OCT 28-44

Hello Dot.

Well honey child how goes it.

Hope you are still kicking you do that the beat. ha.ha.

Giving any more of your husband’s kicks away. ha.ha.

That’s the best joke I heard since I got back.

All the guys got a kick out of that.

Well kind of like this outfit.

Not to good living out side.

But we move in a week I heard.

So can take it that long.

Have to get on the ball again when we go in side barracks again.

So ain’t in any hurry. Feels like snow up here now.

Cold as hell for about three days now.

Don’t bother me so much been out side for dam near two years.

But these poor M.P.s are hurting ha.ha.

They lived in side since they have been in the army.

Kind of rough on them.

The way I look at it I could still be over across living in a dam hall. ha ha

All you get there is cold C ration or if you are lucky K ration.

The shells aren’t falling every minute.

To a rough foot its kind of like the Z(i)a(r)d hotel. ha

So don’t mind sweating out [the] war here. ha.ha

Those boys over there are sure hurting now.

Its cold, the holes are full of water and mud. Cold food and bullets bad desert.

Sister maybe you don’t think I no how lucky I am.

The biggest kick I got when I was home. I mean the first time. When you was afraid I was nuts. ha ha ha ha Honey put your mind at ease on that now. I ain’t any worst than I ever was. ha ha

I will try to put you strait on what it was that happened.

We moved up to the front at night.

Was up there 26 days before the attack which was D day in Italy.

Every day they shelled us also at night.

The first morning about six o’clock a tin can hit six feet from my hole.

There was me and my partner in this hole. We changed places about 4 times from the blast. We had a double sand bag roof on it.

They had to dig us out from under this. The dam thing smashed in like match box.

It also made match wood off a big apple tree. Well the next day I am taking a dump. ha an aerial burst came over and busted right over my head. ha ha The steel sounded like hail all around me.

But never got a scratch. Yes I did [edited for content] a lot more. ha ha

But I sit in what I already had. ha.ha.ha.

Those were the closet I had till the attack. Well the night was dark as hell.

We lined up to take off.

Our artillery and T.D.s started to fire what a noise.

You couldn’t even make a guy hear by hollering in his ear.

It lasted one hour.

We just laid there and waited.

We started to move out when Jerry returned the fire.

They hit us with 88s and 61 mm mortars. We lost 16 men just as we started.

Three more went nuts and run.

But we keep going after we got over the mountain.

Half way down we got another bombardment.

All 88 MM artillery this time it only lasted 45 minutes. We lost some more men.

They mixed a few ash cans in this one.

We finally got to the bottom of the dam mountain.

We was supposed to take a River.

Well there was a deep creek about 200 yds this side of it. We crossed this and then it started.

They give us the works machine gun, rifle, 88s 61 M.M. mortars also 50 M.M. mortars.

Across this creek towards the river. There was nothing but booby traps mine fields. Things were really going up in flashes, bangs, and smoke.

We went in to action this side of the creek. Then we jumped right in the dam thing.

For two hours we stayed in water up to our chin and ducked under every once in a while. We would hold our breath as long as we caned.

Boy that steel was sure slapping the water.

The explosions were terrific we got so we couldn’t hear good.

It eased up then a little so we crawled out.

Then we started after the guys that were hit. Got most of them but dam few living were left. Most of them had been hit two or three times. Lots of legs and arms gone on most of them.

That morning we with drew under smoke.

There was 18 of us left. I mean that could walk out of there.

The machine gun fire was like bees all around us.

We had to leave the wounded in a deep ditch. 200 men of my company went in 18 walked out. That’s one battle. ha ha The company on our right was wiped out altogether.

We rested about 4 hours and then hit them again. But that’s another story. ha ha

I really got pounded in the next one.

This first one was only a picnic.

Will tell you about it some time. ha ha My ears went that first night.

But I didn’t let up or they would have sent me back.

Don’t let any one get a hold of this.

There are a lot of boys from Erie in this.

Maybe there people don’t know about this yet. So burn this up.

Jim. Love and Kisses