess I saw about 2000 luscious
cadavers and heartily wish it was 2 million. From that spot
we swung around to Troyes where we snagged warehouse full of
stimulant. At one time I had 300 cases of brandy, cognac, vermouth,
cointreau. I practically floated though the next stage of the
war, but returned to normal when we got the job of forcing the
Saverne Gap, and taking Strasbourg." "I haven't gotten to see
Paris nor I haven't yet been kissed by a French gal. We have
been going so fast even the French gals couldn't get us, and
brother, that is fast. I have seen PORCINO three times
in France, and he is the only Stater I have run into although
TOEPFER was around me some
place for a while." EDDIE
BURKE wrote me on New Year's eve from the same area.
He wrote it from the front lines but a bottle of champagne was
within reaching distance. He says, "Since I wrote from Southern
France, near Marseilles, I have been dashing around practically
all of the 7th Army front. We first moved into the line in the
Vosges mountains near a town called St. Dil We fought through
there into the plains leading to the Rhine, a little sw of Strasbourg.
We moved from there to the lines north of us and even crossed
into Germany. Again we have changed sectors and are having a
fairly quiet time for a change." The latest issue of BERNIE
BERNFARLT's news-sheet to his friends says. "The new
issue sleeping bag entirely surrounds the wearer and when zipped
up leaves only the nose and mouth exposed--no doubt so that
the wearer can call for help when unable to extricate himself.
The perfect thing to scare the hell out of a haunted house."
DAN PRESTON wrote me the other
day that the only Statesman that he had run into was Bernhardt.
Dan has been in combat most of the time since he arrived
in France; is with the 3rd division. Landing in France, August
15, he has "been moving up and down the French countryside ruining
many a kraut's dreams of a superior race." From Lt. (jg) BILL
DICKSON, I have had two letters, one a V-mail which
I am sorry to say I just can't make out. I was wrong last issue
about his being transferred to LCI's. He is still on board PC-553
where he has been for nearly two years and expects to continue
to be for a long time. He is getting a good deal done in some
French coastal town where he talks about the terrific amount
of mud on the cobbled roads: "trucks run about up the their
hubs in mud and walking becomes a tedious backaching labor.
No wonder it is slow at the fronts. I have nothing but admiration
and pride for the Infantry. They are the ones who are fighting
the war. in the last analysis. A new officer came aboard one
of the ships in our group about a month ago. His name is VINCENT
PICKETT, who was in the class of '45." I remember Pickett
very well myself. He was the last man I ever had in English
3. He was, as you might say, a lone wolf in the class and, gentleman,
I choose my words carefully. But, as you say, Bill, a
very good guy.
I got two swell letters
from ART FLAX who is still at
SHAEF. He and Leo are still together
and have been passing their letters on to STEW
SMITH. How about Stew's address? They saw AINARD
GELBOND and had a first rate bull session. They have
been getting to see and know Paris and to like it. Yes, Art.
Dr. Terwilliger has remarried. Your second letter with its merry,
hearty, intelligent defense of London was heart-warming and
very pleasant. You really got to know the place.
Moving into the area roughly covered by Belgium,
Holland and Germany--on the 7th of December IRV
FINGER wrote me from somewhere in Belgium. Last paragraph,
" I am not on the front lines right now but tonight I have got
to hit a dugout about 1000 yards from Jerry. So I have to say
so long. Hope to hear from you soon." But the letter I sent
Irv five days later came back to me with the ominous
inscription "Missing..." So it looks as though that dugout wasn't
a good place to be, and we can only hope that when the rest
of you boys start opening up the Stalags, you will find Irv
Finger. When I was talking about faculty activities, I should
have mentioned that JOHN COCHRANE
is in Belgium. He says, "I have spent a good half of my year
in the ETO running a radio for the MPs, a fair boondoggle as
things go over here. We also had a part in running the red ball
highway and hit a lot of dust as we directed traffic back in
Normandy. Things are calm here along the Belgae, although over
Xmas things were what you might call unsettled." THIRSTY
PAUL tells about the battle of the bulge. The Colonel
says, "One of our units seized a little seven-building village
t'other day and rounded up 400 supermen all anxious to get to
America. Sometimes I wish I could get on the other side of this
fence and get captured and shipped to the good old USA." Cpl.
JOE MUGGLETON has been helping
the padre in his outfit on religious services for the Catholic
men in his area. He says, "The number who are able to attend
is very small--men say their prayers in fox holes and Sunday
is simply another day of hell on earth." I have put Dorothy's
name on the list, Joe. He ran into NEIL
FOGARTY--in church of all places. What's Neil's
address? HARRY BADEN had been
watching the buzz bombs go overhead. The key sentence in the
letter was blacked out. The hell with him--tell me when it's
over. He has been having a good time in Brussels off and on;
reporting that both the bands and the women are hot. A good
letter from JACK NORDELL came
last week, and who should come popping in on its tail but Mrs.
Nordell herself, who was looking cheery and gay as ever, though
I gather she'd just as soon get a glimpse of Jack, who
says, "I am somewhere in Belgium, where the bulge was but ain't."
In November his outfit started by taking Geilkirchen and a dozen
other towns up in the Siegfried line. Von Ruudstodt interrupted
that little sojourn with an invitation to a Xmas party in Belgium.
"We had such a good time, we stayed for a new year's party.
This time we threw the party. The bulge became a bubble and
we are back in a little Belgian village, catching our breath
and getting ready for the knockout if Uncle Joe doesn't beat
us to it--not that I would mind." Another one who has been following
the Germans across France and Belgium is Lt. BILL
HOPKE. He says, "Although details may not be sent yet
(concerning the bulge) I know that I shall always have more
than a school teacher's academic interest in the break-through--V-1,
flying bombs, V-2, strafing, tanks--the book." Married a Georgia
peach last March. LOU RABINEAU
from his Xmas card is in a medical detachment also in Belgium.
Lt. ED SIMONDS, writing Xmas: "I
have just receive your October letter which reached me with
seven addresses on it." He was in Lorraine when the pulled him
out to do a little slugging against Von Rundstadt. He has an
81 MM mortar section. Says, "Moved into a tiny town at dusk
lst night and after we outposted it, I began to look for a house
for my section. What a coincidence. The only adequate building
I could find was a large tavern. Tapped a fresh keg of beer
and brought out a dozen bottles of Rhinish wine. We followed
Epicure's rule, moderation in everything, but relaxed for a
couple of hours and then slept, weariness softened by losing
that tension. Covered two more villages today but these bastards
keep infiltrating nights until you never know from nothing.
I am celebrating Xmas eve with a K-ration, a quart of Francesco
Cizano--whatever the hell that is--light but very smooth and
very powerful. Routine, weariness, a gnawing tension. All I
see is blood, violence, hate and destruction--the fault undoubtedly
within me. Nothing has pleased me more than to hear of HOWIE
ANDERSON's commission." GRAHAM
DUNCAN, Infantry, also played opposite Von Rundstadt
Xmastime. "My outfit has fought in France, Germany, Belgium,
Luxembourg, in and out of the line so many times we are beginning
to feel like pass the bottle. Anti-tank platoons are somewhat
outdated so we are called upon as litter bearers, ammunition
crews, etc., and for bringing in prisoners--good for many a
wild story--chicken, fruit,--and premature gray hair. We are
still young enough in heart, however, and still balanced enough
to know that life is worth living out, that we have tougher
problems than ever to face after the peace and that as isolated
individuals, we discover ourselves as well as our fellow men."
EARL SNOW and
ANDY TAKAS, JOHN
MURRAY and GLEN CLARK,
all with the same APO, were in the Luxembourg-Germany area at
latest writing. One from Earl, 5 January. The old maestro
says John Murray is right along with him, pounding a
typewriter in the personnel office. Andy Takas, now resting
in a hospital, is a wire officer and took a few hours off to
come over to Earl's outpost. "He found me in the horizontal
parade rest position pounding what would have been a pillow
if there had been a pillow there. I was very glad to see a familiar
face... My duty is permanent guard, which I have been pulling
since July 7th". Takas had already reported this
visit. Andy says that John Murray hasn't changed
a bit and that after the years he was exactly as Andy
remembered him. Snow is a little heavier physically and
completely renovated form the ascetic college days. Reports
that they discussed with thoroughness the liquor situation east
from St. Lo. It should gratify both their wives that they did
not mention women, it says here. Capt. JIM
CHAPELL was in Germany when he wrote me on 26 January.
His company was just awarded the War Department meritorious
service award, the first for an ambulance unit in that territory.
He says, "That makes me feel kind of proud. The boys have worked
hard, from D-2 right up to date." Stan Smith is with General
Electric in Syracuse, Jim. Of Germany, this "It is the
same as most of the countries--the towns are a pile of rubble;
plenty of GIs hanging around a quite a few civilians but the
civilians have a 'no talk' sign hung on the by General Ike,
and just as well. However, from what I have seen of those German
frauleins, they are the prettiest looking gals I have seen since
leaving the States. They dress quite well... Of course, the
clothes were probably stolen from Paris, but they look neat
in then. No great shortage of silk stockings, either--don't
ask how I know that they are silk; it's an irrelevant question.
The people go about their business of building up their homes,
watching with sullen looks as we go by and looking a little
bit thinner than some of the European folk." Cpl. BOB
LAWLOR is also in Germany and wrote me a very characteristic
letter; has had several months of front line fighting. Is finding
German libraries and museums well-stocked and interesting. "War
has its lighter moments even at the front."
I don't have so many correspondents
from Italy, but what I have are pretty faithful. PAUL BARSELOU,
Lt. HERMAN BLUMEL, Cpl. PAUL
FERENCIK and Pvt. WAYNE WALKER have same APO--that
means something in some places but it may not mean a thing in
Italy. From BUTCH WALKER at Xmastime came another long
letter enclosing some very interesting photos of a colonization
project which he was near. It is increasingly difficult to travel
around and no longer can he go to Florence, Rome, Naples, Loghorn.
Three out of four of the towns are off limits because of VD.
Paul Ferencik is with the 15th Air Force flying B-24s. When
he wrote me he was busy being oriented and waiting for a break
in the weather; met Lt. FREDDIE BEYER
in a transfer camp a while back, both waiting assignment. Herman
Blumell says BOB MEEK owes
him a letter and what's cooking. Took him a month to fly from
New England to Italy via Africa. At that writing, Tom
had four missions but probably by this time the number is considerably
closer to what he needs to get home. Lt. Barselou says
the rain is so bad where he is that they are thinking of putting
pontoons on the jeeps. Paul also had four missions to his credit,
one of them over Munich. Once they got a piece a flak through
the nose which bounced off his flak suit. My last letter told
how Howie Anderson had been
wounded. There's a good sequel to that. He was taken further
back from the lines to a big base hospital--but let him tell
it himself: "One day I was just beginning a game of chess when
someone slapped me on the back and grinned a familiar welcome.
It was Fred Ferris, who is 20
minutes from War C." Ginny Polhomus, whose letters as class
secretary are really something, had arranged the meeting. "Fred
looks very well and talks solid sense." Then I had a letter
from Fred with his account of the same foregathering,
with the word that Howie would soon be back in the running,
followed by a letter from the front in which Howie gave
a funny account of a chicken some of the bought, but it died
of old age or disease before they could kill it. Other
letters from the same sector from Captain EARLE
CLEAVES and Lt. MICHAEL MICKRITZ.
I think I sent SODERLIND
the address of Barselou; if I didn't, Art, look
up the 347th sq., 99th Bmb Gp, and subtract 262 from your APO.
Art's with the forestry engineers, up in the mountains.
I've also heard from STEVE BULL
again, who is stringing telephone wires from one end of the
boat to the other, and from BARTMAN.
The hospital records were wrong, Bob, Anderson
was in the 15th Evac. when he wrote me, but I'm sorry your 60-mile
trip to see him was in vain. Bartman is going to be one
of those veterans who will enthrall the younger generation with
stories of the beauties of Paris. At least he says they were
beauties, the old goat. MARTY BORTNICK
will be glad to know that his class remembered him this week
at their banquet--remembered each of the fellows who are no
longer among them by name and with anecdotes. Before I end up
the overseas letters, Lt. BOB MacGREGOR
is stationed in South America. I see Bob's wife every
once in a while and a pleasant sight she is, too. He expects
eventually to go to Ascension Island, "The Rock." His region
rotates each man every six months and that way he hits four
stations during the tour of duty and everyone gets the crap
as well as the gravy. One trip to Rio. He says. "We are obliged
to fly over the routes for which we forecast twice." They finally
got hotel room with bath, three meals a day and (honest to God,
this is what it says) hot and cold running chamber maids. DON
[illegible] dropped me off a letter from Brazil as he flew
to some other destination. They made the trip over in three
days with easy stops. He saw a lot of South America from 10,000
feet. "We have a big hop ahead of us. There is a pond to cross
now. If smaller ships have done it, we certainly should be able
to get there, but I'll be sweating it out until we hit land
again. The crew just looked at me, hoping I know where I am
going. If they knew how confused I am at times, they wouldn't
be so confident of me. We got this far, so I am not too worried
about the crossing."
Back in this country
from the South Pacific, T/S BILL FORREST
is down at Cherry Point, N.C.; sees WINNIE BAER now and then
and says she is just as cute as ever. Sorry to miss you, Bill.
Lt. (jg) DICK LONSDALE is
now at the amphibious training base in Morro Bay, Calif., acting
as classification officer. This is after having seen D-Day and
after, on the beaches of Normandy. Carol added a good postscript.
Speaking of wives, HATTIE TYNAN wrote that DUNTON
is detached temporarily from his ship and is at engineering
school in Norfolk. She had heard from MARIE O'HORA that EDDIE
O'HORA was having serious difficulties with his eyes,
but Eddie has reassured me that that news is out of date and
that he is in good shape. JANE HANSEN reports that FRANK
has a "new and interesting job in the field artillery." They
await the long-legged bird. Good old MOOSE
GERBER, now out of the hospital and very much himself
again, has been put on the inactive list and is teaching in
a New York City h.s. ART COLLINS,
stationed in Victorville, Calif., with the air corps, is spending
his free time reading through James Joyce's Finnegan's Wake.
The MAC REEVES are at OTU, Box
2, FAS. Banana River, Fla. GEORGE TAYLOR
has gotten his discharge and is back practicing law in Plattsburgh.
Ensign ROSEMARY LAFFERTY tells me that Ensign RUTH
MARCLEY is with the BUREAU of Aeronautics in Washington.
Ensign ROSE AULISE is at
the Brooklyn Naval Hospital. Said she had seen GUSSIE
KATZ down at Corpus Christi after a musical show in
which GUSSIE had taken part. [Illegible] KAY SMITH
is at Majavi, Calif. ROY SOMMERS,
who is at Camp Blanding, Fla., is a chaplain's assistant, studying
German, Chinese and Jap. S 3/C ESTINE
POSKANZER is working for the Naval P.O. and was in the
Bronx when last heard from. Ens. EDITH
SCHOLL is at Norfolk, Va. Poor girl, poor girl. Ens.
ALBERTA LEE finds herself surrounded
by German and Jap ordnance at the Naval Power factory, Indian
Mead, Md. WARREN
KULLAMN has his commission now, brother STAN
is in Chicago, while he himself is at Pensacola. Cpl. MICHAEL
MARKARIAN, Camp Siebert, Ala., where he is in a chemical
warfare camp doing clerical and personnel work at the hdqs.
Ran into KIRCHER and NORTH--what's North's
address? Lt. FRANK KLUGE, CG,
back in this country with four battle stars, is stationed at
Manhattan Beach. Not, you understand, that Kluge has
written to me, the low life. In my books, Frank Kluge
is a great big bum until I hear from him. After a fine gold
brick assignment at Quantico, they shipped PETE
MARCHETTA to St. Simons Island, Ga., and he sat down
to write a bitch-letter about it. But you know Pete--he'll
get over it. He is training to be a fire director--i.e., the
one who directs defensive fighter plane to intercept enemy air
attacks. He says GRYWACZ is
at one of the outlying fields at Kingston, N.C. He says, "BEN
REED and BILL TUCKER
came up from new River 50 miles away to see Bill
Forrest, Walt and me at Cherry Point, but before
we could reciprocate, Walt and I shoved off. Walt's in radar."
Pfc. WARREN WAGNER, who was
at State a few days back, is at Ft. Sam Houston, Texas, in the
770 MPs, a demonstration unit for the Provost Marshall General
School. At 4th Army hdqs. he'll find Sgt ETTORE
GRADONI. Warren ran into Capt. MARIE
METZ and they had a chance to chew the fat every once
in a while, until Marie was shipped back to Washington in January.
BOB TEETER still in Miss.--was
around here recently telling me how a 1st Sgt, keeps the Army
running the way it ought to. Shipping soon. Ensign HERB
LOWN at Miami. It's Major DENNIS
DOLE now at Drew Field, Fla. S 2/C ANGELA
FABRIZIO was at the Naval bast at San Pedro and what
a pretty eyeful I bet she is in a uniform--working for the captain
of the boat control station at the head of the channel at Los
Angeles harbor. Capt. BOB HERTWIG
is at Dallas. The GORDON HASTINGS
are expecting to be changing diapers in the near future. Lt.
RUSS LUDLUM, USNR, is at Notre
Dame. T/Sgt. PHIL AUERBACH,
'34, another old timer, was in Halloran Hospital as a blood
chemist while his wife acted as secretary to the CO. In January
he expected soon to be moved to the Pacific in a military intelligence
section. HANK SCHON is back
from Alaska and now has his commission. GEORGE
POULOS, S T/C has been taking a quartermaster course
and was last heard from sitting under a California palm tree.
JOE FRANCELLO has been trying
to get together with Warren Kullman
and Reeves at Pensacola. Says
his brother Louis' outfit
in Italy has been given a presidential citation. ART
and ANN SELD are still at Sampson. Capt. PAUL
DITTMAN and my old pall MILLIE and their daughter
Diana sent me a Xmas note and I have Diana's picture up here
on the bulletin board, surrounded by the toughest looking bunch
of GI's you ever saw. Capt. FRANCES
(BETTY) FALLON is training for the military government
of Japan. Want to see Betty in the Emperor's palace?
BEN GITLIN at Kearns, Utah,
and half of his letter is in Japanese; he's going to be an interrogator
of prisoners of war. Sayonara to you, Ben. AL
BORA is with the army transport command with Hdqs. in
Memphis, Tenn. For his first flight in December, he navigated
an A-26 to England via South American and Africa. Says he ran
into DAVE SLAVIN at Columbia,
S.C. In Prestwick, Scotland, he ran into BOLO
MARSLAND. Got back from that first trip just in time
to get to Albany for Xmas. T/Sgt. JD
VANDERPOEL sent an intriguing Xmas card from Fayetteville,
N.C. Pvt. PAT LATIMER, one of
our handsomest gifts to the army, went overseas sometime after
Xmas. Lt. PAUL MERRITT is a
carpetbagger down at the navy yard in Charleston. Says his kid
brother is out in the Hawaiians with a CB unit. Paul
has been taking care of spare parts for the AKA which rate a
high priority in the navy these days. Ensign RALPH
JOHNSON has been out to the Admiralty's but is now at
Harvard which, the Navy decided, would be a good place for him
to get his commission. BOB PECK, out of Harvard and Nebraska,
has been monkeying around with the installation of link-trainers.
Lt. RALPH FREDERICK is with the
ATC at Kelly Field, Texas. Thought he would probably get shipped
in a reasonably short time and that's ok with Ralph,
except that he's got a nice little wife whom it's tough to leave.
DICK CHIMELLI wrote me from St. Mary's, Calif, but expected
soon to take preliminary flight training at Norman, Okla. Always
nice to hear from JOHNNY ALDEN.
They say the SHORTY LEGGETTS
are at Ft. Worth, where Shorty is now undergoing B-24, 1st pilot
training. ART RUSSEL, Hare
Island, Calif., where he is at the submarine base, was expecting
to be mess cook for a month. I hope I have Art's address
right. Lt. ROSE BECKWITH is
at Ft. Belvoir, Va., where she is port ration officer--otherwise
known as the girl who always says no. Her mother wants to know,
"Is that bad?" GLENN DELONG
is another one down at Kelly Field, where he is clerk typist,
after having done everything else this Army has to offer, but
he thought they were going to send him someplace else soon.
Now it's Ensign Rog M. Wall. NORMAN
ARNOLD is at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, recently had an exciting
trip to England where he ran into Lt. MIKE
CYMBALAK. Norman was putting nickels in the one-arm
bandit when Mike came up and said, "Didn't you go to State College?"
which made them both ready for a drink. HELEN BROPHY tells me
that TOD FAIRBANKS and his wife (Betty McConnell) have
a new son, Richard. Toad is on sea duty, Atlantic side. Bridegroom
CLYDE CORSON wrote me a cheery
postcard. BUD STINGER is in the army hospital in the
north where he is in recuperation from a touch of TB. I saw
him for a few minutes yesterday. Lt. LES
RUBIN is in the contract termination branch of the Army,
medical purchasing office, N.Y.C. MERR, back from the
South Pacific and heavy fighting, has been discharged and is
getting his feet back under him in Schenectady.
Dr. BOB FREDERICK of Milne wanted to say to
you "The placement office is still operating at State, placing
4-year graduates on one year temporary licenses. We have your
credential, hope you want to get into teaching again. If you
expect a discharge soon, let us know whether you want to teach.
We'll go to bat for you. If you have had special training which
strengthens your credentials, let us know now, so that we won't
be swamped when you all come home."
From all of us here take care of yourselves
and good luck.
Always,
Lou Jones
