Wednesday · Dec. 23, 1942 · Second Letter
A second letter for today.
With a money order inside.
Dec 23, 1942
My Darling Wife
A second letter for today. The money order I requested a few weeks ago came in tonight so I thought I might just as well get it on the way. 7 P.M. finds me in bed for the second night in a row—with only the old fogies to keep me company.
The moon is beautiful tonight. It is full and is pushing through the clouds—making everything light and shining on the water. It is truly a pretty sight—but it is awfully cold.
When you get that $119.— travel pay plus the $175.— I sent home from England—plus the $50 I sent from …
… here plus the $25.00 enclosed, you should have a pretty good bank account, How does it stand? Have you received those other money orders yet—and the balance due on the allotment. None of your letters that I have received have told me much—about money or receipt of my money orders. Incidentally when you get the perfume let me know whether it was any good or not.
Some of the officers have been having very good luck with their mail. Major Stone sent a letter which his wife received six days later. Air-mail this way has come in two to three weeks. V-mail is not provided for as yet. Did you get all of my letters up to date. Except …
… while in the hospital on the boat, and during action here, I have written at least every other day.
We have a rather dull life here. The companies are either on guard or parading. The parades are rather inspiring. Each night there is a retreat parade and all the people line the streets. About 2 platoons get dressed in their best and march as a color guard—a large band goes along, all dressed up, playing swell march music. It is an inspiring sight to see the colors go by with their escort,
For the second time today I’ll close this letter with all my love Your John
About this letter
John’s second letter of the day, written in bed at 7 P.M.: a money order, a moonlit harbor, and the parade the townspeople came out to watch.
RETREATRetreat is the evening ceremony when the flag is lowered. Each night a color guard and band marched through town.
READING CLOSELY
“It is an inspiring sight to see the colors go by with their escort.” The battalion was now in barracks in a port town, and paraded through its streets every evening.
“The hospital” is his stay in Britain in October 1942.
V-mail (microfilmed letters) was not yet available to his unit.
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.