Thursday · Dec. 17, 1942
That wine is dynamite.
Lesson learned.
Dec 17, 1942 · 11 P.M.
My Darling Wife
Today air mail came in—but the company is 20 miles away and I will have to wait until Saturday to get it. The letters are supposed to be those mailed around Dec 5th so I am anxiously looking forward to getting some letters when I get back to the company.
We got our ration of cigarettes today. I got 7 pkgs of Old Gold’s, 2 pkgs of chewing gum, razor blades, matches, and a bar of soap—Palmolive—not so bad for a weeks ration. I bought some huge navel oranges today 3 for 20¢. They are about the size of a medium sized grapefruit, and they are nice and sweet.
Tonight we played pinochle in the room behind the bar. The game lasted quite late and we just got home. I didn’t drink so much tonight. That wine is dynamite. Last night I was just able to finish my letter to you when the stuff hit me—boy! Was I dizzy. I’m glad I was already in bed and not on my feet. It’s the first time I’ve taken too much so I learned my limitations. It won’t happen again. I can understand now why the men raise hell when they get ahold of it.
The officers here are a good gang. They are all younger than I. One of the 2nd Lts was a staff sgt. in the Cannon Company before our battle, but for his exceptional conduct under fire, he received his commission. He is a nice kid, but is not quite used …
… to being an officer yet. They all drink a lot, but don’t gamble very much—none since I’ve been here—and that is very unusual. In my bn. there is always a game on.
It’s awfully hard to think of things to write about—and my letters must be awfully boring. They are much like a diary of my non-military activities. But without mail from you to answer, I can do little but talk about myself.
Darling, I miss you so much I would give anything to be able to have you here next to me so that I could love you and bury my face in your hair—nip your ears etc like I used to do. I miss the affection—and I haven’t anyone to bestow mine on like you have Linda. I just …
… have to content myself with writing letters, and I do hope they convey my heartfelt thoughts to you.
Must close & get some sleep.
Give Linda another kiss and hug from her daddy and tell her to be a good girl for me.
All my love
Your John
About this letter
Twenty miles from his own company, John takes stock of his weekly ration, owns up to the night before, and apologizes for letters that read “like a diary of my non-military activities.”
THE RATIONSeven packs of Old Golds, two packs of gum, razor blades, matches and a bar of Palmolive: one officer’s ration for a week.
READING CLOSELY
“Darling, I miss you so much I would give anything to be able to have you here next to me.” Air mail had come for him, but it was with his company, 20 miles away. He had to wait two more days.
One of the second lieutenants had been a staff sergeant in the Cannon Company, commissioned for his conduct under fire at Oran.
“My bn.” is his battalion, the 3rd Battalion, 16th Infantry.
The Big Picture
All eyes on Stalingrad
In Russia, Soviet armies had trapped nearly 300,000 German and Romanian soldiers at Stalingrad on Nov. 23. On Dec. 12 German tanks set out to rescue them. By Dec. 19 they were about 30 miles away, and they got no closer.
In Libya, the British Eighth Army was chasing Rommel’s army west after its victory at El Alamein. In Tunisia, both sides waited out the rain in the hills west of Tunis.
Where he was
In camp outside Oran, Algeria, with I Company, 3rd Battalion, 16th Infantry. The fighting in Algeria was over; the 1st Division stayed behind to guard the area and train while other Allied troops raced east into Tunisia.
In this letter. The oranges as big as grapefruit were local: the Oran plain was one of Algeria’s great citrus and vineyard regions.