Letter 263- December 23, 1945

December 23, 1945
Giessen, Germany (Hesse)

Dear Mudder and Dad,

I’ve hoped against hope that I would get some letters from you before Christmas but I guess I’m just out of luck. That’s why I haven’t written to you as often as I should lately. I keep hoping every day that the next day will bring some letters. At any rate they changed our APO yesterday and that may bring about some sort of change in the situation.

The APO is now 169. The Captain drove all the way down to Heidelberg the other day to see if he could find out anything but it was the same old story. As far as I know you may not even know that I’ve been transferred yet. It’s a sorry situation.

This week I was officially notified that I’ve been put in for the rank of Corporal. That puts me right up there with Hitler and Napoleon. Ain’t it grand??? What’s more important, however, is that it’s been repeated that I would be leaving here on Feb. 5, at the very latest for the good old everlovin’ USA. I just hope to heaven that nothing at the last minute comes up and dashes everything to the ground. I note some Senators now saying that continuation of the draft is now unnecessary and other such crap. I tell you that if they stop it altogether it’ll mean just one thing and that is that fellows like me who’ve already served and fought will have to go right on serving with no hope of ever getting out for an indefinite period of time. That, while others who’ve never done anything for their country continue to get all the breaks. They keep hollering about all the men who are volunteering but they’ll never get enough to make any kind of an effective force that way.

The way some people talk you’d think that we were just a bunch of bums that everyone would rather have on that side of the world which is most distant from home. I hope that it’s not that way all over or it’s going to be pretty rough. During the war we were always so much more wonderful than we really were and now it seems that we’re a lot worse than we ever were. One fellow here received a letter from his sister in which she said that maybe all this killing has made him too hard to fit back into life at home. Pleasant, huh? That’s an extreme example of course, but I’ve heard other things that have hinted at the same thing.

I hear that so many veterans are going back to school that there are definite shortages of space, material and instructors at the colleges and universities in the whole US. Have there been any such signs at home? I’d like to get back to it as soon as possible and would hate to have to wait.

If I didn’t know better I’d think it was Infantry Day or something. Right now they’re playing the “Story of Roger Young” on the radio and it’s the third time that I’ve heard it today.

Well, it’s only 2 days until Christmas now and we’re having a four day holiday. Here that doesn’t mean much, however, since I will be working anyway. It’s better than sitting around feeling sorry for myself.

That’s all for tonight. I didn’t make it for Christmas but I should be home for St. Patrick’s Day. It’s too bad I’m not an Irisher. Oh well…….


Best Love,
Bill