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December 31, 1943

December 31, 1943No. 71 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies,             Yes, I’ve really been awfully bad again about not writing, but unfortunately I just haven’t felt in the writing mood. And despite the fact that I know you like to get letters whether they are worthwhile or not, I just somehow couldn’t sit down and get […]

December 23, 1943

December 23, 1943Continuation of No. 71 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies,           Had a surprise awaiting Jim Hamilton the other day when he returned from his leave. He and Gus Stola went to Oran for their leave and had a devil of a time getting back. In fact, they were two days over due because they […]

December 18, 1943

December 18, 1943No. 70 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies,           Here it is Saturday night, just one week till Xmas! I’m certainly hoping that at this time next year we will all be back home together anticipating a Xmas at 15-26th Ave. in the old style. Right now, despite the fact that we have been bad […]

December 12, 1943

December 12, 1943No. 69 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies,           Things here haven’t been too rushing of late and yet we manage to have something to keep us busy most of the time. My medical ward has been rather interesting what with a boy with some kind of purpura and another with a nice big kidney […]

December 7, 1943

December 7, 1943No. 68 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies,             Today I received the swell Roos Bros. shirt you sent me, Dad, Mom and Bobsy – likewise the tie from Sal that went along with it. Am deeply grateful as my others are plenty worn around the neck. I am a bit puzzled, however, I know […]

December 5, 1943

December 5, 1943 Palermo, Sicily Dear Sal & Dave,            Lois and I feel as if we are certainly the most fortunate kids in the world getting all the things you people have been sending us. Yes, there are none better than Blum’s Almondettes & Coffeeteens. Thanks just oodles. Thanks, too, for the wonderful alligator […]

December 4, 1943

December 4, 1943No. 67 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies,           Despite the fact that last Sunday night I fully intended to write this letter regarding all the wonderful presents we received, we both got awfully tired and didn’t get around to going through the long list. So, now, if you notice different words or typing when […]

November 30, 1943

November 30, 1943End of No. 66 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies,           Some leaves are being dished out now, for the first time since we’ve been overseas, and, as a matter of fact, we are one of the last hospitals to receive leaves over here. Collie went first and had a nice trip, going to Cairo, […]

November 28, 1943

November 28, 1943 Continuation of No. 66 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies,           Last Thursday was Thanksgiving. And what did we have as a Thanksgiving feast? Had chicken instead of turkey, but the chick was mighty good, and along with it went stuffing, sweet potatoes, peas, cranberry jelly, apple pie, cheese, nuts and hard candy. ‘Twas […]

November 27, 1943

November 27, 1943 No. 66 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies,             Here is your very bad son again, being most repentant for not having written. Please forgive me!! Have no particular excuse except that we have been admitting some every day instead of every-other day and as a consequence it has seemed that every time I […]

November 21, 1943

November 21, 1943 Continuation of No. 65 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies,              I must thank you, Dad, ever ever so much for the wonderful pair of glasses you sent me. They are really marvelous, but I feel guilty when I think of how much you must have paid for them. And then again, I shudder […]

November 14, 1943

November 14, 1943 No. 65 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies,             Here it is Sunday night and Lois and I are down in Supply again pounding away at the typers. Things have slowed down considerably as far as my business is concerned, but Lois is still going pretty much full blast. Somehow she manages to tear […]

November 10, 1943

November 10, 1943 Continuation of No. 64 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies,             Numerous packages arrived the other day – packages that apparently were mailed after the glasses you got me. These, of course, were Xmas packages and I’m amazed that they arrived so quickly. Have not as yet opened them, but wonder if they will […]

November 5, 1943

November 5, 1943 No. 64 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies,             I have been kept busy for the last couple of weeks and never did manage to sit down at a typer long enough to do much good. When I have had some few minutes time then all our typers have been busy. Mine, at the […]

October 31, 1943

No letter from René on October 31, 1943, so we will enjoy an excerpt from the journal of Dr. Phil Westdahl.             The mountains around Palermo are really beautiful. Behind us is one long ridge, about 2500 feet at its highest point. Behind the airport is a single peak about 1000 ft. […]

October 27, 1943

October 27, 1943 Continuation of No 63 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies,             Have a new innovation in the hospital now. Have instituted a broadcasting system so that now the place almost sounds like the San Francisco Hospital with its system of calling “Doctor so and so,” but instead it is now “Captain so and so, […]

October 20, 1943

October 20, 1943 No 63 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies,             We are now having ice-cream twice a week. It’s made out of powdered milk and eggs, but it has been swell. They started us off with vanilla ice-cream with chocolate sauce and there was plenty for all. That is, all except Lois. She sneaked back […]

October 16, 1943

October 16, 1943 Palermo, Sicily Dear Gram,             We are still working steadily, running quite a big joint all the time, but at least we have all the conveniences we could really wish for. In fact, one day someone got the idea that it would be better if the patients on the second floor of […]

October 15, 1943

October 15, 1943 No 62 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies,             Yesterday we had quite a nice experience. We had little joy ride around the island — a plane ride that took us to such places as Sciacca, Agrigento, Castelvetrano, and a couple of other places. We were taken to lunch at Agrigento by the pilot […]

October 10, 1943

October 10, 1943 No 61 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies,           Last night Bob Treadwell, Fran and I were invited to dinner by some Yugoslav officers for whom we have done some things. Lois was working anyway, but not knowing how great were their facilities, we three went alone without Lois and Hal. It was a […]

October 6, 1943

October 6, 1943 No 60 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies,             Despite the fact that things are going on as usual, rather full blast, ‘tis rather quiet at the moment so here are a few minutes to chat with you. Lois is again working nights and sleeping days. As a consequence, haven’t done anything exciting in […]

October 2, 1943

October 2, 1943 No 58 & 59 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies,             About 12 days ago, Gil Bishop came in to eight of us and said that the Colonel wanted us in his office at 6 P.M. for a meeting. We all wondered what it could be about. Gil told us what we already knew, […]

September 30, 1943

September 30, 1943 No 57 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies,           I’ve been pretty busy on an off as usual for the last couple of weeks, but things have been running pretty smoothly.           I saw yesterday a clever article that one of the boys made up for those returning to the U.S. You know that […]

September 21, 1943

September 21, 1943 No 56 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies,             On Lois’ day off we went up to George’s place in the afternoon, and though we intended to do some letter writing, the cool air on the porch, the nice scenery and the quiet were more conducive to just relaxing. George and another driver came […]

September 18, 1943

No letter from René on September 18, 1943, so we will keep up on the news of the 59th thanks to some excerpts from the journal of Dr. Phil Westdahl.             We have been quite busy during these past few weeks. Our highest peak was about 1200 patients, about 3/4 of which […]

September 13, 1943

September 13, 1943 No 55 (final portion) Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies,             Yesterday turned out to be quite a gala day. Fran, Hal (Harold Williams), Lois and I left here about 2 P.M. going in a truck with several others, to the beach. Fran and I had arranged with some of the mess men to […]

September 12, 1943

September 12, 1943 No 55 (continued) Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies,                     Al Jolson was here a few nights ago and put on a one-man show. He was fairly good — sang a few of his old songs, made a few cracks of the Bohemian Low Jinx type. In general he was entertaining for the patients […]

September 9, 1943

September 9, 1943 No 55 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies,                      On September 8, Lois had her first day off, so we left here shortly after lunch and took one of my dispensary boys with us for an interpreter. His name is Syracuse and he has some relatives nearby, but strangely enough, not in the town from […]

September 8, 1943

No letter from René between September 2 & 9. Fortunately, we can get some important news – and local reactions to it – from Philip Westdahl‘s journal entry on September 8, 1943 ITALY SURRENDERS!!             What news! It came while I was on my ward and even my sickest patients shouted for […]

September 2, 1943

September 2, 1943 No 53 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies,                       Yesterday I was kept plenty busy all day long, doing spinals for the most part, but also some pentothals. Nothing big, but just kept doing something all day and the early evening. Did get a chance, however, to get off a couple of short letters, […]

August 31, 1943

August 31, 1943 Continuation of No. 52 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies,                        I have been rather on the punk side the past few days. Friday the 27th, I felt only fair, but not bad. The next day, however, I developed a constant mid-epigastric dull pain, which lasted all day. My temp. began to climb in […]

August 27, 1943

August 27, 1943 No. 52 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies,                       Since my last letter, I’ve been kept plenty busy. After the first several days of running around at various headquarters, arranging for medical corps prisoners to work in the hospital, etc., things slackened up, and as the hospital was awfully busy, I was put in […]

August 25, 1943

Here are excerpts from a letter that Lois McFarland wrote to family back in California. August 25, 1943Palermo, Sicily Dear Gang,            I’ve been trying to write to you for ages, but, golly, we’ve been so, so busy. I never do anything but work, eat and sleep. And the whole night – from 7 to […]

August 17, 1943

August 17, 1943 No. 51 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies,                       Yesterday I had a “first” — you know, doing something for the first time. The Colonel wanted some pictures taken of our area just as he had done in Casablanca, and as a consequence, someone was needed to make the arrangements and to take our […]

August 16, 1943

August 16, 1943 No. 50 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies,                       Before I get started, thanks oodles for the birthday presents – received the soapy wash-rag or whatever you might call it, and it has been put to good use several times already. ‘Tis really swell. Also got more photo paper and more films. Have several […]

August 11, 1943

Between August 1 and August 15, René doesn’t write any letters to his parents. Fortunately, we can follow the activities of the 59th Evac. Hospital through the entries in the journal kept by Philip Westdahl and photographs from René’s albums. Below is Dr. Westdahl’s journal entry for August 11, 1943 Palermo, Sicily           […]

August 7, 1943

Between August 1 and August 15, René doesn’t write any letters to his parents. Fortunately, we can follow the activities of the 59th Evac. Hospital through the entries in the journal kept by Philip Westdahl and photographs from René’s albums. Below is Dr. Westdahl’s journal entry for August 7, 1943 Palermo, Sicily            […]

August 6, 1943

Between August 1 and August 15, René doesn’t write any letters to his parents. Fortunately, we can follow the activities of the 59th Evac. Hospital through the entries in the journal kept by Philip Westdahl and photographs from René’s albums. Below is Dr. Westdahl’s journal entry for August 6, 1943 Palermo, Sicily              During […]

August 5, 1943

Between August 1 and August 15, René doesn’t write any letters to his parents. Fortunately, we can follow the activities of the 59th Evac. Hospital through the entries in the journal kept by Philip Westdahl and photographs from René’s albums. Below is Dr. Westdahl’s journal entry for August 5, 1943 Bizerte, Algeria               We start […]

August 1, 1943

Between August 1 and August 15, René doesn’t write any letters to his parents. Fortunately, we can follow the activities of the 59th Evac. Hospital through the entries in the journal kept by Philip Westdahl and photographs from René’s albums. Below is Dr. Westdahl’s journal entry for August 1, 1943 Bizerte, Algeria            I take […]

July 30, 1943

July 30, 1943No. 49Bizerte, Algeria Dear Folksies,                       The mail finally caught up with us and the whole outfit is now reunited. All, incidentally, hale and hearty. Roy and our gang officially rejoined yesterday, but I had been with the Col. on the night of July 25th, one gang arrived the following A.M. and then […]

July 23, 1943

René’s journal entry for July 23, 1943…        On July 21, I went in from the Lake after lunch and went up to the 56th. I talked with Col. Winans first and then with Major Rippey, who informed me that the Capt. had left about half-hour before – having talked himself out. They […]

July 21, 1943

René’s journal entry for July 21, 1943…          Coming into the harbor at Bizerte on the A.M. of the 20th, with the Captain running the ship, we scraped our propellers somewhere on the side of the channel, thus taking a chunk out of one of the propeller blades. Then the Captain turned […]

July 20, 1943

René’s journal entry for July 20, 1943…          Got back after midnight July 16, and stayed in the outer harbor until morn, coming in around 8 A.M.             Again we loaded up after the many hours it took to clean out our tank deck – what a time they had shoveling out the sand and the […]

July 17, 1943

July 17, 1943No. 48 Bizerte, Algeria (His parents think he is still in Casablanca) Dear Folksies,                Yesterday I finally managed to get some mail from you, tho’ with the mail situation still messed up, I see that I’m missing one of Mom’s letters and some of Dad’s. All were certainly most welcome, as that […]

July 16, 1943

July 16, 1943No. 47 Bizerte, Algeria (His parents think he is still in Casablanca) Dear Folksies,              Unfortunately there isn’t much that I can say at the present time, but nevertheless I wanted to get a brief note off to you to tell you that I’m still fine, never felt better. In fact, the only things […]

July 15, 1943

René’s journal entry for July 15, 1943…            We got back finally late on the night of the 11th, the commander of the convoy having wandered around and taken longer than he should have — and we had to anchor out in the outer harbor, going in early on the morning of my birthday. The […]

July 12, 1943

July 12, 1943(René’s 28th birthday) No. 46 Bizerte, Algeria (His parents think he is still in Casablanca) Dear Folksies,                 Well, today it’s my birthday, and, in normal times I would be up there at Lake Tahoe with you celebrating it. I had at least hoped that I would be with Lois. But no, luck was […]

July 10, 1943

René’s journal entry for July 10, 1943…            On the night of the July 8th and all during the day and night of the 9th, the weather was fierce — the water was rough and there was a 40- to 60-mile-an-hour gale blowing the whole time. I decided to spend most of my time on my […]

July 7, 1943

René’s journal entry for July 7, 1943…             On the 7th, as we were completely loaded we had orders to go to the outer harbor and anchor, so I went up early to the 56th and found that three of our boys could come back to the ship, so I brought them back with me. […]

July 6, 1943

René’s journal entry for July 6, 1943…             We had several air-raid alarms, generally one or even two a night, and some during the daytime, but nothing happened until the early morning of the July 6th. “General-Quarters” sounded around 4 A.M. and it wasn’t long before all hell broke loose. We were in at the […]

July 5, 1943

René’s journal entry for July 5, 1943…             After the pontoons on our ship were hoisted on the sides, it became obvious that the ship I was on was really the experimental ship, for they started building a “flight-deck” for Piper-cub planes. They had to build this forward of the cabins and wheel house and […]

July 4, 1943

July 4, 1943No. 45 Bizerte, Algeria(His parents still think he is in Casablanca) Dear Folksies,               Today being the 4th, I can remember “when” — when we were all much younger and everyone participated in the 4th of July games and contests on the lawn of the Feather River Inn — and then in the […]

June 29, 1943

June 29, 1943No. 44 Bizerte, Algeria(His parents still think he is in Casablanca) Dear Folksies,               Please excuse the delay in writing – it has been unavoidable. I imagine that Lois has written to you in the interim, so that you haven’t been entirely without news from this side of the world.           A couple […]

June 27, 1943

René’s journal entry for June 27, 1943…             On the 27th, I took 3 of the trucks and the jeep in to the Ordnance office and turned them in. Then tried to find the dope on getting the men paid, but was unable to find anyone who knew anything about it. When I returned, I […]

June 26, 1943

René’s journal entry for June 26, 1943…             On the 26th, we loafed around and I turned in the extra rations we had and the quartermaster equipment. I got to see some more of the town that way and found it all the same – a total wreck.            That afternoon we went swimming at […]

June 25, 1943

René’s journal entry for June 25, 1943…             On the last day the convoy didn’t leave so early, getting our start only at 7 A.M.   From there on in we began to see plenty of interesting things — bomb craters, cemeteries, and German, Italian and British tanks, trucks, etc. wrecked by the side of the […]

June 24, 1943

René’s journal entry for June 24, 1943…           June 24 we left bright and early at 5:25 A.M. Roy would always tell us the night before at what time we were expected to pull out and then, long before that time would arrive in the morning, he would be prancing around like a caged lion […]

June 23, 1943

René’s journal entry for June 23, 1943…           Today we left even earlier, at 6:15 A.M. and I drove over the tough winding hills. There were really some tough ones, hair-pin turns and all. Of course, with those trucks and the load, one couldn’t go over 15 m.p.h. up any of those good inclines. With […]

June 22, 1943

René’s journal entry for June 22, 1943…             June 22, we left at 6:25 A.M., and this was our shortest day, for we only traveled 205 miles, having gone 239 miles the second day. The reason we stopped early (4:40PM) this day was that we had some tough hills on the next stretch and we […]

June 21, 1943

René’s journal entry for June 21, 1943…             Today we left at 7:00 A.M. and when we stopped for gas at 8:30 A.M., Roy went to a phone and soon who did we see coming towards us in an ambulance, but Paul Stratte. Gee, we were all sure glad to see him, and vice-versa. We […]

June 20, 1943

On June 20, 1943, René embarks on a secret mission with 10 other doctors and 33 enlisted men from the 59th Evac Unit. The group is dubbed “Cohn’s Courageous Commandos” in honor of its charismatic leader,  Major Roy Cohn. The journal entry from Philip Westdahl (in today’s sidebar) describes what the rest of the unit […]

June 16, 1943

June 16, 1943No. 43 (continued) Casablanca, Morocco Dear Folksies,                  Sunday we were kind of tired so we loafed in the A.M. and then went swimming in the afternoon. The water was swell, it was nice and hot, and we had a few coats of tan added to our already tanning bodies. Some of the […]

June 15, 1943

June 15, 1943No. 43 Casablanca, Morocco Dear Folksies,              Right now, Lois and I are both in the Rec. Tent typing letters. She is, as usual, using my typer and I am using the Evac. Office typer. As you no doubt have noticed, I am having eee trouble. The ‘e’ on this typer persists in […]

June 12, 1943

June 12, 1943No. 42 Casablanca, Morocco Dear Folksies,                 I’ve been able to pick up a fairly good pair of sun-glasses at our PX but they are small and do not cover one’s eyes nearly as effectively as did our others. So, if you do find a good pair – wide ones – ‘twill be […]

June 9, 1943

June 9, 1943No. 41 Casablanca, Morocco Dear Folksies,                 Last Saturday we went on another shopping spree and Lois couldn’t resist a really beautiful hassock, so we decided to give it to each other for our birthdays. It is being sent to you, Mom, for safe-keeping (maroon and gold) along with a green one for […]

June 3, 1943

June 3, 1943No. 40 Casablanca, Morocco Dear Folksies,               Yesterday afternoon we just sat round and talked, as I had to stick around and Lois was off duty. For the last two days she has not been working in the ward, as she is one of the few with good printing, and consequently Miss Diffley […]

June 2, 1943

June 2, 1943No. 39 Casablanca, Morocco Dear Folksies,           Monday night we played some bridge with George Armanini and Bert Halter, and then with George and Bill Kuzell. Suffice it to say that our hands were fierce and we were most royally skunked. It wasn’t the playing, tho’ Bert pulled a nice one by bidding […]

May 30, 1943

May 30, 1943No. 38 Casablanca, Morocco Dear Pop,           Today is Memorial Day and there are ceremonies nearby. The cannon for the 21-gun salute was very close to us and it felt as if the top of the tent was going to fly off each time they saluted thusly.             We also had our own […]

May 29, 1943

May 29, 1943No. 36 Casablanca, Morocco Dear Folksies,             So thrilled you liked the book cover, Mom. Perhaps we shall be able to pick up a few more odd things. However, the town has been picked over pretty well and prices have gone up pretty high. One has to do quite a bit of looking […]

May 27, 1943

May 27, 1943No. 35 Casablanca, Morocco Dear Folksies,          The other night I figured up how much letter writing to you I have done while I was on the various services and it’s really indicative of the amount of work I had each time. The last two weeks of working in Supply my average was […]

May 25, 1943

May 25, 1943No. 34a Casablanca, Morocco Dearest Bobsy,             Today we had a fine time at the beach – it was a beautiful sunny day with just the right amount of breeze and the beach wasn’t too crowded. In fact, about the only people there were 59ers. Only a few of the officers went this […]

May 24, 1943

May 24, 1943No. 34 Casablanca, Morocco Dear Folksies,         It is now 8:30 P.M. and both of us are sitting here in the Rec tent with typers while most of the gang have gone to the show. But there is one table of bridge, with Drew, Bryner, Hamilton and Gerbode hard at it.         We […]

May 23, 1943

May 23, 1943No. 33 Casablanca, Morocco Dear Folksies,             Lois’ face is now all cleared up. She has just a tiny scar at the angle of her jaw. Apparently what happened was the bloomin’ grasshopper came down like a dive-bomber, colliding with Lois, leaving a small piece of one of its legs embedded in her […]

May 21, 1943

May 21, 1943No. 32 Casablanca, Morocco Dear Folksies,             Last night there was an “All Negro Revue” put on out in our area. The master of ceremonies, a colored boy who used to perform at the Cotton Club in New York, was the best of the bunch with all his side-cracks. They had a couple […]

May 20, 1943

May 20, 1943No. 31a Casablanca, Morocco Dearest Bobsy,             On the night of the 17th, there was quite a party – all the medical gangs from this neck of the woods. Everyone all dressed up, i.e. all except the persons for whom the party was given. They appeared in sun-tan uniforms with field jackets on, […]

May 17, 1943

May 17, 1943No. 31 Casablanca, Morocco Dear Folksies,             The party the other night was given at another school — this one occupied by some nurses from another outfit. They had a nice large room and we had a good eight-piece band. Sgt. Sateja put on his act which as usual went over big. That […]