Letters from Home: The Story of an American Family During World War Ii - in Their Own Words

By James K. Thome

Letters From Home consists of a collection of original letters. The people who wrote the letters were Americans, most of them members of an extended family. They were written during World War II, from 1943 to 1945. The letters in this book contain the thoughts, concerns, hopes, dreams, worries, and anxieties of Americans during World War II, in their own words. There are many individual stories within the letters. Those stories describe not only events and places, but people who endured and triumphed during a very difficult and historic time.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Dec 1, 2020
• ISBN: 9781664139893

James K. Thome

Jim Thome is a retired attorney and Army veteran. He practiced law throughout the state of Michigan for more than 40 years. He is an avid student of history. While he has authored several articles for legal publications in the past, this is his first book for general consumption. Almost all of the material in the footnotes and commentary in this book comes from the author's personal knowledge and experiences. He decided to create Letters From Home to honor those who endured many hardships during World War II and to educate current and future generations about the sacrifices they made.

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Copyright © 2020 by James K. Thome.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 12/01/2020

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INTRODUCTION

This book consists of a collection of original letters. The people who wrote them were Americans, most of them members of an extended family. They were written during World War II, from 1943 to 1945.

The author of this book, with assistance from others, accumulated the letters, compiled them, typed those that were hand written, and re-typed any typed versions in order to make them easier to read. The letters were transposed verbatim. The author retained any errors in typing as well as any errors in spelling and grammar. He did not insert "[sic]" after such errors. That would have added too much unnecessary clutter to the text. The reader can decipher most of the errors. Footnotes were added to correct some errors, to identify individuals and places, and to add historical and geographical context. In the very few cases where some hand writing could not be understood, the author used his best judgment to determine what the writers said. In places where it was obvious that a word was omitted, and inclusion of that word is necessary to understand what the writer intended, that word was added in brackets.

The individuals who wrote the letters, and those who are mentioned in the letters in this book, were primarily Catholics of German, Polish, Dutch, and Irish heritage. They were all patriotic Americans. Almost all of them are now deceased.

This book is not intended to be a traditional work of nonfiction, a detailed genealogical study, or a comprehensive, historical narrative. There are no citations to sources. Other than the letters themselves, sources included knowledge accumulated by the author over the course of his life, some very abbreviated research relating to matters available in the public domain, oral and written family histories, and information from friends, relatives, and descendants of some of the letter writers and people mentioned in the letters.

The letters in this book contain the thoughts, concerns, hopes, dreams, worries, and anxieties of Americans during World War II, in their own words. There are many individual stories in these letters. The author decided to create this book to honor those who endured and triumphed during a very difficult time in the history of the United States, and to educate current and future generations about the sacrifices they made.

James K. Thome

June 6, 2020

CONTENTS

Introduction

Photographs and Documents

Prologue

1943

1944

1945

B-24 Bomber Crew and Families

Epilogue

The Letters

The Extended Family

About the Author

Acknowledgments

Permissions and Attributions

PHOTOGRAPHS AND DOCUMENTS

Subject Matter

Anna Herrmann

Herrmann Family

Theisen Family

John W. Herrmann Family

Anna and Bob Herrmann

John E. Herrmann, 1944

Iceland Base Command Quonset Huts.

Marian Herrmann and Jim Thome Wedding Photograph

USS Barney.

63rd Infantry Division Patch

Sempre Giovane Soap

American Seating Company.

P-47 Thunderbolt Fighter-Bomber

B-24 Liberator Bomber

St. Mary Church and School.

B-24 Liberator heavy bombers.

Willow Run Bomber Plant.

79th Infantry Division insignia.

James Michael Thome Photograph

James Michael Thome obituary.

Bronze Star Medal.

Michigan Central Train Station, circa 1915.

Mildred Thome and Don Lark Wedding Photograph

Marie Thome and Everett Kennedy Wedding Photograph

Newspaper Article re: Bob Herrmann

The Herrmann sisters, April 1945: Barbara, Marian, and Rosemary.

B-29 Superfortress heavy bomber.

PROLOGUE

There were four Theisen sisters, Anne (Anna), Antoinette, Rose Frances (Frances), and Mary (Mayme). They grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Antoinette married Joseph (Mac) McKinney. Frances married Edward Thome. Mayme married Albert John (Bert) Alt. Anna married John W. Herrmann. John and Anna Herrmann had six children, John E., Marian, Robert, Rosemary, Frank, and Barbara.

Marian married Lieutenant James Leo Thome on March 6, 1943.

After December 7, 1941, one-by-one, young, able-bodied American men were drafted or volunteered for duty in the armed services of the United States. By 1943, most of those new servicemen had completed their training and were assigned to duty. Meanwhile, their sisters, wives, mothers, fathers, and other relatives served on the home front supporting the boys and the war effort. One method of support was to send news in a letter from home.

By the Summer of 1943, John E. Herrmann had finished his training in the Army Air Corps. The Army assigned him to duty in Iceland¹ with thousands of other servicemen. It was there that he received these letters, including many letters from home.

1943

Ray Thome, Se M 2/c²

U. S. S. Barney³

Fleet P. O. New York

Aug. 24th, 1943

Dear John:

Surprise!! Yes, I know I’m a heel, and most inconsiderate in not writing sooner, but the truth of the matters is I’ve been waiting for you to get settled. Seemed like the time each of your letters arrived you’d be in a different spot, or about to move, so I thought I’d wait for the permanent address.

They sure got you away from the States in a hurry, and I’m wondering what kind of a trip you had at sea. I guess those transports are fairly smooth riding though; especially compared to this old can⁴ I’m on. Did you keep your appetite, or just lose interest in life altogether? Charlie McHenry gets quite sea sick and doesn’t relish ocean travel so he writes. He’s left Greenland and is heading for new pastures.

The biggest news is the new house the Thome’s acquired; next to the Follenby’s towards Davison⁵, and they are all quite enthused about it.

I’m sure glad Mom + Dad are finally getting something better out of life, and was really amazed to hear of it a couple of days ago.

Ed Williams must be in the chips as he recently bought a 41 Buick and an Aeronca two-seater plane. Not bad at all, eh? Frank tried to enlist in the Navy Seabees but his ailing ears (he had a mastoid a few years ago) kept him out. He’s pretty blue, but actually better off at home.

Dick Kennedy is enjoying marital bliss thus far, but it keeps him hopping. Eug is still in Egypt and pretty home-sick according to his last letter (aren’t we all?). Jack Voss is trying to get to school at Chicago, but is still doing a swell job on the Saratoga.⁶

I am fine and dandy, but am bored stiff. The monotony of the old grind is awful, and I wish I could slip into the Bowery⁷ or Brass Rail⁸ for a couple of hours.

Best of luck, Johnny, and keep the old chin up. Write again and I’ll try to answer sooner.

As Ever,

Ray

238 West 10th St.

Jacksonville 6, Fla.

September 11, 1943

Dear John:

It’s about time I wrote again as Mom said your mail had been slow and you had only received the one I had sent to Shenango.⁹ I suppose it is a little confusing with change of A.P. O.¹⁰ number, etc. but do hope it all catches up with you very soon. We were glad to hear you landed safely and find the climate similar to Michigan. There seems to be quite a few Grand Rapids boys up there and I hope it’s possible to run into them. Mom may have told you that Bud Hormuth is there too.

I’m still working away here in Florida but plan to leave the end of the month. Have my Pullman and berth reservations now to New Orleans and then will go on from there, that is, if Jim finds a place for me by then. He has his eye on an apartment now but I’m a little wary of that part of the country. At least I’ll go down and try it out for a while and if it’s too bad I can then go on home.

Jim says that some more wild rumors are flying around but you can’t bank on those at all so rather than wait for another movement, I’ll go over and take a chance. The worst of moving around is that traveling is costly and then makes it rather difficult to save for the future as we would like to, but I guess we’ll manage okay. He managed to get over the flu which he contracted en route and is feeling better. The weather seems to be cooling off a little which will make it much better for training which they expect to start shortly.

Remember Serf Smiegel? Ran into his wife at Morrison’s Cafeteria¹¹ last Sunday while having dinner there. She had her little daughter with her, about six months old I guess and at that time didn’t know whether she was to stay here, go home, or try to joining Serf in Tennessee, on maneuvers. Gave her my phone number and she said she would call, but hasn’t as yet. I didn’t know Serf was in but she said he had volunteered quite a while ago.

Had a big bond drive and parade here yesterday with such film stars as Annabella¹² (Mrs. Ty Power)¹³ Shirley Patterson,¹⁴ and Lynne Cerver¹⁵ as well as noted Servicemen. The parade went right past the building and we got a good view leaning out of our windows from the 16th floor. You really get a lovely view up here and I have all I can do to continue my work when the planes start zooming by. Having worked with them somewhat I’m anxious to see all the different ones and try to identify them. They really are beauties.

They also had a big show at the Florida Theatre last night with admission of a $100 war bond. Our landlord and lady went. I imagine they were very interested in Annabella as their son, a navy aviator, had been flying around with Ty. Power and been different places with him.

Everything at home seems to be okay and the kids certainly seem to be doing more things than we did as kids. Frank¹⁶ went to Detroit for a week or so and there won $10 at the races, but Jackie lost three. I guess Barbara¹⁷ is really growing up, and Joe McKinney is entering the Sem,¹⁸ and David¹⁹ in the first grade.

Time to stop work now, but let us know if we can do anything for you.

Love,

Marian

Marian typed this letter in Jacksonville, Florida, She was working there while Jim was stationed at Camp Blanding, which was near Jacksonville. Camp Blanding served as an infantry replacement training and induction center. Jim helped form the 63rd Infantry Division,²⁰ which was activated on June 15, 1943 at Camp Blanding. Later, the division moved to Camp Van Dorn, located near Centreville, Mississippi, to prepare for deployment to Europe.

Grand Rapids, 4, Mich.,

Sept. 24, 1943.

Dear John:

Friday, and I have not written since Tuesday, So, altho we have not heard from you since last Friday, thought I would write again, and send you the Press again. We finally heard from Bob, his letter arrived Wednesday, and he is so happy over going to college again, and expects to be there about four months. Said it is very dry there and the grass on the campus is all dried up. Lots of room and plenty of sports, two tennis courts, and equipment for volley ball, football, ping pong and even chess. He lives in a boys dormitory which also has the mess hall on the bottom floor. A good library a short ways off. They have formations for chow, (except when there is open post), roll call, reveille, police call, drill hour, physical training, and retreat. This is his program:

They really have a good system for running things, student officers do much of the work connected with running matters that have close contact with students or men. There about 200 men at present which makes it quite nice. There is a second Lieut who is tactical officer, a captain who used to be a professor at Catholic university, and a major who commands the post. All fine men and easy to get along with. He has not found the studies hard at all, so have quite a bit of free time. Open post means that the men may leave post and go to the city of Sherman. Usually from 3:00 P.M. Saturday to 2:00 A.M. Sunday and from 6:00 A.M. Sunday to 10:00 P.M. The bunch that he cars with from Miami have been put into Class B which means that we will be here four months or less. In the last month we take ten hours of flying and all that goes with it. By that time we will have advanced to Class E. They are divided into two flights, two flights to each class, and 25 men in a flight. He asked me to send his tennis racquet, balls, shoes, sox and did I have a time packing that tennis racquet. I had to take two boxes, as the handle is so long, and break down the ends and then put them together. Hope it reaches him all right.

I also sent out three Xmas packages to you, will send some more next week. All of these have to be out by Oct. 15th. Everybody inquires about you, so I tell them all I know. Aunt Mayme wants to send you a package for your birthday, and hope she can, but it might have to be a request package. All the letters I have from you have already been stamped by the postmaster, so it would be a good idea to sort of mention things you would like to have in your letters, then if anyone wants to send one, we have to show the letter. I sent out three last week, and I hope they reach you without being opened and pilfered.

Frank is now working at Herpolsheimers²¹ in the packing room, wraps things for delivery. Works two hours every day after school and all day Saturday, and also Monday night till nine, you know the stores are open Monday evening now. He is getting .40 per hour. Jack Emperor is buying another car, so they have been all excited about that, but it is taking a long time to get it repaired. He is paying $850. for it, and from the way he talks just about everything has to be fixed or replaced. Too bad our car went so fast. I don’t really miss it, but the kids do.

Barbara is in a debate at school about the Texas war, and is looking up a lot of information about that. She has a nice teacher, they all like her. Marian is still in Jacksonville, but expects to leave by the end of the month. Jim thinks he has a small apartment in McComb, 12 miles from the camp. His men are coming in fast, so they begin to train Sept. 27. This will take about four months, so it will be nice if she can stay there and really keep house for a change.

This looks like the end of the sheet, so goodbye for now. Love from all of us.

Mother.

Bob’s address: Av/S Robt. F. Herrmann,

77th CTD (Air Crew)

Sherman, Tex.

Saturday, Sept. 25, 1943

419 N. Magnolia Street

McComb, Mississippi

Dear John,

Just another letter to let you know that I’m finally headed for Mississippi and my new address is above. I plan on leaving here the 30th and will arrive there sometime the 1st of October.

Jim has advised me that we now have a two-room apartment, bedroom and kitchen, plus bath which we share with another Lieutenant. He tells me the house isn’t too nice but at least is clean which is something in these parts. I mentioned to Jim to be sure and check whether or not there were any bedbugs present, as the further south you go the more varied and numerous the bugs, so he would mention it to the new landlady and, of course, she was insulted. But I guess he kidded her a bit so she did laugh it off.

Have been quite busy here and will be more so this coming week when I try to get all my things packed and send a lot home, plus shipping one suitcase ahead. The weather has been so changeable that it’s difficult to know whether to take some summer clothes or send them all home. And, of course, I don’t know what I’ll need in the way of furnishings for the new place. However, I understand it does have dishes, silver, pots and pans, etc. I do hope they have a can opener as I can’t find one anyplace and have been looking for a couple months. However, I did ask Mom for one so maybe we’ll eat this winter.

I think it’s going to be a lot of fun cooking again and I certainly am out of practice. I don’t have a cookbook so have been spending time cutting all the recipes I can find out of magazines so I’m sure to have quite a conglomeration. Haven’t any idea yet how often Jim will be able to get in so maybe I can practice on myself before I spring something unheard of on him.

Mother wrote me last week that Bob said he had another nice visit with me on his way through Jacksonville. The strange part of it was that, that was the first I had heard of it. I imagine he told her how good I looked or something of that sort. Nothing like keeping up the morale on the home front.

McComb is situated about 40 or more miles from camp but this other Lt. in the house just bought a car so Jim will be riding back and forth with him. And, his wife doesn’t drive and this Lt. seemed to be pleased that I could so I may get a chance to get the feel of a car again Have been riding busses so much don’t know what it is to sit down on a moving vehicle. They certainly jam them in down here so you can’t move an inch, much less take a deep breath. I did get a chance to drive recently when I had to bring my boss’s car back from the station. I can tell you it was a real pleasure.

Bob seems to be on his way in the Air Corps and I hope he does finish and get his wings, or whatever he does want. I’m glad to hear you are getting a chance to see a little of the country you are now in and that you are enjoying it. Will be writing my next from Mississippi.

Love,

Marian

Grand Rapids, 4, Mich.,

Sept. 28, 1943.

Dear John:

Your V. Mail²² letter of Sept.19 received yesterday, and yours of the 15th was received Friday, the 24th, on which day Frank wrote you a V. Mail letter.

I did not pay the Sept. 15th income tax installment, as I believe you will get a refund on what has already been paid in March and June, about $185.00. Nor did I make a statement of the Victory tax, as you would have had to make $2700. for this year, being in the army, it won’t amount to that much. So you ran into another fellow from Grand Rapids, this DeWitt from Calvin. It’s a small world after all.

Will send as many Xmas packages as I can, will get in some fruit juice and Campbell’s soup, etc. as it might come in handy for a snack sometime. Looked up your Finance books last night and will send them right out, but I don’t know how long they will be getting to you, as I suppose this type of mail takes considerable time. Have already sent out three request packages, they also are limited, one a week, so don’t know how long you will have to wait for them. Hope you get the package with the magazines soon you will enjoy reading them. Have tried in several places to get that Lentheric or Aqua Velva, but these are imported and they tell me they have not had any of this for some time. I am going to get some Sempre Giovine²³ for you, there is nothing better for dry skin or chapped lips or hands. It is the only thing I use for my face, the wind takes all the oil out of the skin, and there is nothing better to soften up the skin and especially the lips, mine always chap in cold weather. Leave it on for a while, and then just wipe it off, most of it will soak in.

Will get some Vitamin tablets as soon as possible and send them out first class mail. Aunt Mayme was telling about malted milk tablets you just mix them with water, and they are a good milk substitute. If possible will get some of these and send them to you. Do you get any free milk up there, or do they not have any cows. Do you like condensed milk, could send you some of that, personally, I dislike condensed milk very much, but some people use it all the time.

Have not yet received the Iceland paper. We did not hear that Mail Call to Iceland, wish we had, I like Lionel Barrymore, and never miss him if he is on the radio, that is, if we knew about it. You are exactly five hours ahead of us here, that program would have been at 9:30 P.M. our time. You probably have the bottle of indelible ink by this time, and I will send you the soap case and tooth brush holder out of your case. Are our letters to you censored, I would like to know.

Catholic Central again won their game last Friday night, beating Ottawa Hills 31- 0, have a very good team this year, and will probably be champions. Will enclose papers, which you will like more than anything else. I got this fine typewriter paper so that I could put more enclosures with letters. Does regular mail go thru as fast as Airmail or V. Mail. Most people tell me that it goes just as fast. Let me know. Marian left Jacksonville yesterday, for McComb, Miss. She went thru New Orleans, and then North from there. Had a letter from her yesterday, she wanted some of her linens, Jim found a two room apartment, bedroom and kitchenette, share a refrigerator and bath with another Lieut. and wife. The best he could do. This is 35 miles from Camp Van Dorn, but the other Lieut. has a car and his wife does not drive, so Marian thinks she may get to drive it. I sent her a 23 pound package with towels, sheets, etc., she will enjoy doing her own cooking for a change. Her new address is: Mrs. James L. Thome, 419 N. Magnolia, McComb, Miss.

Jim’s address is:

Co. C-253rd Inf.,

63rd Division, A.P.O.410,

Camp Van Dorn, Miss.

Bob’s address is:

Av/S Robt. F. Herrmann,

77th CTD (Air Crew)

Sherman, Tex.

Well, goodbye now, all of us are well, and hope you are, too.

Love

Mother

Officers Mess and Club

Hotel De Gink

Medical Administrative Corps Officer Candidate School

Camp Barkeley, Texas²⁴

October 29, 1943.

Dear John

Congratulations to you. Know that a promotion is well deserved in a case such as yours. Ability triumphs over all, and all that sort of thing, especially in the army, so keep up the jolly good work. Can see I’m going to have to step on it, or you’ll be catching up with me before I know it.

So Bob is in Texas. Hope he finds it better than I have. Sherman is not too far, perhaps two hundred miles east of us. He at least is in better country than I, for he is not tto far from Ft Worth and Dallas. They, take it from me, are extremely nice towns . . . . even for Texas.

Hank Bialas too is only about two hundred mies away, but in the other direction. Would like to see him, but it looks like no soap, as we are limited to a hundred and fifty miles on a VOCO.²⁵ Heard from him just the other day, and he is doing alright thus far in his efforts to win his bombardiers wings. Incidentally, his brother, Pete, was in a rather serious accident somewhere in Australia. Seems he was involved in a collision between a gas truck and train or something, and rather seriously burned on the face hands and feet. His face, I understand, is already healed without any scars, but the rest is responding rather slowly. He certainly is taking a beating in this war.

Guess I mentioned before that I was leaving here sometime in November. Don’t know where as yet, but have a deal on with an old CO²⁶ of mine who is now at Camp Hood, Texas. Can’t make up my mind on it, however, as I am getting a bit fed up with this territory, and would like to see a little more country. Will let you know what happens to me. Only thing so far is a boost upstairs in job that will last until things end. Am now the Class Director instead of only the assistant. Enough of that.

Here’s some thing you might be interested in. Our class is publishing a sort of college year book. Should be interesting as we have a lot of talent in the way of writers, publishers, artists, and so on. They are taking photos next door tonight, and seem to be getting quite a bang out of it. You see they’re wearing Officers uniforms for the first time. Will show it to you after the war.

ND is certainly going to town this year. Hope they can keep it up and go through undefeated. Lokks pretty rocky, though, as they lose Bertelli²⁷ after the Navy game and still have Army, Northwestern, and Iowa seahawks to play. They certainly whacked hell out of Michigan.

Don’t have a great deal more, John, so will eliminate myself from your thought for the time being. Hope you find time to write again soon.

Duff

Grand Rapids, 4, Mich.

Oct. 30, 1943.

Dear John:

Well, we certainly have been receiving a lot of mail from you this week. Since writing to you on Tuesday, we received an airmail on Wednesday, the 28th, containing two silk Iceland souvenirs, and the blue souvenir was in the letter we received Monday, the 25th. The airmail which came the 28th surely made record time, it was dated Oct. 23, that makes it five days. It must have just caught the plane. Then the next day, Thursday the 28th, a V Mail arrived, dated the 20th. I was glad to hear that you finally got some packages, especially the one containing your hair brush, etc. and thos Colliers,²⁸ which by now, are quite old, but still are good reading. Most of their articles are features, and they have had some good articles about the taking of Sicily, etc. Now the letters of Archbishop Spellman are features, they are very interesting, you should be getting these soon, as your subscription went in early in Sept. Even if these magazines are old, they are still interesting. Was also glad to hear that the packages arrived in good condition. We saw a placard at the postoffice showing a pile of packages all broken up, and I was wondering if ours would look like that. Your writing case, I gather had not yet arrived. The manicure set is in that package. This was also a request package. Did you ever get that finger nail file that I put into a letter.

These little Iceland handkerchiefs are cute I see they have the map of Iceland outlined. They make cute pocket handkerchiefs. Yesterday I heard Fr. Hubbard talk on the battleground of the Aleutians. These must be similar to Iceland, no trees, just a little grass here and there. He also had some fine pictures of Alaska. I think he has been up there for the last two years, and just came back. He showed a Japanese helmet, and said, This fellow had no more use for it, as he is now shoveling coal with his honorable ancestors. Then he showed some American soldiers, getting souvenirs from a Jap plane, and he said the Japanese had a broadcast and said, The Germans fight for Germany, the Japs fight for Japan, but the Americans fight for souvenirs.

We heard from Bob and Marian, both of them have had letters from you, and Bob said he had sent you the play for a chess game by the VMail letters, and he hoped the censor would not think they were code. Are our letters to you censored, or do you get them first. Bob is getting along fine, has high marks, which gives him time off, or open post as he calls it. Had been to a dance, had a grand time. He was to go into Class D this week, so I guess he will soon be advanced out of there.

Marian has met a lot of the other ladies, the Captain’s wife took them out to the camp last Sunday, the men were busy, and they watched them mark out their firing range for this week. Also drove out another day and saw Jim training his men and would like to have had the chance of making some movies of it. She has a movie camera, and Jim took some color pictures of the convoy when they drove from Florida to Miss. But they have not been able to get a projector yet, so have not seen them.

Catholic played Union last night, and won again 20-0, but only in the last quarter. There was no score until then, and everybody was quite uneasy, but finally they came thru. Union has been beaten by just about everybody and are either getting good now, or Catholic was overconfident. The three youngsters went, it was a lovely night, it was quite warm yesterday. Today is clear again, the sun is shining, and it is not too cold. I painted the front storm window this week you know those front windows get all the weather and the paint was just about all off of them. It looks fine, now I’ll have to do the upstairs ones, and get them up again.

Barbara got all of your letters, she wrote to you after getting the one with the money order and handkerchief. The purse came last week, as she was so pleased with it. I think I wrote you about that. Tonight she is going to a Halloween party at Arletta Davey’s with boys, and is quite excited about it. They have been decorating their basement all week. The children around here have been trick or treating the last few evenings, it keeps us busy answering the door, and handing out candy. I hope I have enough for tonight. Candy is getting hard to get, too. All the points have been raised again, on oleo, and canned goods, jelly, and especially pineapple. Well, I have some pineapple, and anyway, I always have plenty of blue points, as I do so much canning and jelly making. My meat and fat points are getting scarce, we had chicken last Sunday, which is pointless, anyway Antoinette killed some of hers and gave us two of them. They were so good. She is canning most of hers, which is quite a job. Love from all.

Mother

Grand Rapids, 4, Mich.

Nov. 2, 1943.

Dear John:

Thought I would write a few lines and put it in with the newspaper. Had a letter from Marian yesterday and she says that Jim is in the hospital with an infection in his foot. He noticed that it was red and swollen, a week ago yesterday, that would be Oct. 25th, but went out all day in the field, but at night reported it to the Doc and they put him in the hospital, and of course this has to localize and be lanced. That means hot applications until it can be opened, a sort of blood poisoning, she calls it cellulitis. She wrote this last Thursday, the 28th of Oct. so probably by the time you get this, he will be all right again, at least I hope so. This will keep him off his feet for a few weeks probably, and aside from the pain, at least he won’t have to get up early in the morning which is something nice. She says that they won’t let him out until he is all right again, and on his feet. She was in to see him and says there is a major in the next bed with the same thing. Probably some little bugs got into their shoes, there are so many little bugs down South, they eat the clothes and everything. Anyway he is getting the best of care, I just hope it does not get so bad. I know what that can be, you know Grandma²⁹ lost her finger that way. She said that she owed you a letter, and hoped to get it written soon, so if you don’t hear from her, you know she is busy visiting Jim. I think the camp is 35 miles from McComb, and she has to go back and forth by bus, unless someone happens to drive.

I hope that you had a nice birthday, and that you received all the greeting cards that were sent. I was thinking of you all day, and surely hope that by another year, you will be home again. Things look pretty good right now, just got news that the parley in Moscow was very successful, Russia agreed not to make a separate peace with Germany, which is something. Of course they will not fight