Tuesday · Feb. 16, 1943
War is no picnic.
Good news from Russia, and a longing for white sheets.
Feb 16, 1943
My Darling Wife.
Paper is low so will write on both sides and hope nothing gets cut out.
Yesterday was a marvelous day—sunny & warm, but today another storm is working up and it’s plenty cold. I hope it doesn’t rain. It’s miserable when it does rain.
The news of the fighting in Russia has been beyond hopes—Rostov retaken, Kharkov apparently on the way. Our radio keeps us well informed.—and our eyes substantiate some of the headlines.
We received a lot of magazines a few days ago. The Life magazine of Nov 23rd had quite a description of N. Africa—but it wasn’t as easy as portrayed. The article in Colliers late in Jan gave a better picture of the so called easy conquest. War is no picnic.—
Mail may come in tonight—maybe this will be my night to hear from you. I sure hope so. I get so excited when I get letters from you—I tear through …
… them like mad and then later reread more slowly. I’m hungry for news that you are well, and that Linda is well & happy too. Some of the fastest mail to get here is V-mail with an air mail stamp. The letter is not photographed but flown just as written and mailed. For some reason it has been getting here 10 days earlier than regular mail.—that has been the case for about a month now. On the 12th we received mail posted Jan 19th. I haven’t received any of yours later than the [1st?]. I hope my letters are going through O.K. to you.
The recent packages are almost eaten up now—and I guess we’ll just have to hope for more delayed ones. Some of those received were mailed in January.
Darling, I can’t believe I ever enjoyed the luxury of laying down on a sofa, climbing in between white sheets—eating off dishes with nice silverware—and enjoyed the wonderful atmosphere of my own home—with you & Linda. It seems almost too good to have been true. When I get home I’m really going to enjoy that home with you—
All my love
Your John
About this letter
One sheet in ink, written on both sides.
“OUR EYES SUBSTANTIATE SOME OF THE HEADLINES”He doesn’t say more. The same week, German attacks were driving American troops back from Sidi Bou Zid and Sbeitla to the south.
V-MAILNormally microfilmed and printed small at the other end. He says the full-size form, sent with an airmail stamp, arrived ten days faster than regular mail.
READING CLOSELY
“Darling, I can’t believe I ever enjoyed the luxury of laying down on a sofa, climbing in between white sheets.” “It seems almost too good to have been true.”
“Hope nothing gets cut out”: the censor cut out passages with a razor, so writing on both sides risked losing words on the back.
Collier’s was a popular weekly magazine.
The Big Picture
Kasserine Pass
On Feb. 14 German tanks struck American troops at Sidi Bou Zid in central Tunisia. In four days the Americans lost more than 100 tanks and fell back to the west.
On Feb. 19 Rommel’s forces attacked through Kasserine Pass, a gap in the mountains. Short of fuel and ammunition, they were stopped, and on Feb. 22 Rommel ordered a retreat.
It was the first major battle between American and Axis forces in Africa. About 300 Americans were killed, 3,000 wounded and 3,000 captured.
Where he was
Central Tunisia, at the front. He later recalled his 3rd Battalion on a blocking mission in the Ousseltia Valley, where the 16th Infantry held the north end of the line.
In this letter. Rostov fell to the Soviets on Feb. 14 and Kharkov on Feb. 16, the day he wrote. He doesn’t mention that to the south the Germans had just routed American troops at Sidi Bou Zid.