Below are excerpts from letters written by GI's overseas during WWII
"...everything is o.k. and the only information I can give you of where I am is somewhere on the eastern seaboard..."
"...one things about this place is it reminds me of home seeing mountains again..."
"...don't worry, Mom, everything will be okay..."
"I still didn't receive that package...maybe it was on that ship that was sunk."
"Boy does it feel good to lay in a bed after six months in foxholes, even if it is in a hospital."
"It's really hard trying to write a letter from here. All I would like to say the censor wouldn't like..."
"...if you don't hear from me as often, please don't worry, everything will come out in the wash..."
"We had Joe Louis down here the other day to see us..."
"...I have had enough of this for now. Let some of the boys take my place..."
"...I suppose when a car backfires I'll run like hell for a hole like a punch drunk fighter..."
"...I'll go into the airplane business...put a few guns on it and some bombs..."
"...trying to speak Egyptian, Italian and French...never stay long enough to master them..."
"Uncle Sam isn't such a bad guy, tough sometimes but that's all in the game..."
"...tonight we are restricted to our barracks..."
"Buy Bonds, phooey!"
"...thanks a lot for the smokes as they sure came in handy to us all in the tent..."
"...says he would give his right arm to stand..."
"...the top turret (of a B-17), that's where I spend most of my time on a mission. I've flown twenty-two combat missions so far and
so good. We've had a couple of close calls that were too close to suit me and the rest of the crew" - T/Sgt letter. Later KIA on mission.
"We just got word that they no longer need cadets and that they're short of men in the ground forces. I guess you know what that means. Back to the infantry for me."
"...I just haven't any luck whatsoever."
"We didn't have a navigator the time we were lost. It wasn't fun being lost at night with your gasoline tanks running lower by the minute. The radio man couldn't contact any ground stations or tower and things were beginning to become tense. Finally after some frantic work on the part of our co-pilot a field location was spotted and designated. Pilot proceeded to circle the place once to determine it's size etc and on the second trip around he just had to set the plane down cause there wasn't enough fuel left ot go around once again. Pilot brought the plane down smoothly on a rather narrow runway with great skill and precision and don't you think that we weren't glad to set foot on good ole mother earth once again...Only 15 minutes of gas left when we landed..."
"We're assigned to permanent crews now and will stay together as long as we're flying. The same crew will fly over enemy territory one of these days. Maybe flying over Germany..."
"Last week while flying formation another plane hit our tail and the outboard motor of that plane chewed up & twisted the tail guns on our plane like they were made of wood. Things were mighty tense & trying for those couple split seconds that day."
"It was cold up at 20,000 today. My hands froze even though I had two pairs of gloves around."
"An armoror has to take care of the .50 cal machine guns, pre-flight turrets and know a little about how to fix 'em in case they go out of commission & also know how to load, fuse & release bombs in case the occassion arises. There are two armorer gunners to each crew of 10 men."
"...I don't think very much of this flying business. It doesn't appeal to me at all cause I get a feelin' dopey almost every time I go up....I get feeling groggy."
"...they went into a spin, hitting the ground on a wing rolling over to the other and then onto it's back where it came to a rest. God what
a mess. It's a wonder they both weren't killed, but, no, they weren't."
"...the colonel of my old regiment recieved the DIstinguished Service Cross for leading his men against a German suicide squad and carrying on even though he was wounded."
"I got a letter from Jack. He's in North Africa where all the fighting's going. on. He was in the army only 6 mos and they shipped him to Scotland. The they worked it in Scotland
ws they broadcast an appeal to all the people to donate warm clothes and woolens for the soldiers. Everybody thought the soldiers would be going to Norway or Russia. Even
Hitler was fooled because the troops were sent to North Africa instead and the Germans were surprised."
The Following Excerpts Regard The Death of A Pilot - One of Four Brothers. His Mother's Entry Is Most Heartbreaking
