Tuesday · Jan. 19, 1943
It has California beat.
On the road east, through country he can’t stop admiring.
Jan 19, 1943
My Darling Wife
Sunday afternoon, they gave me plenty to do. I finally got my things packed and made a short trip. I was too lazy to get my bedroll off the kitchen truck, so I laid down on the floor of a bldg. I froze to death and didn’t get much sleep.
Yesterday and today we traveled through part of N. Africa. The country is beautiful, and although I hate to admit it, it has California beat—and that means the rest of the states. They may have mountains here—but they plow them all the way up. They use oxen and horses—sometimes mules. The people—arabs—ride these little burros—and there must be thousands of them. We …
… passed through many small towns—in which there were literally thousands of Arabs—dressed in their usual garb. I saw the groves of citrus and they made me think of home. The natives sell lots of dates so they must be plentiful in the area. I bought [a?] dozen eggs last night and am about to eat them now with some spam.—Just finished the eggs, spam, cheese—& some good coffee. That isn’t part of supper, but something the cooks gave me extra.
From where I am sitting the view is magnificent. I’m looking across the floor of a relatively flat valley, toward the west. There is a high range of mountains at the end of the valley, and the sun is just slipping behind the hill.
Darling I miss you terribly. I want so …
… much to hold you in my arms and kiss you to death. Do you think you could take it? Someday my desires & hopes will be answered and I’ll be happy again with my little family.
It’s getting dark so I will close. I don’t know whether I’ll be able to mail this letter but I’ll do my best.
Goodnight sweetheart
All my love
Your
John
About this letter
Three pages in ink, written on the road east toward Tunisia. It opens with “Sunday afternoon,” Jan. 17, the day before he moved out.
ABOUT THE DATEHis Jan. 20 letter says, “Yesterday we kept going so long I couldn’t get the opportunity to write to you.” Yet this letter is dated Jan. 19. He may have written it the evening of Jan. 18 and dated it ahead, or not counted it because he wasn’t sure it could be mailed.
CALIFORNIA BEATHigh praise from a Glendale man. The next day he says the mountains put Rim of the World Drive, Arrowhead and Big Bear to shame.
READING CLOSELY
“Someday my desires & hopes will be answered and I’ll be happy again with my little family.” Written at sunset, two days into the trip east toward the front.
“Bldg.” is his abbreviation for building.
Spam, introduced in 1937, was a staple of Army meals.
This letter was found and scanned in November 2026, after the letters around it.
The Big Picture
The Germans strike first
On Jan. 18 the Germans attacked French troops in the mountains of central Tunisia. The French fought well, but they had few heavy weapons or radios. American units, including part of the 1st Division, were rushed in to help.
On Jan. 23 the British Eighth Army took Tripoli, Libya. Rommel’s army kept retreating west, toward Tunisia.
On Jan. 24 Roosevelt told reporters at Casablanca that the Allies would accept only unconditional surrender. Germany, Italy and Japan would have to give up completely, with no deals.
Where he was
On the road east by truck, from the Oran area toward the Tunisian front. Later he gave the route as Algiers, Constantine and Tebessa, about 600 miles.
In this letter. The move was urgent: on Jan. 18 the Germans attacked the French line in central Tunisia, and 1st Division units were rushed east to help hold it.