Tuesday · Dec. 22, 1942
Save all of my letters.
So he’d have a diary when he got home.
Dec 22, 1942
My Darling Wife
Mail has arrived, but has not been sorted as yet. I think most of that Oct-Nov mail that we are missing—will come in
Last night they woke me up and sent me on a [weird?] detail—which kept me up practically all night. I’ll tell you about it when I get home.
Incidentally, I have always intended to ask you to save all of my letters and I don’t remember whether I ever wrote that before. If you keep the letters according to date, when I get home I’ll have a diary of my daily travels and I will …
… be able to fill in the military events and not omit anything.
Today the Colonel sent me down [town?] and to the water front to buy liquor for Xmas—but it is getting very scarce and expensive. The bottle I bought once for $1.75 has now gone up to $10.00 by the robbers. My money isn’t lasting as long as it did before so there is a difference
Today I talked with some French soldiers who speak English. They seem happy that the Americans are here. According to them they fought us in the beginning 1st Because a good soldier always follows orders 2nd Because they either had …
… to fight or risk the chance of injury to their relatives in France! That’s enough to make anyone fight.
The news of what is being accomplished in Tunisia & East of Tripoli is very vague Rommel seems to be falling back steadily and I hope he keeps on that way
As Christmas gets closer and closer I think more and more of you and Linda. I suppose by this time the Xmas Tree is up—probably been up for a week—and I’ll bet Linda has had her hands slapped plenty for reaching out and touching ornaments—or did she tear the tree down this year. I hope she knows what Xmas is and that Santa Claus is good to her. Her picture here by my bed is an inspiration, and I want to get yours so that I …
… will really be inspired. Where is that picture honey? I’ve been waiting a long time for it, but it hasn’t come yet.
The officers staying in tonight are in the next room singing Xmas carols—sounds good, but funny coming out of them.
I hope you have mailed a Spanish-English dictionary to me. If you haven’t, cut off the vocabulary from my Spanish book over at mothers and send to me air mail. As intelligence officer it wouldn’t do me any harm to have a small English German dictionary—and a small Italian-English dictionary All together I would be able to talk with most anyone with all these dictionaries.
Honey I just went to sleep writing—and at 7 P.M. at that. I better go to bed and make up for …
… the sleep I didn’t get last night
I love you dearest & my own sweet wife
All my love
Your John
About this letter
John asks his wife to keep his letters in order, hunts for Christmas liquor for the Colonel, and asks for dictionaries: Spanish, German and Italian.
THE FRENCHFrench troops had fought the Americans at Oran. They told him why: a good soldier follows orders, and they feared for their families in occupied France.
THE NIGHT DETAIL“I’ll tell you about it when I get home.” Censorship kept details like that out of letters.
READING CLOSELY
“If you keep the letters according to date, when I get home I’ll have a diary of my daily travels.” His wife, Ginny, kept them. That’s why you can read them now.
Liquor he once bought for $1.75 now cost $10.00.
As intelligence officer, he wanted dictionaries to talk with “most anyone.”
The Big Picture
Eyes and ears
Every battalion and regiment had an S-2: the staff officer in charge of intelligence. His job was to find out what the enemy had, where it was, and what it might do next.
Near Tunis, the Allies tried one more push before winter. On the night of Dec. 22, British Guards and a battalion of the 1st Division’s 18th Infantry attacked Longstop Hill in heavy rain.
In Russia, Germany called off its drive to rescue the army trapped at Stalingrad on Dec. 23.
Where he was
Near Oran, Algeria, now on the 3rd Battalion staff as intelligence officer (S-2). The 1st Division was still training around Oran while British, American and French troops held a line in the hills west of Tunis, more than 500 miles to the east.
In this letter. Liquor at $10 a bottle, up from $1.75: the waterfront was full of new soldiers with pay in their pockets and little to spend it on.