Dear Family- WITH FIFTH
And still it continues to rain. The mud is terrific - it stops everything. We’re up in the hills where there are no roads. You can’t see ten feet in front of you because of the fog. At the moment we’re halted until the rest of the army catches up. This is straight stuff - General Clark extended his congratulations. We’ve taken lots of prisoners. But progress will always be slow here because of the terrain and the weather. I’m well, have a slight cold, everybody does. WRITE
WITH
FIFTH
Dear Family-
You’ll have
to forgive the lack of letters - as you know Fifth Army is again attacked. With the GOTHIC LINE broken the enemy
stubbornly delays as he falls back to
Dear Family- WITH FIFTH
It’s still
rough, but today we had dry weather - unusual for this part of the world. Thousands of bombers went over today - all
toward
WITH FIFTH
Dear Family-
We’re out for the line for a few days rest after 30 days of continuous fighting. This past period was the hardest ever. The ground was rugged, the weather always miserable, the resistance bitter, the casualties high. You can’t begin to imagine the physical and mental weariness of front line troops after a sustained period in the line, always cold and wet, never seeing a bed or a light, eating cold rations, never washing, shaving, or brushing one’s teeth for weeks at a time, being constantly harassed by enemy artillery seeing your friends die.
WITH FIFTH
Dear Family-
Today the
whole world seems brighter. Hot food, a
shower, a drink of bourbon, and a good night sleep make everything OK
again. As we sit before a blazing
fireplace and read a month’s accumulation of magazines and listen to the
booming of artillery outside, the war seems far away. An occasional Jerry shell “crunches” in to
remind you that you’re only 2,000 yards from the front line. But from the hills we can see the Po Valley
and the valley looks mighty fine. We’ll
be in
WITH FIFTH
Dear Family-
With eggs each
morning for breakfast and mashed potatoes and steak for supper life is
complete. Funny how little things like
that mean so much over here, and other things - elections, unions,
organizations, political theory - mean so little. Hope to visit
WITH
FIFTH
Dear Family-
I had a
chance to visit
WITH FIFTH
Dear Family-
I am well
and in good shape. This latest push has
not been easy, but I’ll tell you more about that in a longer letter I’m in the
process of writing. Don’t need anything,
though a few Christmas goodies would be appreciated. Tell Chuck Healey the commander is COULTER -
he’ll remember. Write Auffy when you can - the life he leads is not pleasant -
the poor private takes a beating in any way.
Heard from Beanie and Bob Martin - they’re both in
Love, Henry