1/ So for the last five weeks in quarantine, I've spent nights and weekends archiving about 800 WW2 letters my grandpa sent his hot new wife. After hours putting them into sheaths and binders in chronological order, I'm now typing them up. I've made amazing discoveries. 
2/ The letters span Oct 1942 til Aug 1945. My Grandpa, a Jew from a tiny town in WA State was in the 95th Div 379th Infantry. Under Gen. Patton's Third Army, they were known as the "bravest of the brave" and had 103 consecutive days of enemy combat.
3/ I'm reading and typing up the letters in order and so far am only midway through the 3rd of seven binders and am up through July 1944. D Day has happened by now, but the 379th doesn't arrive to Normandy until 100 days later.
4/ Here are some highlights:
When they were training at Fort Sam Houston, during a maneuver, the troops must stay at a hospital that was condemned b/c of "the large cases of pneumonia developing out here. Last time they had 100 or so cases and this time they've lost count."
When they were training at Fort Sam Houston, during a maneuver, the troops must stay at a hospital that was condemned b/c of "the large cases of pneumonia developing out here. Last time they had 100 or so cases and this time they've lost count."
5/ His commanding officer said about the virus-laden hospital, "well, we're not training for a picnic."
That was actually quite comforting to read back during week 2 of NYC quarantine.
That was actually quite comforting to read back during week 2 of NYC quarantine.
6/
My grandpa is very disappointed when his leg gets run over helping a jeep out of the mud. Why disappointed? b/c the mud made his leg sink in w/o injury. "if i'd broken my leg a 30 or even 60 day furlough would have been a cinch."
My grandpa is very disappointed when his leg gets run over helping a jeep out of the mud. Why disappointed? b/c the mud made his leg sink in w/o injury. "if i'd broken my leg a 30 or even 60 day furlough would have been a cinch."
7/ My grandpa is just dying for more time with his hot girlf, "his cookie." He really f*cks sh*t up though when he oversleeps til 7:30 and loses two weekend passes.
She still drives an hour to sit with him in the car for two hours on Wednesdays.
She still drives an hour to sit with him in the car for two hours on Wednesdays.
8/ Lots of drama like when they get engaged and choose a wedding date three weeks away, but sh*t, nobody will promise him a 3 day pass and he might have to relocate bases that weekend.
9/ He talks a lot about his Capt. North who then becomes major. A couple nights before my grandpa's wedding, he gets drunk with the Major who gives him a bunch of tips for the honeymoon. Two months later, Major North will have a son, @OliverLNorth.
10/ About that upcoming honeymoon, my grandpa says, "Every day will be a honeymoon for us, we can't miss - Even if we do have a sex angle that still needs solving although I think I have the solution and it's real simple. (Been thinking a lot again.)."
[uh, Grampy, sex angles?]
[uh, Grampy, sex angles?]
11/ If family records proves correct, he makes it to the wedding and has a 1 day honeymoon in Fort Smith.
On 8/4/43, my grandpa writes from Leesville, LA. Hooray! In today's maneuver, they solved the war! If they're right, the allies will win and "defeat the whole works"
12/ He says he'll draw her a picture on the back of the letter. It's a squiggly line with an X and says "Bridge 95th is defending."
13/ Indeed, 15 months later the 379th will take control of a bridge over the Saar River in a "lightning grab" which opened access into Belgium and Holland. It's a huge victory, even if it falls short of defeating the whole works.
14/. It's now July 27, 1944. He's stationed in Pennsylvania and heading across the Pacific in a couple weeks. 9000 Allied troops were killed or seriously injured last month on D Day. And my grandpa's tone has totally changed. He's gone from flirty and fun, and mischievous
15/ to very pensive. He is no longer allowed to use phones or wires and the Army censors read all the letters. Pretty much he just talks about sleep and food now.
I don't know exactly what's to come for him. I want him to stay madly in love with my grandma throughout
I don't know exactly what's to come for him. I want him to stay madly in love with my grandma throughout
16/ the war. [Ultimately they had a miserable marriage. So it's a revelation for me and most of all, my dad, that they were so in love]
My grandpa was always a real worrier and the fun-loving pre-war version of him shows what the war did to him.
My grandpa was always a real worrier and the fun-loving pre-war version of him shows what the war did to him.
17/ A couple spoiler alerts:
-- In the letter he sends from Germany on Dec 25, he slips in a Nazi arm band and SS badges. No mention of the story behind them.
-- They discovered mass graves which they had the "innocent civilians" dig up and properly bury.
-- In the letter he sends from Germany on Dec 25, he slips in a Nazi arm band and SS badges. No mention of the story behind them.
-- They discovered mass graves which they had the "innocent civilians" dig up and properly bury.
18/ I'm going to keep adding to this thread as I go through the letters. My grandpa died when I was a sophomore in college. He never talked about the war. He was a modest guy who returned to the small town of Aberdeen after the war and worked at the family furniture store.
19/ I never saw the passion in these letters, except for in
how much he loved me. I was his person. (A big deal when you're one of four siblings) we had lunch every Saturday from when I was in high school.
how much he loved me. I was his person. (A big deal when you're one of four siblings) we had lunch every Saturday from when I was in high school.
20/ One day when Aberdeen flooded (happened a lot), he drove through the flood to pick me up. The water was up to the windows. We totalled his car in the process but he said he had no regrets.
If you have any connections to the 95th Inf Div especially the 379th, please reach out!!
I will add that these letters have sustained me during the sheer terror and panic in NYC, constant sound of ambulance sirens delivering the sick to hospitals, esp during the 1st weeks when the vent and hosp bed supply was a crisis. We're still at war, losing 600--800 NYers a day.
*Across the Atlantic.
23/ Update: It's early August 1944. He spends a few weeks in Boston just waiting to head to Europe. The troops are bored. He's going to the movies, writing letters, smoking his pipe and pacing. He says cigarettes are rationed to 7 packs a week. And he's up for the challenge.
24/ He's beginning to panic about the stuff he needs to take with him. The soldiers can only receive things they request from people. Now that letters are inspected, he writes REQUEST REQUEST on the envelope. Things he needs: long johns, Hersheys, stationery, a box of cigars
25/ Then the letter becomes a voucher that my grandma can use to send parcels. The letters are less juicy now that they're censored. No more of his signature X's (for kisses). B/c he says the inspectors think it's a code for a map. Censors cut out anything too newsy.
26/ It's now sometime around Aug 6. He's on the boat. My research says it's the Westpoint Mariposa. It's a good boat because Gen Twaddle is on it. My grandpa is sick as a dog. Disappointed with general store. He waits 2 hours for a Zippo and discovers they never had any.
27/ Once in the UK, he tries to hint to my grandma where he is. "Sure is crisp here where they have actual seasons." He's promising my grandma he won't try to be heroic and that he'll come home with "sores on my tummy" from crawling during combat.
