May 7, 1945
Dear Billy:
I
received your letter of April 30th this morning.
When
the news came over the radio this morning that Germany had surrendered
unconditionally, everyone thought that it was V-E Day, although it had not been
officially announced by President Truman, and acted accordingly.
At
about 10:30 this morning, Mr. Rudolph took me up the roof and into a snowstorm
of paper, ticker tape, etc.
I think that maybe inwardly I was a little
hysterical this morning, because I had all I could do to keep from crying. I
was so happy to think that the end of the war in Europe brings a little nearer
the time when you, Heltie, and all the rest of the
boys will be home for good.
I
went over to mass at lunch time, as usual, and the church was crowded. Every
devotional light in every stand was burning and they kept taking them out of
the stands, setting them down on the floor and putting in new ones.
When the word came over the radio that the news still wasn’t
official, that “Shaef” had not authorized the
release, etc., things sort of calmed down a little.
They
now say that president Truman will announce the news at 9 A.M. tomorrow, so
there will probably be quite a bit of excitement.
I’m
so glad your pictures came out all right and we’ll be anxiously awaiting them. Heltie said he expects some films from the Kodak people up
on Boston, as soon as they come in. This is the system—when anyone in this
county receives a request for films from overseas, the letter containing the
request is given to the Kodak people and as soon as they have the films
requested, they send the person who gave them the letter a card to that effect,
and then the person comes and picks them up. The Kodak people stamp the letter
to the effect that the order has been filled so that the same letter can’t be
used twice.
Your
new clock sounds purty, all right. I shall go to a
couple of the better jewelry stores and see if they have any, and then let you
know the cost.
By for now, honey lamb. Let me know if
you want anything special.
Squeeze